Writing

Week 1: Today, we looked over the syllabus and pointed out some key expectations for the first paper, namely, good organization and concision. This was reinforced by an article which we read and annotated while identifying each paragraph's topic sentences. For the next class, the students were asked to turn in at least two (ideally three) hard copies of their rough draft for History Paper #1, as well as an organizational word cloud exercise. 

Nota bene: don't worry about completing your footnotes for now. Just insert a footnote in your draft, note the page your found your citation on, and leave the rest blank. We will cover citations and bibliographies in our next class. 

Week 2: 

1) Here is the footnote handout. If anyone has any questions please let me know! 

2) If  anyone is in desperate need for their laminated sheets from middle school, please ask a classmate to share. 

3) You can email me at acockerst.a@gmail.com 

4) The final draft is due on Oct. 1st (keep in mind that your literature paper is due the 3rd!), though you can turn it in on Friday the 26th for extra credit. 

5) I will have a sub for the next class

Week 4: 

Here is the prompt for our next history paper: Tell the story of the French Revolution up through the execution of the king, concluding with a long final paragraph that evaluates the Revolution (what was good and what was bad about it?  how do we see the bad ideas playing out?).  Narrating well can be challenging; you must determine what are the main events, leave out of the story less important matters, and describe what you do include in enough detail that the story makes sense and flows logically.  Ideally, you include an occasional comment in your narration that points forward to your evaluative conclusion.

The paper will still be 3 pages in length. Please remember to use footnotes and a bibliography!

Homework for next class: prepare a full outline of the paper. It should be so nearly complete that, with a few transitions, it could almost be mistaken for a paper. Please, bring a copy to class. 

Week 5: No homework due for the next class. Enjoy break, and take some time to write your second history paper!

Week 6: 10/22 UPDATE ON DEADLINE The rough draft is due on October 31st. Please turn in a paper copy at class that Friday.