Semester Project

📍What You’ll Do

Start your Semester Project by reading all source materials and selecting the ones you’ll use in your paper.

📖 Step 1: Read & Annotate

• 🔎 Read all three secondary source excerpts and all four primary sources (linked here).

• 🖊️ Annotate key claims, evidence, and anything that stands out.

• 📋 Take notes on which sources best help you understand how religion shaped colonial society.

✅ Checkpoint 1: Source Selection & Rationale

• 📚 Choose two secondary and two primary sources that you’ll use in your paper.

• 🧠 Explain what each source reveals about religion in colonial America and how it might support your future argument.

• 🗂️ Complete the Source Selection Table and submit it by the due date.

📍What You’ll Do

Now that you've chosen your sources, you're ready to organize your evidence and think about how to compare regional patterns of religious freedom.

📖 Step 2: Organize Your Evidence

• 🗂 Complete the Comparative Evidence Table in your project packet. Use it to organize your selected sources by region:

  1. 1. • New England Colonies

        • Middle Colonies

        • Chesapeake Colonies

• 🔍 For each region:

  1. 1. • Identify key ideas or claims from your chosen sources

        • Add direct evidence (quotes or paraphrased examples)

        • Decide whether the region showed religious freedom, restriction, or a mix

✅ Checkpoint 2: Regional Practice and Claims Practice 

• 🧠 Summarize the overall pattern of religious freedom in each region.

• ✏️ Write one practice claim sentence per region that captures the main idea.

  1. 1. 1. Example: “In the Chesapeake colonies, religious freedom was more flexible due to a mix of economic priorities and diverse settlers.”

• 📥 Submit your completed Comparative Evidence Table and your three regional claims by the due date.

📍What You’ll Do

Now that you’ve selected your sources and organized evidence by region, it’s time to take a stand. Step 3 helps you develop a working thesis and plan the structure of your paper.

🧠 Step 3: Develop Your Thesis

• ✍️ Write a thesis that answers the prompt:

  1. 1. • To what extent was there religious freedom in colonial America between 1607 and 1754?

• ✅ Your thesis should:

  1. 1. • Make a clear and defensible claim

        • Include a line of reasoning (how or why your argument works)

        • Address regional differences if your evidence does

✅ Checkpoint 3: Thesis & Outline 

• 🧱 Write your thesis in a complete sentence

• 📌 Then draft a brief outline of your paper’s structure. For each planned paragraph, identify:

  1. 1. 1. The region or theme you’ll focus on

        2. The claim for that paragraph

        3. The evidence you’ll use

• 📥 Submit the Thesis and Outline Planner. This is a checkpoint, not a final draft — you’ll revise later!

📍What You’ll Do

You’ve planned your argument and outlined your paragraphs—now it’s time to write your first full draft. In this step, you’ll put your ideas into full paragraphs, incorporate evidence, and practice using a formal academic voice.

✍️ Step 4: Draft Your Paper

• 🧱 Turn your outline into a rough draft of your paper.

• 📚 Use both primary and secondary sources in your body paragraphs.

• 🔖 Include short quotes or paraphrased evidence, and cite them properly using in-text citation.

  1. 1. • Example: (Winthrop, 1630) or (Bonomi, p. 14)

• 🎯 Aim for 3 full pages (double spaced, 12 pt font, 1-inch margins)

• ✨ Write in a clear and academic voice—avoid casual language or contractions.

✅ Checkpoint 4: First Draft Submission

• Use the Submission Checklist: First Draft to ensure that you have all the following elements:

  1. 1. • ✅ Include an introduction with a thesis

        • ✅ Have at least two body paragraphs using evidence from your selected sources

        • ✅ Include at least one primary and one secondary source

        • ✅ Contain citations for all quoted or paraphrased evidence

        • ✅ End with a brief conclusion paragraph

📋 Submission:

Upload your first draft as a Google Doc. This will be used for peer review in Step 5.

📍What You’ll Do

In this final step, you’ll revise your first draft to improve clarity, organization, voice, and citation. Use feedback from Checkpoint 4 (or your own self-review) to make your paper stronger and more precise.

✏️ Step 5: Revise Your Paper

Use this time to:

• 🧱 Refine your thesis and topic sentences for clarity and strength

• ✂️ Tighten up your evidence integration — make sure sources are introduced smoothly

• 🔁 Add transitions to improve flow between ideas and paragraphs

• 🔍 Fix any formatting or citation issues

• 🧽 Proofread for grammar, punctuation, and style

• 💬 Check your tone — is it formal and academic?

✅ Final Submission Checklist

• Use the Submission Checklist: Final Draft to ensure that you have all the following elements:

  1. 1. • ✅ Be 3 full pages, double-spaced, with 12 pt font and 1” margins

        • ✅ Contain a revised thesis and logical paragraph structure

        • ✅ Include and correctly cite at least 1 primary and 1 secondary source

        • ✅ Be clearly written, with smooth transitions and an academic tone

        • ✅ Have no grammar, spelling, or formatting errors

📋 Submission:

Upload your final draft as a Google Doc.  

📌 Reminder: Your paper will be assessed using the scoring rubric. Make sure you meet the expectations before you submit! ✅ Learn more »