Elkins Essay Assignment
Important stuff (like grading!) first: This will be entered as a dbq grade. Grades are due around the 30th and it will not be graded by then. This is your first, full dbq essay so you want to do well—actually, you want to do well all the time so what am I saying? It is worth 25 points—make sure you reference your pink, APUSH Scoring Guide to fulfill the requirements. This is the exact rubric used on the AP test so get familiar with it!
Page Set-up: The essay must be typed—Times font or century schoolbook is fine--1 inch margins and NO extra spacing between paragraphs-do the normal double space! If you think you may have printing difficulties the day it is due, EMAIL it!
Remember, NO late work accepted! Title the essay “Elkins essay.”
Due dates: A classes: Monday, September 27; B classes: Tuesday, September 28.
End Result: Your job is to write a thesis essay concerning this question: To what extent is Stanley Elkins accurate? You will need to consider the information I gave you in class surrounding Elkins and the slave trade. In addition, consider the information in your textbook and any prior knowledge. The important part is USING the documents! We utilized 8 documents in class (also on historylearner) and you need to use a majority of them in your essay-so at least 5 should be used. Avoid directly quoting the documents—you can, but only use parts of sentences or fragments of quotes. USE the documents(don’t copy them) in your essay. Consider how a document gives you proof for your point!
Citing documents: On historylearner, I have identified which letter should be tied with each document (A-H). Find “Elkins Essay Sources” under APUSH. Use the document’s letter as your citation in your essay (instead of title or author). All citations will be in-text.
For example: Slaves were captured and brought to the Americas in a variety of ways (doc. B). The Middle Passage was the most grueling experience (doc. C).
Or if you do decide to quote from a document (do so sparingly) here is an example: The slaves were treated like cattle: “…looking in their mouths to judge of their age”was common (doc A). Note how I use quotation marks when quoting the document directly AND still use an in-text citation!
Length: Don’t ask me this question! There is no required minimum or maximum. Your goal is to fully, completely, answer the question using the documents. If you can do that in 5 paragraphs, great! If you can do it in 7, great!