Helpful hints and tips from your TA

Prompt Breakdown:

The prompt asks you to consider both the Gilded Age and the Foreign Policy lecture sets.

Make sure that you incorporate ideologies from both of these lecture sets. This will require you to think more broadly about how the two sets of lectures work together.

Essays that focus only on the elements from the Gilded Age or in the creation of an American foreign policy will not have successfully answered the prompt.

The prompt asks you to make an argument: which three ideologies or philosophies were the most important to the rise of the U.S. as a great nation?

Picking three is only part of the task at hand. You must also make a case for why these ideologies or philosophies, when taken together, were the most transformative for the time period under consideration.

Essays that list/explain three ideologies or philosophies but make no attempt to integrate them into a wider argument will not have successfully answered the prompt.

Although using material from the textbook is permissible, make sure you focus on the material from lecture.

Writing tips: “Three reasons” method of writing

The “Three Reasons” method of writing will allow you to create a solid paper in any class. The way it works is: you decide what you are going to argue, then you come up with three specific reasons to support that argument. You can then write your thesis and paper from there:

Your Thesis:

To get started on your paper, it often helps to start by writing your thesis, so you know what you’re going to argue and what evidence you want to focus on.

A good thesis states your argument and provides a preview of ways you will support that argument.

In writing your own thesis, put your argument into your own words and pick three events/reasons you can support with detail from the lecture and textbook.

Also, your thesis should go at the end of a short introductory paragraph and be underlined.

Your three ideologies/reasons:

Pick three specific ideologies/reasons you can use to support your argument, be specific, and use good data from the lecture. Avoid being vague or repetitive.

Once you have picked your three ideologies/reasons, each of your body paragraphs should correspond to one of your ideologies/reasons, for a total of three body paragraphs.

Start each paragraph by restating the event/reason as a strong topic sentence.

Then, your entire paragraph and the evidence you present will support that strong topic sentence.

214185532639000Again, in your body paragraphs, support your points with specific examples from lecture, avoid being vague.

Finish your paper with a short conclusion that sums up your argument and restates your supporting points.

Formatting requirements

Do not forget to underline your thesis – not following this instruction will cause penalty points to be deducted from your paper.

Any direct quotes from the text or statistics from lecture should be cited with footnotes, please see the prompt for examples of the two kinds of footnotes you will be using for this class

DO NOT google or plagiarize!

Any use of internet sources is strictly prohibited and will result in a 0 on the paper.

You can use 2 sources on this paper:

Lecture material

Davidson eTextEssays must be done individually and not under the consultation of other students from the class.

Formatting requirements:

3 full pages in length

Only students’ name should be at the top of the page- do not take up half a page with a giant heading, that will not count towards your 3 pages.

Having 20 footnotes at the bottom of each page will not count towards your 2 pages either- It must be 3 full pages of writing. You should not have anywhere near 20 footnotes for a 3-page paper, either.

Please use12-pt. Font, Times New Roman, double spaced, 1-inch margins

Follow style guidelines and do not alter margins for length!

Proof-read your paper before submitting. Because you have almost two weeks to complete your essay and you know the topic beforehand, I am expecting papers without spelling and grammar mistakes. Spelling and grammar mistakes will be penalized.

Papers are due Thur. Feb. 13 at/before 11:59pm.

Late papers are 10 points off for every day they are late, beginning at 12:00am (midnight) on Feb. 14, up to Feb. 16 (30 points off). You will not be able to submit the essay after 11:00 pm on Feb. 16.