Civil War Essay Instructions
Mark K. Christ, ed., "This Day We Marched Again": A Union Soldier's Account of War in Arkansas and the Trans-Mississippi (Little Rock: Butler Center for Arkansas Studies, 2014)
Ton Wing, ed., "A Rough Introduction to this Sunny Land: The Civil War Diary of Private Henry A.
Strong, Co. K, Twelfth Kansas Infantry (Little Rock: Butler Center for Arkansas Studies, 2006)
Using ONLY the Civil War diaries edited by Christ and Wing, carefully craft a 4+ page essay in which you develop a strong thesis supported by material from both diaries. You can write about any theme or idea that most intrigues you-from soldier experience in combat to the natural environment, etc.
- A good essay (‘C' or better) will:
o Consist of 4+ well thought-out, flawless, double-spaced pages.
- Garamond 12 font.
- 1 inch margins.
o Develop an argument and angle that you find especially compelling.
- E.g. Soldier'sexperience, death, environment, etc.
o Exhibit a high degree of analysis-not merely a re-telling of the story.
o Not use any other source.
- The use of any outside source other than the two above books will result in automatic failure of the assignment.
o NOT be a "book report." This is a primary source-based essay. Think of it as a mini-research paper in which you use only two sources.
o Not be plagiarized-this will result in automatic failure of the class, as per the syllabus.
o Be turned-in on time. No late papers will be accepted.
- Direct quotes should be cited like this:
o "The fighting was brutal" (Christ, 69) -or- (Wing, 73).
o Detailed information from the book that is paraphrased or summarized should still be cited with a page number or range of page numbers, e.g. (pp. Wing, 67-70).