Informative Writing Situation

Background:

Individuals don’t make history-they are only a part of it. They are not the story, just a part of it. Usually, individuals reflect the feelings, biases, emotions, interests, and viewpoints of their community and society. While many individuals reflect society, other individuals CAN affect change in society. Their role in history is not ALL important, but neither is it that of a spectator.

Task

Using research and your knowledge of social studies, write an informative essay in which you will explain and evaluate the ideas and actions of individuals in affecting change in US society.

Criteria for Success

·  Demonstrates understanding of the topic by developing a thesis question for your individual that:

ü  Is open-ended and though-provoking

ü  Incorporates the individual and their influence

ü  Includes answers that are complex and varied

·  Introduce the topic by previewing what is to follow by:

ü  narrating an anecdote to show first-hand experience/observation,

ü  describing to create a mood,

ü  using a direct quotation,

ü  presenting a startling fact or statistic,

and/or by

ü  asking a provocative question.

·  Develop a thesis statement (controlling idea) by making a statement that answers the thesis question and will be supported with:

ü  appropriate facts,

ü  definitions,

ü  concrete details,

ü  quotations,

and

ü  other information and examples

·  Create cohesion and clarify the relationship among ideas and concepts by:

ü  dividing the subject into topics and subtopics,

ü  including descriptions, analysis, and/or observations,

ü  including information from at least three of the documents from the packet.
and by

ü  using appropriate and varied transitions to clarify the similarities and differences between the representation of the facts presented in the historiography and the information you developed during your research, and between ideas and concepts.

·  Use, and provide clear definitions of, domain-specific words and terms to inform about and explain the topic.

·  Establish and maintain a formal style by:

ü  writing in the third person point-of-view,

ü  avoiding slang, colloquialisms, and cyber-speak,

ü  using a 12 point font (Times New Roman or Arial),
and by

ü  double spacing the text.

·  Provide a concluding section which refers back to and supports your controlling idea, establishes a sense of closure, and ends reflectively.

Themes: Below are themes that have come up throughout the year. These themes are evident throughout multiple topics. Your paper will address one of the themes through the point of view of your chosen or assigned American figure. In other words, how would your figure connect to this theme? What words and/or actions of your figure ties into this theme? What words and/or actions of your figure would answer the topic question? How can you answer the topic question using your figure’s words and actions? These are pre-assigned to each figure.

  1. Are some historical figures freedom fighters of terrorists for their actions?
  2. Is technology mankind’s savior or potential destroyer?
  3. What are the government’s responsibilities?
  4. Is our economic system the cause or solution to our economic problems?
  5. Has the US become a more just society?
  6. Should the US be the world’s police?
  7. How have politics and beliefs evolve over time?

Thesis:

Your thesis is your paper’s focus. You will need to have a thesis question and a thesis statement. The thesis question is the question you will be answering throughout the paper. The thesis statement is your main idea, the answer to the thesis question. Although you will have to develop your own thesis question and statement, you have to focus on the guidelines pre-assigned to your figure when you choose him or her.

Exit Project Individuals:

You will have to choose ONE of the following figures. If there is more than one topic, you may choose which topic you want to focus on. You have another figure in mind, we can develop it together.

Individuals / Paper should focus on:
Anne Hutchinson / #5 or 7: Conditions for Women-Trial of Anne Hutchinson OR changes on the role of women-Trial of Anne Hutchinson
Nathaniel Bacon / #1 or 5: Rebellion-Bacon’s Rebellion OR Conditions for VA Colonists
Thomas Paine / #1 or 3: Support for the American Revolution OR Role of Government
Daniel Shays / #1 or 5: Rebellion-Shays’ Rebellion OR Conditions for farmers
Alexander Hamilton / #3 or 4: -Role of federal government OR Economic Policies-Payment of Debts, Taxation, Domestic Policies
James Madison / #3: Role of federal government.
George Washington / #1, 3, or 6: American Revolution OR Role of federal government-Role of Executive Branch OR Foreign Policy-Farewell Address
John Marshall / #2: Role of federal government-Judicial Review
Eli Whitney / #2 or 4: Technology of Industrial Revolution-Cotton Gin, Interchangeable Parts OR Economic System-Cotton Gin, Interchangeable Parts
Francis Lowell / #2 or 4: Technology of Industrial Revolution-Factory System OR Economic System-Factory System.
Henry Clay / #3,4, or 6: Role of federal government-American System OR Foreign Affairs-Latin American Revolutions OR Economic Systems-American System
Tecumseh / #1 or 5: Rebellion-Black Hawk’s War OR Conditions for Indians.
Chief Black Hawk / #1 or 5: Rebellion-Black Hawk’s War OR Conditions for Indians.
Dewitt Clinton / #2 or 3: Technology of Industrial Revolution-Erie Canal OR Role of federal government-Erie Canal.
Robert Fulton / #2: Technology of Industrial Revolution-Steamship.
James Monroe / #6: Foreign Policy-Monroe Doctrine.
Andrew Jackson / #4 or 6: Role of government-Indian Affairs OR Foreign Policy-Indian Removal.
William Lloyd Garrison / #5: Slavery-Abolition Movement
Horace Greeley / #5: Slavery-Abolition Movement
Rev. Henry Garnet / #5: Slavery-Abolition Movement
Jefferson Davis / #2: Role of federal government-Enslavement or US Expansion
John C Calhoun / #2: Role of federal government-Enslavement
James Hammond / # 2 or 4: Role of federal government OR Economic System-Enslavement and Cotton Production
Harriet Tubman / #1 or #5: Role in Underground Railroad OR Conditions for Africans
Catharine Beecher / #5: Conditions for Women-Women’s Rights
Elizabeth Cady Stanton / #5: Conditions for Women-Seneca Falls Convention
Henry David Thoreau / #5: Fairness-Resistance of Enslavement, Resistance against Mexican War.
James Polk / #3 or #5: Role of federal government-Manifest Destiny OR Fairness-Mexican War
Dred Scott / #5 or 7: Slavery-Dred Scott Decision OR Race and Slavery
Frederick Douglas / #5 or 7: Slavery-Abolitionist Movement OR Race and Slavery
Sojourner Truth / #5: Slavery & Women’s Suffrage
Stephen Douglas / #2: Role of federal government-Enslavement
John Brown / #1 or 5: Role in Abolition Movement OR Slavery-Abolitionist Movement
Abraham Lincoln / #2 or 7: Role of federal government-Enslavement, Secession of Southern States OR Slavery
Thaddeus Stevens / #2 or 7: Role of federal government-Reconstruction OR Race and Slavery

______

What to bring in, and when:

What to bring in / When
1. Exit Project Folder and paper signed
2. Individual and Topic
3. Thesis Question and Statement
4. Outline and Sources
5. First full page
6. Second full page
7. Final Paper
8. Presentation Due

This project will be a review of everything from the year. It will allow us to see what areas of content and skills we need to work on for the incoming 7th grade as well as your student’s progress next year. This porject will also be used to help place students for next year’s placement in the 8th Grade. The 8th Grade teachers will receive the scores.

Sign Please:______

Parent Date

A BIBLIOGRAPHY is a list of sources used by the writer of a research paper, including books, encyclopedias, newspapers, magazines, pamphlets, interviews, and electronic media. All the sources used are listed alphabetically.
General Information:

·  Book titles must be either underlined: Ants or italicized: Ants.

·  Pay attention to spacing, capitalization and punctuation.

·  The information for your bibliography should come from the Title Page of each book, NOT THE COVER.

·  This list will cover how to include the following in a bibliography: books, periodical, encyclopedia, web pages, and primary sources. You are not limited to these sources. If you use something else not listed, let me know and we’ll figure out how to list it.

BOOKS
ONE AUTHOR
Author's last name, Author's first name. Title. Place of publication: Publisher, copyright date.
Example-
Overbeck, Cynthia. Ants. Minneapolis: Lerner Publication Company, 1982.
TWO OR THREE AUTHORS
First Author's last name, First Author's first name and Full Names of 2nd and 3rd Authors. Title. Place of publication: Publisher, copyright date.
Example-
Sewell, Barbara and Patrick Lynch. A First Look at Ants. New York: Walker & Company, 1992.
PERIODICAL ARTICLES (articles from MAGAZINES or NEWSPAPERS)
NOTE: The title is in quotation marks, not underlined or italicized.
Author's last name, Author's first name. "Title of the article." Name of periodical. Date of the periodical: page numbers of the article.
Conolley, Steve."Making a Mountain Out of an Anthill." Scientist Weekly. 12 September 1987: 102-10.
ENCYCLOPEDIA ARTICLES
NOTE: If the encyclopedia arranges articles in alphabetical order, you may leave out the volume and page numbers. If there is no author, list the title first.
Most likely, you will use this:
"Title of the article." Name of encyclopedia. Volume number. Place of publication: Publisher, copyright date. Page numbers.
Example-
"Ant." The International Insect Encyclopedia. Vol.4. New York: Scholastic Books, 1994. 123-42.
You may have to use this if there is an author of the article”
Author's last name, Author's first name. "Title of the article." Name of encyclopedia. Place of publication: Publisher, copyright date.
Example-
Carlin, Norman F. "Ants." The World Book Encyclopedia. Chicago: World Book Inc., 1994 ed.
WEB PAGES- Always try to figure out who the AUTHOR of the web site/page is and where this person got his/her information in order to determine the RELIABILITY of the data. There are many personal interest pages out there that are not trustworthy. ALSO, remember to record the DATE that you accessed your materials or when the web site was last updated because on-line information can be changed daily. The standard DATE format for online materials is Date Month. (3 letter abbreviation) Year: 25 Mar. 2004
ENTIRE WEB SITE
Title of the site. Name of the author/editor. Publication informaion (sponsoring company, organization, institution, etc.) Date of Access <URL>.
Example-
AntColony.org. Phillip Pi. Ant Colony Developers Association. 18 Feb. 2004 <http://www.antcolony.org>.
PART/PAGE ON A WEB SITE
"Title of the part/page." Name of the entire site. Publication information (sponsoring company, organization, institution, etc.) Date of Access <URL>.
Example-
"Creature Feature: Ants." Arizona-Sonora Desert Museum. Arizona-Sonora Desert Museum. 25 Jan. 2004 <http://www.desertmuseum.org/kids/features_ants.html>.
Author. "Title of the part/page." Name of the entire site. Publication information (sponsoring company, organization, institution, etc.) Date of Access <URL or the site address >. Path: (mouse clicks that will take the readers/visitors to the page cited. NOTE: Each step is separated by a semi-colon.)
Example-
Trager, James C. "An Introduction to Ants (Formicidae.)" Northern Prairie Wildlife Research Center. Northern Prairie Wildlife ResearchCenter, U.S. Geological Survey. 03 Dec. 2003 <http://www.npwrc.usgs.gov/>. Path: Biological Resources; Invertebrates; Species Accounts/Descriptions.
Primary Sources-This is tough. Let me know if you need help.
Last name, First name Middle initial. Title of Work. Format. City: Publishing Company, copyright date. Source, Collection. Medium, http://...(accessed date).
Example-
Keller, Helen. Helen Keller to John Hitz, August 29, 1893. Letter. From Library of Congress, The Alexander Graham Bell Family Papers, 1862-1939. http://memory.loc.gov/cgi-bin/
ampage?collId=magbell&fileName=215/21500147/bellpage.db&recNum=0 (accessed January 11, 2006).