honest writer

GRADE: The essay is worth 100 points and will account for 20% of the final course grade. A grading rubric is on the last page. Late, incomplete, or uncited essays will not be graded. Extensions will not be granted without the prior approval of the instructor. Grades will be posted on the Vancko Hall grade book within ten days of the assignment due date.

CONTENT and FORMAT: 5-7 double-spaced pages in Times New Roman 12-point font with one inch margins. Title page and works cited page must be included, but do not count toward page total. Essays may be longer if necessary. Incorporate quotations and specific examples from the readings as well as analysis. Quotations are important to support analysis and should be included, but should be kept short. Essays must be well-written with few to no errors in spelling and grammar. See Writing Well document and Purdue Owl Writing Lab link. All work must be original, and must include citations when incorporating any material (direct or indirect) from the assigned sources. Citation format is MLA in-text citations. Refer to Purdue Owl Citation Guide. Acceptable formats are Word, RTF, or Adobe/PDF.

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PAPER STRUCTURE

• You may organize your writing by document/source, but it is often better to organize essays by topic. In other words, your paragraphs shouldn’t discuss one source at a time; instead organize paper around topics that might include several sources. This makes for a better organized paper with better flow, and a much stronger argument.

I. INTRODUCTION (1 paragraph)

A. INCLUDE brief summary of topic. Provide one paragraph of context (who, what, when, where), including time period and place. Do not give the entire history of your topic, just the information most important for the reader to understand your essay.

B. INCLUDE argument/thesis statement: Make it strong and clear. Start the sentence with “I argue” or “I contend” or “I believe” or “This paper will prove.”

C. HINT: Introductions can be difficult to write (even for experienced writers). If you have trouble with this step, skip it and come back to it. It’s often easier to write after you’ve begun writing the body of the paper. Do not, however, skip the step of making an outline, list, or diagram that plans out the body of your paper.

NOTE: The introduction gives the basic information needed to understand the topic you will discuss. This should not be more than ½ to 2/3 of the first page.

II. BODY PARAGRAPHS: A good history essay consists of the following components: general statements, specific examples and quotes to support the general statements, your analysis of those examples and quotes and an explanation of how they fit into the overall topic/argument of the essay. Each paragraph should consist of the following:

A. TOPIC SENTENCES

• Each paragraph should begin with a topic sentence that explains a main point in your argument and links it to that argument. Your topic sentence should always be in your own words. Do not begin a paragraph with a quote.
• Your topic sentence should indicate whether you are continuing with the same or a similar idea, or whether you are transitioning to a new or conflicting idea. Use transition words like: additionally, also, likewise; (or) in contrast, however.

B. EVIDENCE / QUOTE

• Follow your topic sentence with a paragraph that includes evidence and analysis. Use at least one quote and/or specific example for each point/paragraph.

You may use more than one, but don’t let quotes write your paper for you. The quotes are there to support your argument, not the other way around.

C. ANALYSIS

• The remainder of the paragraph should be your analysis of the evidence; your explanation as to how this evidence supports your argument.
• Never assume that a quote speaks for itself. You provide explanation and analysis. Use comparative analysis when discussing documents and sources.
• No more than one point per paragraph. You may find, however, that each point requires lengthy discussion. In that case, you may find that you need several paragraphs to discuss each point. No paragraph longer than ½ to 2/3 of a page.

I II . CONCLUSION (1 paragraph; shorter or same length as intro.)

A. Briefly summarize the evidence

B. Re-state and re-phrase your argument

GRADING RUBRIC