HISTORY 2301 ESSAY ASSIGNMENT A.K.A Dr. Prewitt's 21 steps toward a good essay. Read and understand each and every requirement listed below before beginning the essay. Each student is to submit a formal essay that is four to five (4-5) pages in length. All rules of formal writing apply to this assignment including those listed below.
The essay should use only Garcia's book as a source for questions 1, 2, and 3. Garcia's book AND Gone to Texas are required for question 4.
NO OTHER SOURCES ARE TO BE USED. TOPIC - Choose one
(1) of the questions below. 1.Based on information in Garcia's book, why did so many Mexican Americans in Texas support the candidacy of John Kennedy?
2.Based on information in Garcia's book , how do the problems establishing PASO reflect the larger political and cultural history of Mexican Americans in the southwest? 3. Based on information in Garcia's book , were the conflicts concerning the establishment of PASO inevitable or could they have been solved?
4. Based on information in Garcia's book AND Gone to Texas , do Viva Kennedy and Gone to Texas portray political movements in the Mexican American community in Texas between 1950 and 1970 in essentially the same way or in essentially different ways?
Write an essay that clearly answers the question through careful analysis of evidence from the book. Students may submit preliminary drafts or partial drafts for comment at any time BEFORE the final draft is due.
PARTS OF THE ESSAY - These parts are REQUIRED . Any essay that does not include these required parts will receive a very low grade, perhaps as low as 0 (zero, cero, nihilo, μηδ?ν ). 1) Introduction with thesis. In this section the author should clearly and briefly state the purpose of the essay and present the thesis (argument). This is not to be a mystery novel, do not leave the reader in the dark and then surprise them at the end. A page or so should be more than enough enough for this section. Page of 1 4 2) Body - narrative that contains the evidence. Here the essay presents the story, evidence and arguments in a logical and convincing manner. This section will constitute the largest portion of the essay and should receive a great deal of attention. The text should follow a logical progression that the reader can easily follow. The body must be broken up into paragraphs that deal with only one idea at a time and that flow easily from one idea to the next. EACH IDEA, OR PART OF THE ARGUMENT, MUST BE SUPPORTED BY QUOTED EVIDENCE FROM THE SOURCES THAT IS PROPERLY CITED (see below). A good essay may also present contradictory evidence or arguments, as appropriate, and demonstrate why the author did not choose them. Remember, a paragraph should have a minimum of five (5) sentences. The writing should be engaging, never flippant or boring. 3) Conclusion. Here, the author summarizes the essay and makes concluding remarks. The conclusion should not be a restatement of the introduction.
As this is the last thing the reader will read, it should be strong and convincing.
As with the introduction, a page or so should be enough. 4) Title page: title of the paper, name of the author, the course name, and the date.
5) One inch margins (all 4).
6) Double space text. 7) Ten or twelve point font. 8) Chicago Style footnotes or endnotes as described in The Chicago Manual of Style are required. Turabian and Hacker describe the essence of Chicago Style in their respective books. Microsoft Word inserts and numbers footnotes brilliantly. In MS Word 2007 and later, there should be a "Reference" button in the toolbar. From there, choose "footnote." Please note that footnote numbers should be superscript and not italicized.
Use the MSWord default settings. For the details of Chicago-style citation and bibliography see: Turabian, Kate L. A Manual for Writers of Term Papers, Theses, and Dissertations . (This is an abbreviated version of The Chicago Manual of Style , and is the style most commonly used by historians. The Chicago Manual of Style .
This is the full-blown version, 920+ pages. Another very good and easy to use manual is - Hacker, Diana. A Pocket Style Manual . There is also a link to an abbreviated version of this work on the Lone Star College - Tomball Library web site. You may also find instructions here - https://owl.english.purdue.edu/owl/resource/717/01/ 9) Page numbers. No additional information is needed in the header or footer, but the author's name may be included.