PROMPT: Support or Refute the following statement: The American Civil War was inevitable.
ONLY SOURCE USED IS THE AMERICAN YAWP TEXTBOOK VOL 1.:
http://www.americanyawp.com/
PAPER STRUCTURE:
1. DETAILED historical background on the topic with thesis statement.
2. evidence #1
3. evidence #2
4. conclusion.
Writing Guidelines
| Writing | Description | Points Possible |
| 1. Historical Context | Provide specific background introductory information for the historical event in question. This requires specific historical events to be described to introduce the topic of the paper. | /20 |
| 2. Argument (Thesis) | Clearly state what your main argument is. Ex: “The most significant factor in American gaining its independence from Britain was George Washington’s leadership.” This is more than simply restating the prompt. | /10 |
| 3. Evidence #1 | One specific historical event/detail/fact to support the argument. It is both identified to support thesis and explained in detail to receive full credit. | /30 |
| 4. Evidence #2 | A different specific historical event/detail/fact to support the argument. It is both identified to support thesis and explained in detail to receive full credit. | /30 |
| 5. Quality of Writing | Are thoughts organized in a clear manner? Are there major grammatical errors that distract from the submission? Cited correctly if applicable? | /10 |
| Total | /100 | |
1. You must cite using Chicago formatting (where/when applicable).
2. Your paper has no length requirement (but it is suggested you sue the 3 paragraph model).
3. It will be graded using the rubric above.
4. There are no “re-do” or “second tries” on the mini paper.
5. There are no Late submission under any circumstances.
6. These are NOT meant to be fancifully written…historical writing is NOT necessarily good or creative writing…you simply must introduce the topic by providing Historical Context, clearly state your thesis (argument) and provide detailed evidence to support your thesis utilizing 2 different pieces of historical evidence.
My suggestion is that you model your papers after a 3 paragraph outline that corresponds to:
1st paragraph: Historical context and Thesis.
2nd paragraph: Evidence #1 explained in detail
3rd paragraph: Evidence #2 explained in detail
