12 Pt Times The Scratch Of A Pen
For your first paper, you will write a five-page essay addressing the following question from The Scratch of a Pen:
In
1763, what new factors pushed Indigenous peoples to join Pan-Indian
movements such as Pontiac’s War (consider issues such as the “Middle
Ground” in your answer)? What new factors pushed Indigenous peoples
into new wars against one another (consider the westward movement of
Indian Nations as well as events in Louisiana)? Why didn’t the
Pan-Indian efforts succeed?
Your
paper should include an introduction with a thesis statement, detailed
evidence from the book, and a conclusion. When quoting from the book,
be sure to use quotation marks and cite the page number in parenthesis.
Plagiarism will result in a failing grade and possibly a “0” on the
paper.
Your
essays must be typed, double-spaced, and carefully proofread. Please
use one-inch margins and 12 pt., Times New Roman font. You will not
need a title page. The final papers you turn in should be polished
essays, not rough drafts. They should be thoughtfully organized and
free of basic grammatical and spelling errors.
Your essay will be graded holistically based upon the following rubric:
A: The essay exceeds expectations and demonstrates an exceptional understanding of the book, The Scratch of a Pen,
and other relevant course material. The content of the essay is
historically accurate and reveals an excellent understanding of the
themes, topics, and events covered by the course and of historical
concepts such as change over time, chronological thinking, and cause and
effect. The essay effectively answers all components of the question
using specific examples (evidence) from The Scratch of a Pen.
It is well organized: the introduction clearly states the thesis,
topic sentences refer back to the overall argument and provide
transition between paragraphs, and the conclusion explores the
significance of the topic. The argument is compelling, offers original
insight, and is strongly supported by evidence from the book. The essay
is polished and free of grammatical and spelling errors.
B: The essay exceeds expectations and demonstrates a very good understanding of the book, The Scratch of a Pen,
and other relevant course material. The content of the essay is
historically accurate and reveals a capable understanding of the themes,
topics, and events covered by the course and of historical concepts
such as change over time, chronological thinking, and cause and
effect. The essay effectively answers all components of the question
using specific examples (evidence) from The Scratch of a Pen.
It is well organized: the introduction states the thesis, topic
sentences refer back to the overall argument and provide transition
between paragraphs, and the conclusion explores the significance of the
topic. The examples from the book effectively support the argument.
The essay is well written and free of grammatical and spelling errors.
C: The essay meets expectations and demonstrates an adequate understanding of the book, The Scratch of a Pen, and
the relevant course material. The content of the essay is historically
accurate, with few errors, and reveals a competent understanding of the
themes, topics, and events covered by the course and of historical
concepts such as change over time, chronological thinking, and cause and
effect. The essay answers all components of the question using at
least some examples (evidence) from The Scratch of a Pen.
It has an introduction that states the thesis and an identifiable
conclusion. The examples from the book support the argument. The paper
is nicely written and contains few grammatical mistakes.
D: The essay is below expectations and demonstrates an inadequate understanding of the book, The Scratch of a Pen, and
the relevant course material. It displays little understanding of
historical concepts such as change over time, chronological thinking,
and cause and effect, and it contains significant historical
inaccuracies. The essay fails to address the question in its entirety
and includes no specific examples from the
book. Furthermore, it is not well organized: it lacks either an
introduction or a conclusion, and the paragraphs are not organized under
topic sentences that logically flow from one to the next. The paper is
not grammatically correct and needs to be edited.
F: The essay is unacceptable and shows little understanding of the book, The Scratch of a Pen, and
the relevant course material. Historical concepts such as change over
time, chronological thinking, and cause and effect are missing from the
paper, which also contains major historical inaccuracies. It fails to
address the question on even a basic level and includes no specific
examples from the book. The essay has no argument and lacks structure. It is not grammatically correct and needs to be edited.
Points will be determined by the following rubric:
Content
– 50/100 points (The content of the essay is historically accurate and
demonstrates an excellent understanding of the themes, topics, and
events covered by the course and of historical concepts such as change
over time, chronological thinking, and cause and effect. The argument
is convincing and supported by appropriate evidence.)
Organization
– 30/100 points (The introduction has a strong thesis statement, and
topic sentences refer back to the argument and provide transition
between paragraphs. The conclusion answers the “so what?” question.)
Editing – 20/100 points (The essay is polished and free of grammatical and spelling errors.)