Assignment Requirements
CRITICAL ESSAY #1 (50 Points)
SCOPE: Choose ONE of the following questions and write a coherent, well-argued essay. Answers must be typed, free of grammatical infelicities, and no more than 4 pages, double-spaced
A) We outlined four empires in the New World, and how their interactions caused four continents to convulse. What did I mean by that? How did each empire approach colonization – and how did the locals react to the colonizers? Which empire was the most successful? Why?
B) Contrast the Chesapeake and New England settlement experiences – how in the heck did the Chesapeake folks survive? Did they deserve to survive? Why was the New England experience so much different than the Chesapeake experience?
C) How did the British policies toward the colonies change after the French and Indian War? Why did they change? Do you see any storm clouds on the horizon?
EXPECTATIONS: I expect your essay to answer the question(s), basically. Look over your notes, consult your book again, and sit down without ANY materials and write an outline for your essay. Create a thesis statement – an answer to the question(s) – and consider what points, facts, or ideas support your argument. Put those points into your outline. Once the outline is finished, write the essay and put it away for a day or two. Come back to it and eliminate errors in grammar, spelling, argument, and logic. Try reading the essay out loud – does it make sense? Fix it! Look at the Style Sheet and Grading Rubric I included on D2L. It offers some helpful hints on grammar and common mistakes students make when writing historical essays.
REMINDER: Plagiarism will not be tolerated. Plagiarism is academic theft – stealing the academic work of others. By copying the work of others without giving them credit or by not paraphrasing borrowed material correctly, you are guilty of this offense. An essay with plagiarized material will automatically receive a grade of “0.”
ANOTHER REMINDER: This is an essay, not a research paper. I do not require or expect you to do any outside research, but be advised that if you use any source in addition to your textbook – or you quote or paraphrase your textbook – footnoting and bibliography rules apply. See style sheet for considerations. ALL DOCUMENTS MUST BE SAVED IN WORD FORMAT (.doc or .docx).
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