Mid 18th Century, English colonists

1.SIGNATURE ESSAY OVERVIEW
In this exercise you will use all the skills you have learned in the previous exercises to write a full length, rule of three, historical essay on the prompt below.

As a reminder, an analytical essay contains an introduction setting up the context (with a clear rule of three thesis statement as the last sentence), three paragraphs of the body (in the same format as the one paragraph assignment) – one for each key point in the thesis statement, and a conclusion.

2. Signature Essay Prompt
PROMPT:

During the mid 18th Century, English colonists appealed to the metropole for redress of various grievances. In this essay, I want you to consider the ethics and civics of those seeking change (later known to us as the Patriots). Who were these Patriots? What methods did they use to further their goals through civic engagement? What ethical considerations did they take into account in seeking redress of their grievances? Did the new United States (under either the Articles or Constitution) address their grievances?

Note 1: Successful responses will consider a broad range of evidence in support of arguments. Take a few moments to consider how you would respond by making a list of both “ethics” and “civics” related to the colonists and their grievances. Be sure to have a mixture of big/broad ideas and specific/detailed evidence in your argument.

3. Requirements for the Signature Essay
Must be in Rule of Three format with a introduction and strong thesis statement, 3 paragraphs of the body (each with their own thesis statement – one for each of the three key points of your overall thesis), and conclusion. So a minimum of 5 paragraphs.
This is a fact based essay, you must provide specific and detailed evidence for your hypotheses.
You must utilize a minimum of three primary sources from the assigned materials (primary sources posted in the Blackboard course module OR found under the primary source section of each chapter in American Yawp only; you may not utilize sources linked to in the reference section of American Yawp) as evidence in your essay
You must utilize a minimum of three secondary sources from the assigned materials as evidence in your essay
You may only use materials assigned in this course for your essay (we have vetted all the materials utilized in this course, other materials may not be appropriate or accurate). If you use outside sources your grade will be docked.
DO NOT QUOTE sources, paraphrase in your own words and cite
You must consider ethics/ethical decision making in this essay
Don’t forget about historical geography, where something takes place matters and it may be important to your argument.
You must use Turabian citation style in this essay; all citations must be footnote style citations (no parenthetical cites allowed, no endnotes/works cited at the end, you need footnotes). Be sure to review how to properly cite a primary source that may be contained in another work and be sure to use page numbers where possible.
12 pt type, 1 inch margins, double-spaced

4. NOTE ON CITATIONS
CITATIONS are REQUIRED for this essay. You will lose points for failure to cite or incorrect style of citations.

5. How the Assignment is Graded
The assignment is worth up to 200 points. The following factors are taken into account when we grade:

RULE OF THREE THESES – Do you have a well thought out and clear overall thesis in your introduction? Do you have a thesis statement for each of your three paragraphs of the body? Do the paragraphs of the body follow the overall thesis statement?

EVIDENCE – You must have solid evidence for each point you raise in the thesis. Evidence is not simply a statement, there must be an explanation of how that evidence supports the thesis statement.

Example: If you were writing a paragraph on the causes of the Cold War, you might use the Baruch Plan as an example. Simply writing “the Baruch Plan was a cause of the Cold War” in your paragraph would not be enough and would not be analytical. However, the following sentences do provide a good analysis of this piece of evidence:

“One cause of the Cold War was the failure of the United States and the Soviet Union to agree upon a plan for nuclear disarmament after World War II. The Baruch Plan, presented by the US, would maintain the American atomic weapon advantage for the foreseeable future. This played into Stalin’s suspicions of the Americans’ true motivations toward the USSR.”

Did you use the minimum number of primary sources? secondary sources?

HISTORICAL ACCURACY, CLARITY, AND LOGIC

Is your argument clear and does it make sense? Is it historically accurate? Does your evidence prove your point? Does your analysis answer the prompt? Have you considered the concepts of ethics and civics and any historical geography factors in your essay?

PROPER CITATION

Have you properly cited? Have you used Turabian/Chicago? You must also FOOTNOTE. Parenthetical cites are NOT allowed.

GRAMMAR, SPELLING AND MECHANICS

Is the essay up to college standards for grammar and spelling? Is it an analytical essay? Does it meet minimum length and formatting requirements?

Grade Scale:

A = 180-200. Exceptional in all aspects noted above

B = 160-179. Above average in most of the aspects noted above

C = 140-159. Average work

D = 120-139. Below average work

F = 0-119 Unacceptable college level work or does not meet minimum requirements