History 1202
Spring 2022
Dr. Ringel
2nd WRITING
ASSIGNMENT AND WRITING TIPS
The assignment is to write a 1000-1250 word analytical essay
paper on the following question:
In Chapter 3 of Midnight Rising,
we learn that John Brown and Frederick Douglass met during the winter of
1847-48, and that Brown shared with Douglass an early version for his plan to
start a slave revolt. Brown wanted Douglass to join his effort but, despite
being impressed with Brown, Douglass refused. Based on what we have learned
about the two men in our course readings, why do you think that Douglass
refused to join with Brown? How do you think the themes of expansion we have
discussed in this class help us to understand their different strategies for
achieving the abolition of slavery? Please use at least SEVEN examples
from the texts to support your answer.
This assignment is due Friday, March 25 at 5 pm. Documents should
not be in pages (which none of my computers can read) or in PDF form (I cannot
write on those documents); Word-compatible formats are preferable, but Google
Docs or even documents pasted into emails are OK. Late papers will be penalized
1/3 of a grade for each day they are late. Failure to use the minimum required
number of examples in your paper, or the additional use of any non-course
readings will result in a 2-point penalty for each infraction.
Requirements/recommendations for these papers:
Your
essays must respond directly to the assignment. That means simply
describing what happened in the readings is not sufficient; you must
construct an argument that specifically answers the questions provided.
Present your argument in the introduction to your essay, and then use the
rest of the space to support your answer using evidence from the course
materials.
Use
only evidence from the course materials in your paper. Do not draw
material from other websites, books, newspapers, articles, encyclopedias
or any other texts. You will receive a 2-point penalty for every
unapproved source you use in the paper.
BE
PRECISE. BE PRECISE. BE PRECISE. Probably the biggest problem occurring in
undergraduate papers is a lack of precision. Most of you have struggled
with this problem this semester, so go back and review where I commented
that your previous essays were vague and try to avoid making the same
mistakes. Avoid using the following words in your essays: aspect,
lifestyle, thing, and impact (particularly as a verb). If you have
questions about how to avoid vagueness, come ask me.
Use
evidence to support your arguments. Except perhaps in the introduction and
conclusion, every argument that you make should have some evidence from
the course texts to support it. The requirements listed above are
minimums; in most cases the more evidence you provide, the better your
essay will be. Unsupported arguments are not persuasive and will damage
the overall quality of your essay.
The
flip side of that same point is that you should only make arguments that
you have evidence to support. Don’t make counterfactual arguments, and
don’t predetermine your arguments and then go seek evidence to support
your claims. Build arguments based on the patterns you see in the course
readings, just as we have done repeatedly in class this semester.
Cite
your sources in the paper. I am not grading the form of your citations, so
the form can be simple (Horwitz 24, for example). All that I ask is that
you make it simple for me to go back and check your citations if
necessary. Any un-cited sources will be considered plagiarism, and will be
penalized to the fullest extent the University allows!
Write
in concise, direct, complete sentences that convey your points clearly.
Use simple past tense for your verbs except in exceptional circumstances
(eliminate the use of would and will before your verbs- using the
subjunctive and future tense in these papers is almost always wrong). I am
not grading you on your ability to construct long, complicated sentences
or on your use of impressive vocabulary. I am grading your ability to write grammatically correct
sentences without typos, so PROOFREAD
YOUR PAPERS! The more complicated your sentence structure, the
more confusing and ineffective it is likely to be.
Grading criteria:
A D or F paper will lack evidence that the
student has a basic comprehension of the issues raised in this assignment. It
will generalize or veer off topic, lack evidence from the required texts.
A C paper will be
mostly descriptive, explaining what happened but offering little or no analysis
as to why. It will remain generally focused on the topic, and provide at least
the minimum evidence from the expected sources.
A B paper will
offer an argument that answers the question presented. It will also provide
solid evidentiary support for the answer. It may, however, lack a consistency
in its focus on the answer or in its supporting evidence, or not present a
solid understanding of the larger historical context raised by the question.
An A paper will
offer an argument that answers the question presented. It will have strong
evidentiary support for that answer and a consistent focus on conveying its
arguments. It will also display a solid understanding of the larger historical
context raised by the question.
ALSO ONLY USE THIS LINK FOR FREDRICK DOUGLASS QUOTES AND FROM THE BOOK MIDNIGHT RISING BY TONY HORWITZ
– https://docsouth.unc.edu/neh/douglass/douglass.html
