Your paper needs to be a 3000 word essay, double spaced, with 1" margins, and 12 point

font.  You need to use a normal font, like Arial or Times New Roman, nothing funky!

 Please put your name, the class time, and the title of your paper on the top left hand side

of your paper.  Make sure you submit your paper in Word.  Part of your grade will be

based on spelling, grammar, and form. Proofread your paper before you turn it in – you can

catch a lot of mistakes that way!!                                                                                                           

Your topic needs to be on something that interests you, and concerns the time covered in

this course, basically, something that has to do with American History between 1877

and 2001.   That means the information covered in our textbook.  (Note: the textbook is

NOT considered a source, neither is an encyclopedia!)  You will need to use at least 6

sources.  Three of them must be books, the rest can be articles.  At least three sources

must be primary, the rest secondary sources.  A primary source is one that is written

during the time that your subject lived or your event occurred.   For instance, if you were

going to write on the Salem Witch Trials, you could use the actual trial proceedings as a

primary source.  A secondary source is one written after the fact, something like Carol

Karlsen’s book The Devil in the Shape of a Woman. The Internet may be used with a great

deal of discretion; not everything on a site may be historically accurate.  If you have

questions about using the Internet, please contact me.                  

Make sure that you identify which sources are primary and which are secondary; it is

usual to group them that way.

You may use quotes, but keep them short (1 sentence); you can have 2-3 quotes per

paragraph providing that at least 90% of your work is original!!