Reflection Essays
        In order to evaluate the students ability to read understand historical events, three reflection essays are assigned as a part of this course. Using the assigned text, choose a chapter and write an essay analyzing a topic discussed by the author. You can use any approach in this essay meaning you can agree/ disagree with the author, you can choose to reflect on the topic, or you can make a comparison to current events; the choice is yours.
Assignment Criteria:
Please do not exceed the required number of pages because I will not read beyond the assigned number of pages. Paper format is double-spaced, and size 12 (Times Roman) fonts only. The margins in Microsoft word is automatically set to 1-inch leave that setting in place.
    Footnote/ endnote and bibliography citations are needed to cite the use of all sources. The format for the paper is MLA or Chicago manual no other formats are allowed for this assignment.
    Paraphrasing is quoting so cite all information, especially statistical data.
    Not using citations in your essay is an automatic F.
    Not using the assigned texts is also an automatic F.
Rules to remember; when discussing people/organizations full names must be used the first time, for example the full name of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People must be used first then it can be abbreviated later in the essay/paper to the NAACP; do not refer to historical figures by their first name, for example Dr. Martin L. King is never Martin.
Your essays/ papers are based on the subject matter of the assigned text. Deciding what topic to write about can seem overwhelming. Out of an apparently infinite range of possibilities, how do you choose? The process is more manageable if you break it down into its component parts: 1. Choosing a broad subject that interest you, narrowing your focus to a topic that you will be able to write about in the time allotted; 2. Deciding what you want to know about that topic, and, finally formulating the question you want to answer in your essay/paper.
    The topic of your essays/papers should be based on any of the documents/ content found in the books dealing with various issues from Slavery, Womens role in Colonial Society, Abuse by Big Business, or War.
    Your essays/papers are not bound to the time frame in which the books were written, meaning students are allowed to write comparative essays that connect the past and present however, the topics MUST come from the assigned book, if students choose to write an essay based on past historical events this is also acceptable.
Your topic is the subject you have chosen to write about. If you merely collect bits of information about your topic, you will not write an effective essay. A history essay/paper, like many other kinds of academic writing, usually takes the form of an argument in support of a thesisa statement that reflects the conclusion you have reached about your topic after a careful analysis of the sources.
    A thesis is not a description of your paper; a thesis is not a question; a thesis is not a statement of opinion. A thesis is a statement that reflects what you have concluded about the topic of your paper, based on a critical analysis and interpretation of the source materials you have examined. The thesis, then, is the heart of your essay/paper. It presents what you have concluded about the topic under discussion and provides the focal point for the rest of the essay.