Write a research paper that will be connected to one of the general research topics that I have listed below.
The topic you choose should be one that interests you.
Early European settlement in North America, from the perspective of either Native Americans and/or settlers. This could include cultural issues, issues of conquest, or could also be narrowed down to a specific region.
Early colonial American culture, from around first settlement to the early 1700s. To be effective, this would need to be narrowed down to focus on either one/two regions, or one or two other aspects of the settlement, such as women, slavery, economics, religion, etc.
The effect of the Enlightenment and/or Great Awakening on the colonies and colonial culture.
Some specific aspects of the American Revolution, such as causes, or perhaps a look at loyalists, or maybe the role of African Americans in the Revolution and what, if anything was gained.
The effects of the Revolution (could be on culture, politics, peoples, slavery, etc.)
The Constitution (how and why was it written, what did it accomplish, what were its failings, etc.)
The growth of a National Market Economy
Andrew Jackson and/or Jacksonian America (Could be biographical or look at political developments, shifts in politics, etc.)
Early industrialization (could include changes in the way people worked, effect on artisans, growth of unions, women’s roles, etc.)
Indian Removal (or Trail of Tears, etc.)
Antebellum reform movements (several to choose from so perhaps pick one or two that you find interesting)
Women’s suffrage/women’s rights in the Antebellum era.
Slavery in the Antebellum era (could focus on male vs female experience of slavery, slavery and the family, survival and resistance during slavery, growth of slavery, etc.)
Westward expansion in the mid 1800s (could look at overland diaries, the Gold Rush, effects on Native Americans [such as our local Indian Island Massacre], etc.)
Any of the crises that led directly to the Civil War, such as The Kansas Nebraska Act (“Bleeding Kansas”), the Dred Scott decision, John Brown’s raid on Harper’s Ferry, etc.
Any aspect of the Civil War, such as advances in medicine, role of women, the decision to issue an “emancipation proclamation,” the Confederacy, etc. (Caveat: Papers just covering battles run the risk of not being very dynamic unless some larger issues or themes are also addressed in the paper.)
The Reconstruction period, between 1865 and 1877. Could cover the effect on former slaves, the growth of white resistance via the KKK and similar groups, the expansion of voting rights, the split in the women’s movement, the 13th-15th amendments, etc.
If there is another topic you really want to write about that doesn’t fall under this list, just run it by me and I’ll let you know if it’s OK.
If you look over the general topics to choose from, listed above, you will see that there are a lot of different directions you could go. Be very careful to not make your research paper topic either so broad that it has no real focus, or so narrow that you are unable to find enough source material. Check with me if you need any help with this. It’s not a bad idea to run your topic past me before you start working on it, but I won’t make it a requirement.
You will also need to use at least two primary sources, such as those listed every module, and three secondary sources, such as articles or books, as additional support for your research. These need to be academic sources, not something like history.com. More detail on that below.
To reiterate: You will need to use a combination of primary and secondary sources for your paper for a total of at least 5 sources. At least two sources must be primary sources, which may be taken from the primary source readings used in this class or that you find elsewhere. You may also use any provided primary source documents found in your textbook. Two is the minimum–you can go over if you like.
At least three sources must be secondary sources, and must be academic in nature. DO NOT use the non-document parts of your textbook (Foner) as one of your secondary sources! I don’t just want you relying on the textbook—you need to do some research. If you already have five sources, two primary and three secondary and ALSO want to use the text, that would be OK, but I would expect the reference to it to be minimal. Check with me if you have any questions.
One last note about sources: the following types of internet sources are NOT acceptable for this paper: Wikipedia (sorry—I know it’s a great site but basically anyone can edit those pages and they aren’t always accurate), encyclopedias, Khan Academy, history.com, Spark-notes, Cliff-notes, Huffington Post, Breitbart, blogs, and so forth. Sources should be from a reputable academic or historical site. I strongly recommend using one of the many thousands of sources available online via the CR library. Check with me if you’re not sure.
The reference librarian is a great source if you’re having trouble with your research, and, in addition, I’ve provided a link to our CR database below. A search on “google scholar” will also sometimes turn up usable results (though some are not free). Just be careful that your sources are credible–it can be tricky to discern sometimes. For example there is a bogus YouTube site that calls itself “Prager University,” but all it is is a right wing commentator (Dennis Prager), with almost no historical background and no affiliation with any university, presenting his opinions as “lectures” (sometimes with the assistance of friends) and often getting the facts remarkably wrong. He’ll get some basics right sometimes but not the rest, ignoring chronology and facts to present his twist on things. (That one gets to me because it is so deceptive and it’s so easy to fall for it since he attaches the word “university” to it.) Again, relying on our CR library for your sources is your best bet.
The following brief video presentations from a variety of colleges and universities can help you in your search for sources, your understanding of plagiarism, and your use of library databases. A couple are a little stilted in presentation, but the info is good:
Plagiarism
Here are a couple of links that describe plagiarism : The Plagiarism Spectrum (Links to an external site.)
and What is Plagiarism (Links to an external site.). Below is also a link with a brief explanatory video:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2q0NlWcTq1Y&feature=youtu.be (Links to an external site.)
Databases
https://video.lanecc.edu/media/Library+Databases/0_9fif44eh/32267962 (Links to an external site.)
Our CR database listing can be found here:
http://redwoods.libguides.com/az.php (Links to an external site.)
How to search
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=G7g25c4y-d0&feature=youtu.be (Links to an external site.)
And here is a video that demonstrates evaluating sources “in action”
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lhwB4zQD4XA (Links to an external site.)
Mechanics:
Your paper is to be 1600-2200 words in length (about 6-8 pages, typed and double spaced—Current versions of Word allow to you keep track of the number of words used. (The easiest way to check the number of words in the paper in older versions of Word is to click “Tools” and then “Word Count.”) You don’t actually have to tell me how many words are in the paper — Turnitin shows me that automatically. It’s fine to go a little bit over, but you will be penalized if you are under. (Just so you know, bibliographies don’t count towards the total word count–it’s not that I especially want to read “x” number of pages; it’s just that you need at least that many pages to present a decent paper.)
You will need to cite any quotations, or sources used or referred to. Generally, citations are needed for any quoted, paraphrased, or summarized information that is not considered to be “common knowledge.” Here is a quick citation guide from the Chicago Manual of Style, in case you are unfamiliar with how to do this:
Link to Chicago Manual of Style citation guide (Links to an external site.)
You may also use alternate citation styles, such as MLA (Links to an external site.), so long as it is done correctly and consistently. It doesn’t matter to me so much which style you use to cite, as long as you are doing the citations.
You MUST provide complete information in your bibliography. (Complete = “the big four” : Author, title, date of publication, location and/or publisher.) Just providing a URL location/link is not providing complete information. See the above guide if you are uncertain how to cite internet sources. ALSO, be sure to be clear about where you are using your primary source documents and where you are utilizing your secondary source information. You don’t have to cite every sentence, but when there is something specific in terms of information, or a brief quote, you do need to cite it. I prefer that you DO NOT quote your secondary sources, but rather summarize your information. A very brief primary source quote can be OK, but quotes that are too long or too frequent will raise your originality score on Turnitin (ie, indicate plagiarism, which can be an issue even if sources are cited correctly.)
PLAGIARISM WILL RESULT IN AN “F” GRADE ON YOUR PAPER. (Plagiarism includes copying out of books, or from internet sources, not citing your quotations, or attempting to turn in any work which is not your own.) This is REALLY easy for me to see on Turnitin, and the site has a huge database.
Turnitin information
Papers will be submitted to Turnitin.com
The link to create a new account on Turnitin, along with instructions, can be found here: New User page – Turnitin (Links to an external site.) I know that some instructors have embedded Turnitin into Canvas, but I find doing it separately gives more options, such as being able to re-submit before the due-date if you find you’ve made an error or if your originality score is too high. So it takes a little extra minute to log on to a new site, but is worth it.
(Note: If you already have used turnitin, separate from Canvas, you will use your regular account log-in.)
Our class ID for Turnitin.com is
(Links to an external site.)
22429292
and our password/enrollment key is .
CRF19H8
The password/enrollment key is case sensitive, so if you’re having trouble logging in, the first thing you should do is be sure that you’ve entered the right case (upper or lower) and have not done something like substituted an upper case “I” for the numeral 1 (common errors). Also, copy/pasting can sometimes produce script errors, so it’s better to write it out and/or paste as plain text. They do have a help page and FAQ section if you run into problems. Contact me right away if you have any difficulties. Please try to create your account at Turnitin as soon as possible–well before the first due date–so that you give yourself time to rectify any possible glitches or problems before the due-date-clock is ticking (ie, so don’t try to create an account at 11:55 PM on the night of the 11:59 PM due date).
You may turn it in to Turnitin.com any time until the due date for full credit. If you want me to look at a rough draft, that has to be submitted at least 10 days before the due-date to allow for review, revisions, and re-submission. Caveat – the rough draft has to be complete in form and not a really REALLY rough draft, but one that you would consider actually submitting as a final copy.
If you have trouble with submitting a document to Turnitin, try the copy/paste submission option from the pull-down menu. Also, don’t worry about it if the site looks like it’s messed up your spacing or formatting — it happens, and you won’t be marked down for it.
You will see an “originality report” when you submit your exam to Turnitin. I’ve enabled the option to allow you to resubmit your paper if your non-originality percent is pretty high (which would indicate non-original material, i.e. plagiarism) as long as your paper is submitted prior to the due date. You should consider revising and re-submitting anything above around 22-25%. Excessively long quotes will sometimes do that, so it’s better to keep the quotes short–only include what is really important in terms of tone or content and paraphrase the rest. After the due date, papers may not be re-submitted. (You can still turn in a paper, but just cannot re-submit in case of a high originality score or other issue.)
Your research paper is due on 12/8. Late papers will be accepted, however you will lose 3 points for every 24 hour period in which the paper is late, up to a total of 20 points. The final day to turn in a paper is the last day of class, 12/20.
Be careful about grammar and spelling—although this is not an English class, poor grammar and misspelled words detract from the readability and effectiveness of your paper, and thus result in a loss of points. You may want to consult Strunk’s Manual of Style before you start or if you are having difficulties or questions. And of course the CR writing lab is there to assist you if you need here is a copy of the Eureka schedulePreview the document, and on the Klamath-Trinity campus site, writing assistance will be available on Mondays from 1-2 and on Tuesdays and Thursdays from 2:30-3:30 (please email Melissa Ruiz for more information about the room location). (The Del Norte schedule is still being finalized, as far as I know.) You can also make an online appointment with the writing center via confer-zoom. So lots of opportunities for help with your writing if you feel like you need that! Finally, here is the link to Strunk’s Manual of Style:
Link to Strunk’s Manual of Style (Links to an external site.)
Helpful Hints:
You will find it easier to write a good paper if you come up with an effective thesis statement near the beginning: that will give you the framework around which to construct your essay. Sometimes this is the hardest (and lengthiest) part of writing such a paper—determining what it is, exactly, that you really want to say. It’s important, though. It keeps you focused and organizes all that follows. See me if you’re having difficulties.
The best format for a history paper can be broken down rather simply. In your first paragraph, come up with a “thesis” (tell me what you’re going to say). The body of your essay should be your “argument,” or if you prefer, the discussion of your thesis (say it). The final paragraph or so should be your conclusion (tie up your discussion/argument and tell me what you said). Your conclusion should reflect your thesis — it’s not exactly the same but summarizes how the evidence you provided supported that thesis.
Note: when I say “tell me what you are going to say,” I don’t mean that literally, i.e. “I will be talking about xyz, after which I will compare it with abc.) That isn’t very dynamic. Phrasing it as a question doesn’t usually work very well, either. Rather, phrase it as a statement or assertion, such as, “Although Thomas Jefferson is noted for his position on qrs, his writings demonstrate that his real focus was on fgh.” And then you support that assertion in your paper, which will now have a structure — supporting your thesis. (The words, “for example” are very useful!) Writing an outline of what you are going to say, and the examples you will be using, before you start writing can be very useful and will help to keep you focused. Let me know if you have questions as you work on this!
Here is the guide to writing history papers that I posted in the first module and that reiterates some of that information: How to write history papersPreview the document
Some frequent mechanical mistakes to be aware of:
Titles of books are underlined or italicized, not placed in quotation marks.
All punctuation goes INSIDE the quotations, “for example.”
Et cetera is abbreviated etc., not ect.
Proper word pairing: should (could, would) HAVE, not should OF.
Don’t be too “casual” in your approach.
Avoid the “passive” voice.
Woe unto essays that include text messaging abbreviations
Always use the past tense when describing events in the past.
Be accurate in your terminology.
Do not use offensive, pejorative, or outmoded terms.
Centuries (“the 1700s”) are plural, not possessive. Do not use an apostrophe.
Defiantly and definitely are two different words with two different meanings (“She definitely was defiantly attacking her accusers.”)
Bias and biased — know which form to use (someone has a bias, in other words they are biased.)
Dominate and dominant — again, two different words – one can dominate something, or be a dominant figure
AGAIN – talk to me right away if you are having any difficulties. I’m here to help you succeed