Monograph Project Guidelines US History I

MonographProjectGuidelines US History I

TheMonographProject

Students will examine in detail the life of slaves in the United States since 1619.Students will take advantage of a wealth of “slave narratives” — words fromslavesandformerslavesthemselves–toresearchandwriteaboutslavelife.To begin, students will choose to read a Book, one of three Classic Slave

Narratives:OlaudahEquiano,FrederickDouglass,orHarrietJacobs/Linda

Brent.Thenarrativestudentschoosetoreadwillformthefoundationoftheresearchproject.Using the information gained from reading one of the above narratives, students will discuss specific information regarding the significance of this individuals account to America’s history.

All written work submitted for the Monograph Project must conform to the FormatandDocumentationRequirements listedbelowandbesubmittedbythe deadlines listed in the Course Schedule of the Syllabus.

TheMonographProjectwillrequireasustainedeffortovertheentiresemester.Be sure to consult regularly with your instructor for details on how to complete

theMonographProject. Ask questions if you are unsure of something.

TheMonogrpahProjectisrequiredforallstudents.IfyoudoNOTcomplete the Monograph Project the highest potential grade that you can receive is aC.Additionally,completionoftheResearchProjectdoesNOTautomatically guarantee a grade of B or better. The Research Project is comprised ofa:BookChoiceandFinalDraft(100pts).

PleaseseetheCourseSchedulesectionoftheSyllabusforthedatesbywhichyou mustsubmityour:BookchoiceandFinalDraft.TheFinialDraftforthisassignmentisaminimumof4pages,with a maximum of 6 pages (NO MORE than 6 pages) of text, this count DOES NOT include Title Page, or Bibliography page.

SelectingaBook

Studentswilluseoneofthreeslavenarrativesasthesourcefortheirmonographinto the life of African-American slavery in the United States.The three Classic Slave Narratives are:Olaudah Equiano, Frederick Douglass, or Harriet Jacobs/Linda

Brent.Eachoftheseworksisavailableontheweb.Justclickonthetitle:

NOTE:TrybothlinksfortheFrederickDouglassbook.

FrederickDouglass,NarrativeoftheLifeofFrederickDouglassorNarrativeofthe Life of Frederick Douglass

HarrietJacobs/LindaBrent,IncidentsintheLifeofaSlaveGirl

OlaudahEquiano,TheLifeofOlaudahEquiano

EachoftheseworkshasbeenpublishedmanytimesandareavailableattheLibrary. Or they can all be found in:

HenryLouisGates,Jr.,ed.andintro.,The ClassicSlaveNarratives(NewYork: Signet Classics, 2002). ISBN 0451528247

Students will read their chosen narrative to learn the first-hand experiences of aformer slave.The Book will provide background on the subject and assist studentsin choosinghow best to discuss the key points required for this paper.

• ONLY students who submit a Book choice in class by the deadline listed intheCourseScheduleportionoftheSyllabuswillbepermittedtosubmitaFinal Draft.

No Final Draft will be accepted if it contains the additional sources other than the ONE narrative selected.Ifyouhaveanyquestionsaboutasource,asktheinstructor.

WritingtheFinalDraft(100pts)

This is a term project that demonstrates a student’s ability to write clearly, use good grammar and punctuation, analyze the material in a concise manner, and offer their thoughtsontheprimary source.TheMonograph Projectwillrequirea sustained effort over the entire semester.Be sure to consult regularly with your instructor for details on how to complete the Monograph Project.

Studentsareexpectedtoaccomplishfive(5)tasksintheFinalDraft:

• Discuss how this slave narrative is significant to America’s history at the time it was written.
  • Discuss why it was important for this individual to record their personal history at this at the time it was written.
  • Discuss how this narrative has changed your views on slavery and/or abolition.
  • Discuss why it is important to preserve this history and to continue to teach on the experiences of these individuals.
  • Discuss your views on how this individual responded to the circumstances at the time, and do you believe
  • their actions were appropriate, why, or why not, what might you have                      done differently if you were faced withthose same circumstances during this time period in history.

Sometipsonwriting

Thereareafewimportantthingstoconsiderwhenyou writetheFinalDraft.To begin with you must:

NEVERASSUME.

WhenyouwritetheFinalDraft,DONOT ASSUMEthatyoucanleaveoutcritical information because you know that I am familiar with the subject.

Instead,youmusttellmethe:

MOSTIMPORTANTINFORMATION

sothatIwillclearlyunderstandyouranalysisoftheprimaryandsecondarysources.

DONOTREWRITETHESOURCES.

Yourtaskinthisassignmentistoshowthatyoucandigesta significant primary source and distill them down to their essence, and then apply selected nuggets into a coherent argument. You simply do not have the space to repeat everything. So, do not waste time and effort trying to rewrite the sources.

Begin your paragraph with a dynamic topic sentence that tells the reader what is comingintheparagraphandwhyitmatters.Whenyoutellyourreaderwhatyouare going to talk about, you describe the ‘what.’ When you explain ‘why’ it matters, now you analyze. So be sure to start your paragraph with a topic sentence that tells your reader the ‘what’ and the ‘why.’ DO NOT USE CONTRACTIONS!

Each paragraph is a mini-paper. Make the first sentence of each paragraph an introduction to that paragraph. Tell your reader what to expect in the paragraph. This iscalledthetopicsentence.Summarizeyourpoint at theendof theparagraph,likethe conclusion of a paper. In between, give lots of evidence to prove your point. Each paragraphshouldbeatleastthirteen(13),butNOTmorethantwenty(20),lineslong-

-NOTsentences,butlinesonthepage.

Make your sentences active. Fill your Final Draft with verbs that move the reader alongfrompointtopoint.Writingthatreliesontheverb“tobe”–is, was,are,etc.– quickly becomes repetitious and will NOTconvince your reader. I do not expect you to eliminate the verb “to be” entirely but come very close. Avoid the use of Passive Voice.

Quotes help spice up a paper by giving the reader the flavor of the sources. So, include quotations where appropriate to illustrate your points. Using quotes helps to establish your understanding of the key themes, events, person, etc., in your paper. Hence, the use of quotes constitutes a substantial portion of your Final Draft grade. RemembertociteyourquotesfollowingthedirectionsintheDocumentationsection below. And, if you use information that comes from a source, you must cite that information whether you use a quote or not. Again, follow the directions in

theDocumentationsectionbelow.

FormatRequirements

ALLASSIGNMENTS– Must contain a cover page, your actual paper, and a works cited page.

• Pagenumbers–topright;
• Title–Top,center,page1;
• Name–Center;belowtitlewithappropriatespacing(seebelow);
• Text–Beginsrightbelowthenameonpage 1,withappropriatespacing (see below):
• Spacing–DOUBLEspaced
• Margins–one(1)inchfromtheedgeofthepageonthe:top,left,right, and bottom;
• Font–12pt.TimesNewRoman;
• Length – 4 – 6 pp
• Works Cited–onaseparatepage.[Notcountedinthe length.See Documentation below.]
• Electronicsubmissionmustbeindoc.,docx.,orPDF ONLY.

Please:

DONOTBOLDFACE;or DO NOT ITALICIZE; or DO         NOT LEFT JUSTIFYyourtext.

Theaboveparticularsaredesignedtoensurethatallstudentscompleteworksof similar length.

Thedocumentationrequirementsforthecompletedpaper include:

• Intextcitationsandabibliography

Please use in text citations and a bibliography to refer to the sources from which you extracted information. To ensure that you give credit where creditis due, use Kate L. Turabian, A Manual for Writers of Term Papers, Theses, and Dissertations, 8th ed. (Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 2013).                                          Forthecorrectstyle,youcanalso see John Grossman, ed., The Chicago Manual of Style, 16th ed. (Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 2010).

Intextcitationswilllooklikethefollowingattheendofyoursentence:(Lauderback 2013, 1)

IncludeaWorks Cited pageonaseparatepage(withnopagenumber),attheend of

yourFinal Draft.Hereyouprovideacompletecitationfor the work cited.

WeusetheMLAformatforthispaper.Grading Policy

Proofread all work. Do not use incomplete sentences, do not use first names only when speaking of the subjects in your paper. Do not use contractions in your paper, unless they are a part of a direct quote followed by an immediate citation.

Points will be deducted for grammatical errors, historical inaccuracies,  failure to cite quotes, paraphrases,  new or uncommon information, and failure to address  all required aspects of this paper.

DEADLINE:  The due date on this assignment is a hard one, this means NO LATE PAPERS WILL BE ACCEPTED.   You have SIX weeks to complete this – DO NOT WAIT UNTIL THE LAST MINUTE.