Why use ten words when five will do the job?
Make sure your final essay meets these requirements:
Format/Technical:
All essays must be typed, at least 1250 words (about 5-6 pages) in length, double-spaced, 12-point font, and 1” inch margins. The word count does not include bibliography. Also, I urge you to write more than the minimum word count.
Your name and section number should appear in the upper left-hand header.
Do not create a title page. Choose an appropriate title, type it on the first line of text (centered), and then begin your essay immediately after.
A good paper will have a detailed, identifiable thesis located towards the end of the introduction.
Do not use long, unanalyzed quotations to fill up space! These will be penalized.
Use Chicago Style footnotes to cite sources used in the paper. Make sure the footnotes are formatted correctly.
At the end of the paper, include a Bibliography page listing all sources used in the paper. Put them in alphabetic order, by author’s last name (or by title, if no author). Divide your Bibliography in two sections: “Primary Sources” and “Secondary Sources.”
All essays should be thoroughly proofread; essays with a lot of typographical errors will result in lower scores.
Let a friend or a roommate take a look at your paper; they may spot typos or errors you didn’t notice. Free online spelling and grammar checking can also be a good idea (try Grammarly, for example).
Only submit your final paper in Word .doc/.docx or PDF formats; once it is submitted, please double-check if the file you submision went through, is readable, and is the correct version. If I cannot open your file in Blackboard, I cannot grade it (although I will make every effort to contact you if this is the case).
Structure:
Make sure your introduction clearly introduces your contemporary issue (use of a “hook” to grab your readers attention would be appropriate) and your central points (thesis/argument).
The body of your paper should clearly identify the historical roots of your contemporary issue through time and across space.
The body of your paper may work either backwards or forwards in historical time. Or you might find it necessary to employ other organizational forms, such as geography or sub-topics. Whatever you choose, make sure that your narrative flows.
Remember to provide a conclusion that brings all the various parts of your essay together, especially addressing the question of how an understanding of the past is important to understanding your issue in the present.
Other Tips:
Make the paper manageable. Do not try to engage too many questions. Depth is better than breadth.
Be specific with your evidence and your arguments. Avoid being vague and do not generalize.
Do not moralize. Remember that you may be discussing societies far removed from ours in time. Many of our values and beliefs do not apply.
Sometimes it may be necessary to delete entire paragraphs that you have already written in order to make the essay work better. Be brave and delete them-irrelevant or confused material only weakens your argument.
Why use ten words when five will do the job? Succinct and clear sentences make for the best reading.
Do not use lecture notes, encyclopedia articles, or webpages as secondary sources.
Have fun with it! You have spent time and energy doing research this semester. Think of the paper itself as the final step in this long journey.
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APA
1791 words