Van Gosse is a historian of the 1960s, History Essay homework help

Van Gosse is a historian of the 1960s. Ten years ago he wrote:

What linked [the movements of the 1960s] was the importance they placed on the dignity of each and the right of every American to full citizenship.

We have been studying these movements this semester, and you will comment in your final essay on whether Gosse was right when he wrote this statement. To write your commentary, you will choose one of the movements we have studied and select two documents that we studied from that movement. You will analyze these two documents to see if they prove what Gosse was saying or not. Here are the definitions of two key terms:

civil rights: “the rights of citizens to political and social freedom and equality”

dignity: “the state or quality of being worthy of honor or respect; a sense of pride in oneself; self-respect”

How to Write the Essay

1. Choose one of the five movements we have studied—Civil Rights Movement, Black Power/Black Nationalist Movement, Anti-Vietnam War Movement, Counterculture, and Feminist Movement.

2. Select two documents that we studied when we discussed that movement. Choose from the primary sources in the reader, not the historians’ articles that were on Blackboard, not the introductions in the reader.

3. Look at each of the documents to see if the activists in that document are arguing for civil rights or for human dignity. Do they seem to argue for one or both or neither? Take some notes about the specific ideas in the document because you will work from you notes when you write, not directly from the document.

4. Write a body paragraph about each of the documents. Remember to start with a topic sentence and use specifics from the document to prove how correct that sentences is. You topic sentence needs to clearly identify whether the document talks about civil rights or human dignity. You need to identify who was the author of the document and how she/he was connected to the movement. You need to explain what each idea in the

document was and show how each is an expression about rights or dignity. Each of the body paragraphs needs to be at least five sentences in length.

1. Once you have written both body paragraphs, write the introductory paragraph. To start with take a few notes on what the documents seem to be saying about rights versus dignity in the particular movement. Write a thesis statement about how much the two documents confirm or contradict Gosse’s idea about the movement you have chosen to discuss. This thesis statement is the overall point that your two body paragraphs will be supporting. Now write the sentences in the introduction that lead up to the thesis. You must bring your reader from a general statement about movements of the 1960s to statements about Gosse’s idea to your thesis statement about the movement you have chosen to discuss. This paragraph must be at least five sentences in length.

2. Now, write a brief concluding paragraph. In this paragraph, do not simply repeat all of the things you have already written. You will, instead, comment on Gosse’s idea. Does it seem a good idea? Does it seem to fit with the movements that we have studied? Does the distinction between rights and dignity seem artificial to you? Start with a topic sentence that summarizes your point about Gosse’s idea. This paragraph must be at least three sentences.

3. Last of all. Finish a complete rough draft of your paper at least one day before it is due. After you have left it for a day, go back to the paper and read it aloud to yourself. Correct typos and missing words. Correct any of the text that does not say what you mean to say.

Format and Grading

Type up your four paragraphs and be sure that they conform to these rules:

• They must be typed, double-spaced, with your name at the top of the first page.

• They must be written entirely in your own words. USE NO QUOTATIONS.

• They must not include any information taken from any source other than those assigned in the class. USE NO INTERNET SOURCES TO WRITE THIS ASSIGNMENT.

  You must submit your paper on Blackboard:

• Submit your paper in a format compatible with Microsoft Word for Mac 2011. Note: Rich Text Format is a common format that is compatible

with this standard. Please avoid using PDF or Apple Pages formats if you possibly can.

• The link for submitting it is under the Writing Assignments section in a folder labeled “Final Essay.” In that folder is a link labeled “Submit the Final Essay.”

• If something goes wrong submitting it on Blackboard, immediately e-mail me a copy before the deadline. Problems with Blackboard are not an excuse to submit the paper late.

• This paper will be graded on a 100-point scale.

• The grades of all late papers will be lowered two full letter grades (for example, an A paper becomes a C paper if it is late). 

• Papers that include passages plagiarized from the Internet, another student’s paper, or any other source will receive a zero (no credit). Papers that use information from the Internet will receive a 20 point penalty.