Paper
Requirements and Formatting:
-900 to 1100 words
-Double-Spaced
-12 pt. font
-You must use the funnel style for your introduction
-No "floating quotations"
-Remember to ground your analysis in the text and use historical details and quotes to support your argument.
-You must use Chicago Style footnotes to cite your sources
-You may only use assigned readings as sources. You do not need to use outside sources. Avoid answers.com and other venues. Do not consult websites.
-Objective Tone: Do not use first or second person (I, me, we, our, etc.)
Topic Prompt
Choose one of the following mid-to-late-twentieth century social movements: the Civil Rights movement; the Women's movement; the Anti-Vietnam War movement; the Gay and Lesbian Rights movement; the Black Power movement; or the Conservative Movement.
After choosing a movement to focus on, answer the following question: What were the primary goals (2 or 3) of the movement, and what strategies did this movement use in attempting to implement these goals?
For this Paper, you should use evidence from the following assigned readings:
- Chapter 26: Lives Changed and Chapter 27: The New Politics of the Late 1960s of the Fraser book in Revel
- Chapter 11 and 12 of Going to the Source:Chapter 11, Speaking of Equality, p. 248-265 and Chapter 12, Writing on the Ivy Walls, p. 272-287
- Simon Hall, "Patriotism, Protest, and the 1960s," in American Patriotism, American Protest: Social Movements Since the Sixties (Philadelphia: University of Pennsylvania Press, 2011), 9-25. (available on BB)
-Steven F. Lawson, "The Long Origins of the Civil Rights Movement, 1954-1968," in Freedom Rights (Lexington: University of Kentucky Press, 2006), 61-79. (BB)
-Alison Lefkovitz, "Men in the House: Race, Welfare, and the Regulation of Men's Sexuality in the United States, 1961-1972," Journal of the History of Sexuality 20, no. 3 (September 2011): 594-614. (available on BB)
-PremillaNadasen, "From Widow to ‘Welfare Queen': Welfare and the Politics of Race," Black Women, Gender + Families 1, no. 2 (Fall 2007): 52-77. (BB)
-Dr. Cornelius' Lectures
3. In your introduction, remember to DEFINE THE RIGHTS that you're discussing in your paper. Blanket terms in your thesis like "their rights," without explaining the specific details of what those "rights" actually are (i.e. you need to include specific goals like "equality in workplace opportunities and compensation," "autonomy in decisions about the body," or "an end to legal segregation and race-based discrimination in schools and workplaces") weaken and convolute your argument. You also need to DEFINE THE SPECIFIC STRATEGIES, rather than a blanket/vague statement like "they used multiple strategies to achieve their goals." Tell the reader what those strategies actually are. Specific strategies might include: organizing formally, publications, spreading public awareness of... (whatever issue), protests, sit-ins, marches, lobbying for/supporting certain legislation (i.e. the ERA), petitioning the courts, suing, etc.
4. Remember to DEFINE THE COMPONENTS of your movement. This is essential for good historical (and otherwise) writing. For instance, blanket statements like "White people wanted to maintain white supremacism and the Civil Rights movement wanted to stop that," is a vague and, furthermore, misleading statement. Remember: not all white Americans were white supremacists that opposed Civil Rights. There were many Anglo-American, Hispanic-American, Native American, Asian American, etc. allies of African Americans' specific goals and strategies in the Civil Rights Movement. As another example, not all women were feminists or supportive of the Women's Rights Movement, either, and there were plenty of male allies that supported women's rights, as well. Historical movements are complicated, and good historical arguments demonstrate these complexities in their analysis.
5. You may ONLY USE ASSIGNED MATERIAL AND THE NEW SUPPLEMENTARY SOURCES ON BB, unless you have discussed a specific outside source with your TA before turning in the paper. Use these sources actively. You need to prove your argument to the reader, so use quotations wisely. Remember that you should have a bare minimum of 2 citations per paragraph (except for the introduction and conclusion, which are not supposed to be full of evidence). Without citations, you have no provable evidence.
6. USE TOPIC SENTENCES (i.e. The first sentence in each paragraph needs to make a clear connection between that paragraph's information/evidence and the thesis statement/topic prompt). They are the key to good organization and making an effective and strong argument. An example: "The Stonewall riots demonstrate one strategy the LGBT Movement of the mid-twentieth century relied on in order to achieve the goal(s) of..." Another example: "To ensure the elimination of legal workplace discrimination based on gender, leaders in the mid-twentieth century Women's Movement pressured Congress to pass the Equal Rights Amendment.