TOPIC
The topic of the essay must related to United States history since 1865.
Students will select a general topic proposal for instructor approval during the first week of the course.
Below, a folder contains topic ideas from which students can make their selections. These topics are biographical in nature and are not meant to be comprehensive, just an overview of potential topics.
PURPOSE OF ESSAY
The purpose of the essay is to present a HISTORICAL ARGUMENT. You must make a claim and use reasoning/evidence to support that claim.
CLAIMS: A claim is a position that can be argued; strong claims are compelling, debatable and defensible.
REASONS: Claims should be supported with specific reasoning which is your evidence. Ideally, students would include three reasons to support their claim.
EXAMPLE: You can either focus on the general accomplishments of the individual, or you can focus particular actions of the individual. Here are some examples:
President Woodrow Wilson was a progressive leader as evidenced by his legislative reform and international peace plan.
Despite his campaign slogan “He kept us out of war,” President Woodrow Wilson made the decision to enter World War I due to submarine warfare, Allied loans, and the Zimmerman telegram.
SOURCES
Number of Sources
Essays must have a minimum of 3 sources. There is no maximum limit to the number of sources which can be used.
Types of Sources
Students can use the textbook plus at least two other sources.
Besides the textbook, all sources should be scholarly and credible. Below is a document that explains the difference between “popular sources” and scholarly sources. Scholarly sources are typically written by credentialed individuals and published in academic journals. Popular sources which are not acceptable include websites such as Wikipedia, History.com, Biography.com and personal websites like blogs and weebly.com.
Other sources which are not acceptable are children’s and young adult books and magazines (for example: all Scholastic sources – i.e. Scholastic News, Scholastic Scope, Scholastic Parent & Child, etc.).
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The topic of the essay must related to United States history since 1865. appeared first on Skilled Papers.