DO NOT USE AI IMPORTANT!!!----- This assignment asks you to use a primary source. A primary source is a source that was produced during the time period we are studying. The textbook chapters are secondary sources, which are sources written by academics or journalists after the events have taken place. You will be using the "reader" that includes many primary sources for you to choose from. You will be choosing from the ones in Ch. 18 and Ch. 19.
Choose a primary source document from Chapter 18 or 19 of The American Yawp Primary Source Reader that was not assigned in our discussions or on the syllabus. Again, please use the link in this assignment and not the regular textbook chapters. Choose a document in Ch. 18 or Ch. 19 of the reader not the textbook.
Prompt: What does this document tell us about the society that produced it? Your thesis statement should respond directly to this question. You can begin your thesis statement "[Document Name] shows that..." if you would like. Be careful not to overstate your thesis! Support your claim with a structured argument that mobilizes specific pieces of evidence from your document. Provide specific and detailed context for the document using information provided in your textbook. [Remember: context = the historical events transpiring when a source was produced that may have influenced the ideas being presented in the source]
Begin your paper with an introduction to the source that ends with your thesis statement. You may not know what your argument should be until you have read through your notes on the source. You may want to start writing the paper and then compose your thesis statement once you have decided what you think. End with a brief concluding paragraph that summarizes your main points.
You must write a minimum of 750 words on this document. This is approximately 3 double-spaced pages.
Criteria
Submit your paper to this assignment box.
These papers will be evaluated mainly on the basis of organization (how clearly and logically organized is presentation of the material?), analysis (how perceptively and fully is the evidence interpreted?), and style (how grammatical, fluent, and effective is the writing?). There is no correct or incorrect thesis, so focus on supporting a clear response to the prompt as well as you can in the space allotted.
Important(!): This is not a research paper; it is an analysis of a primary source already collected for you. You are not allowed to use secondary source material other than the textbook for this assignment.
See attached rubric for precise assessment scoring guidelines.
Adapted from Bean and Melzer, Engaging Ideas: The Professor's Guide to Integrating Writing, Critical Thinking, and Active Learning in the Classroom, Hoboken, NJ: Jossey-Bass, 2021. 216.