Your task asks you to write a paper that integrates evidence and ideas from outside sources in support of your thesis.
This guide is a customized resource for this particular course and assignment.
Write a 5-7 page paper about a document that you have selected from your textbook.
Choose a document that interests you. Interrogate the document. Analyze the document. Understand the document.
- Who wrote or created the document?
- What is the message, the content of the document?
- Who is the intended audience?
- What is the historical and social context of the document: the speech, the poster, the photograph, etc.?
- What are the main ideas conveyed?
- Consider the language and the images. Is there emotional content?
- What is controversial or debatable about the ideas raised in the document? What change(s) does the document propose or suggest or inspire?
Write a well-developed thesis statement.
- Make a claim about an idea or issue. The claim must identify a debatable idea, an idea where there is a range of perspective.
- Identify "controls" or aspects of the issue that you will explore in your argument/paper.
- Narrow your topic so that you can dig deeply into the issues.
- The thesis statement should be no less than two paragraphs.
Use at least 15 sources from a variety of source types: books, journals, magazines, newspapers, online resources, film, or oral sources.
