HISTORY 10 – PAPER TOPIC #1
Spring 2016
PLEASE READ VERY CAREFULLY:
1. You are writing an analytical essay on the topic below. Your essay is expected to
follow the formal conventions of college-level writing.
2. The following criteria will be used in grading essays:
a. The essay has an introductory paragraph with a clearly stated thesis. A statement
like “In this essay I will show you why the others failed to become charter societies” is
NOT an adequate thesis. Your thesis should be organized around specific reasons and/or
specific cultural, economic, social, demographic, political, and technological factors that
did not allow them to dominate – and why this allowed the Spanish and English to
become charter societies.
b. The essay is organized and structured. Each topic sentence is connected to your
thesis. As stated above, your essay should be organized around the factors – not by
ethnic groups. Because of the length of the essay, you will need more than five
paragraphs. The five-paragraph essay is a model for short papers and should be
expanded upon as necessary. The essay has a conclusion.
c. The essay supports its points with specific historical examples. You need to
support your argument with evidence. Provide names, dates, events, examples of
experiences of the various groups from the readings and lectures, and refer to documents
and their content and relevance by name. For instance, statements such as “The Native
Americans were unable to fight off English colonists” or “Africans found themselves
enslaved” are too general. Give an example of where Natives were unable to fight off the
English colonists or show where and how Africans were enslaved.
d. The essay uses ideas and examples especially from the readings, with proper
citation – remember how to cite and use the article and document authors from
Ngai/Gjerde, Gjerde, and the History 10 Readings. You are expected to use all of
the sources: the appropriate chapters in Olson, Ngai/Gjerde, Gjerde, and the
History 10 Readings, along with lectures, threaded discussions, and appropriate
websites as used in the PowerPoints. Your grade will reflect your use of these sources
(especially the primary sources – you need to use at least three documents), as well as
specific historical examples you use to support your analysis.
You must provide footnotes or parenthetical notes when quoting or citing materials. If
you are citing lecture, then put the name of the Unit and the slide number(s). Students
will be penalized if extensive uses of other authors’ words are incorporated in your essay
without citation. Changing a few words does not change authorship.
See http://www.indiana.edu/~wts/pamphlets/plagiarism.shtml . Plagiarism is neither
acceptable to nor accepted by either Santa Monica College or me -- it is an
academic violation that may result in a failing grade (0 points) on the assignment.
e. The essay uses proper grammar and the conventions of good writing. Write in
complete sentences, and please proofread! Do not use “I,” “we,” “me,” “you,” or
“us.” Because this is a history course in which events have already occurred, use the
past tense.
f. The essay is a complete and full discussion of the topic. This topic covers several
ethnic groups, focuses on the dominant groups, and covers the period from 1492 to 1790.
g. The essay answers the question asked.
3. Your essay should be at a minimum 5 pages long using Times New Roman in 12 font
(estimated 1300 words), double-spaced throughout (make sure you indent any lengthy
quotes – typically if the quote goes more than three lines). This means that the paper can
be longer, but remember, length is not necessarily indicative of a better paper. In
calculating your paper’s length, I will not count any works cited or title page, only the
body of the essay itself. Please make sure your name is on the essay.
4. THIS IS CRITICAL: Please submit your file as an attachment in rich-text
format (.rtf) – not as a Word document. You can write your essay using Word, but
when it is time to save your document, you choose .rtf as the format in which you
are saving your essay. There are no exceptions to this. If I cannot open your
document for any reason, you will lose two full letter grades, meaning an “A” paper
will only get a “C,” etc.
I will notify students via e-mail if I cannot open their essays. You will need to
check your e-mail during this time – I will give you the time by which your essay
needs to be resubmitted (and docked two full letter grades) or it will not be
accepted.
Also note: Dropbox is tied to Turnitin.com, which will look for plagiarism
including previous papers submitted by previous students in History 10.
5. Submit your essay using the dropbox (see the Dropbox tab) in one .rtf file before
11:59 p.m. (PST) on Sunday, March 20, 2016. Papers received after that time will have
one full grade deducted. Late papers will only be accepted until 11:59 p.m. (PST) on
Tuesday, March 22, 2016.
NOW AFTER ALL THAT: Here’s PAPER TOPIC #1
According to T.H. Breen, a "charter society" is the first group of people who
move into an area and get to establish the rules that other groups who arrive later must
follow or else they move on.
If this is a valid concept, why did the Spanish and English become the dominant
groups by 1790? What specific social, political, economic, cultural, technological, and
demographic factors resulted in the Spanish and English ultimately becoming "charter
societies," while Natives, Africans, and other Europeans (particularly the French,
Germans, and Scots-Irish) did not?
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