Assignment
Part I: The Paper
Review the research paper instructions. Rewrite your draft to produce a final polished paper. Your final paper should include an introduction with a clear thesis statement, at least five paragraphs supporting your thesis, and a strong conclusion that summarizes your argument. Attach your final bibliography at the end, and create a cover page with your name, date, and the title of your paper. The title should be more than a statement of the topic, and should give the reader a sense of what the paper is about. Examples:
• Nathan Meeker: Statesman and Craftsman
• The Ludlow Massacre: Fear and Superstition in a Mining Town
• The Frontier: A Meeting of Cultures and of Ambitions
As with the draft, make sure each paragraph contains at least one quote from your research and that you use primary sources as well as secondary texts. Always follow quotes with your own analysis or comment, and caption all illustrations.
The paper should be 5-7 pages in length, not including a title page and the notes and bibliography, or roughly 1500-2100 words.
Part II: The Presentation
Review the Presentation Instructions. Review the feedback you got in Week 5 carefully. Make sure you have the following:
• At least five slides, each with an image
• Captions on all the images
• An audio track
• A sixth slide with a suggested reading list of at least three sources in Chicago format. There should be a short note with each suggested source telling the viewer something about the source.
Final papers and final presentations should be submitted to the Dropbox as two different files by midnight on the due date (found in your course schedule)
Summary of Paper Requirements
• 5-7 pages (1500 words) long, 1 inch margins, page numbers on every page, double spaced, 12 point font.
• Spelling and grammar count
• Thesis statement in first paragraph required
• Works cited or bibliography required (even if you already submitted one)
• Your bibliography should be cited in correct Chicago style, and include, at a minimum, the following five sources.
o 2 primary sources
o 1 scholarly journal article
o 1secondary source (not your assigned web text or other textbook)
o 1 additional source as you like.
• Quotes or evidence required in every paragraph, along with analysis to support your thesis
• There must be a conclusion that reiterates your argument.
• Title page with your name and a full title for the paper
o The title should be more than the topic. It should say something important about the thesis of the paper. See blow for the Presentation instructions.
Presentation Instructions
For your presentation, you should provide 5 slides plus a title slide with your name and a bibliography slide (seven slides total). The seventh slide should contain an annotated bibliography of at least three sources you found particularly interesting. "Annotated" means there should be a sentence or two about each source explaining why that source is worth reading or looking at.
The purpose of the slide show is to share your research findings with the class in a brief and entertaining way.
Each slide should have some explanation, either as a voiceover or a caption.
There should be more than just text on the slides. Use media like portraits, images of documents important to the subject, a folk song recording.
You can use PowerPoint, or you may want present your images on a website on a free site like Weebly.com, or you may create a presentation in a Web 2.0 application such as Prezi (prezi.com), Voicethread (voicethread.com), or a PowerPoint saved to PDF or YouTube format. You might also try a video format such as Windows Movie Maker.
Summary of Presentation Requirements
• 5 slides in PowerPoint or another medium
• A title slide gives more than the topic. It should tell the audience something important about the thesis, and it should have your name
• The final slide should contain an annotated bibliography of at least 3 suggested readings
• Slides must contain images or other media and not just text
• All slides are captioned or have a voiceover explanation
• Presentation should be proofread and well-polished.