Assignment

Explain the development of California between the 1500's and 1870's, in terms of ethnicity, gender, religion and its linkage to the world and national economy

You must use MLA parenthetical citations of the text you paraphrase. DO NOT USE QUOTES! Be specific in your analysis. Your essay must be at least 2000 words minimum in length. You may only use the course textbook (California: A History by Kevin Starr: Modern Library (any edition)) as the sources for this assignment. Your first paragraph must contain a series of arguments that you intend to historically prove in the text (of your essay. Be sure to formally introduce the author and the book in the first couple of sentences. Never pose rhetorical questions in your essay. Rhetorical questions are cheap literary devices that make your writing style non-assertive and give the reader the impression that you are not in control of your essay or the material. Immediately give the reader your overall argument, and then, in succeeding sentences of your first paragraph list supporting arguments in chronological order. The supporting arguments should be chronological in order and build on each other. The topic sentences of your paragraphs must do more than simply describe what the paragraph is about, they must also state why the paragraph is important to the overall argument of your essay. In other words, the topic sentence summarizes the paragraph, but also links it back to one of the supporting arguments that you listed in your introductory paragraph. Paragraphs should be one-third to one-half page in length. Finally, your essay must have a conclusion that restates your original argument in light of the data and facts that were discussed in the text of your essay. A paragraph is at least four sentences long.

To obtain an optimal grade your essay must be clearly written.