The country is changing and you need to tell me the future.  In this essay you are going to tell me the future of both parties and politics as a whole.  Using various sources, you need to gather information and make an educated guess. 

This paper is going to look a lot more daunting than it actually is.  I need you to take a deep breath and take it step by step.  You also need to keep your bias out of the essay.  You may – and probably do – have strong political views, which is fine as an American citizen, it is your right; but that cannot show up in this paper. 

We will also not be using the traditional MLA format; we will instead use Chicago/Turabian.  This format is used in the social studies field and it is something you may use in college.  This is the format which uses footnotes. 

You will need to have at least 7 pages on content, a bibliography, a table of contents, AND a cover page.  The cover page will serve in place of the MLA header.  7 pages sounds like a lot, but you will also have 5 chapters (see below) and all of them will start on their own page.  This needs to be 12 font, Times New Roman, 5 source minimum, must have footnotes, and must have page numbers.