AMH 2020 Research Paper Instructions

Please read this guide all the way through. It is your roadmap to successfully completing this assignment.
Don’t just “wing it” and hope for the best. Please contact your professor if you have questions.

What is a Research Paper? This is a Research Paper. The final paper is worth 300 points and is the
largest grade in the course. It is not an opinion paper, nor a book report, nor a biography, nor a list of
historical events. A research paper begins with a thesis statement that forms the backbone of your paper.
Your thesis is your essential argument, and there should be nothing in your paper that does not relate in
some way to your thesis.

You are making an argument that you will defend with research based on historical sources from the
library databases. You will figure out your own Topic and Thesis Statement. Your Research Paper must
use that thesis statement, or basic argument for the essay, that you will support with 2 primary and 4
secondary sources, based upon your own research. Your thesis may evolve as your research develops.
The content of the paper must address your thesis, and your sources must be relevant to your argument. In
addition to content and argument, the Research Paper will be graded for grammar, format, proper
citations, and punctuation. To receive an A, you must have a strongly written and fully sourced paper
with very few grammatical and formatting errors.

As this is a Gordon Rule course, failure to complete this assignment will result in a grade of 0 for the
class.

Paper Overview: Your assignment is to write a 1500-word research paper on a historical topic related to
one of the following broad themes in U.S. history: Industrialization, Immigration, Civil Rights/Civil
Liberties or International Relations.

You may choose what in particular to research. For instance, you might look at international relations in
terms of economics, or one of these topics in a particular area or time frame, or examine the personal
experience of factory workers or owners, or the political impact of industrialization, or the impact of any
of these issues on American religious life, etc. These are just examples to get your mind working on
possibilities. You must choose a topic that is broad enough to provide you with enough material, yet also
choose a topic that is not too broad and unfocused. All topics must be submitted to the professor and
approved.

If you can’t find this document, you will always have access to all of the Research Paper materials by
going to the Course Documents folder.

Assignment and Due Dates: There are 3 portions to this assignment, due in different weeks.

1) Research Paper Introduction and Library Tour (due in Week 3)

2) Topic/Thesis/Citation Assignment (due in Week 6)
3) Research Paper (due in Week 12)

1) Research Paper Introduction and Library Tour: The goal here is to familiarize yourself with this
project. You must read the Research Paper Instructions (which you are currently doing) and view the
videos in the Library Tour. You will submit a statement that you have completed these two tasks. This
assignment will be worth 10 points.

2) Topic/Thesis/Citation Assignment: The Topic, Thesis and Citation Assignment will be submitted in
Week 6. You must receive approval from me on your Topic and Thesis Statement before proceeding with
the Research Paper. You may be asked to resubmit this assignment if your thesis will not work, but you
will not be penalized for lateness in this circumstance. Again, your thesis may continue to evolve as you
explore the materials available to you for research. This assignment will be worth 15 points.

3) Research Paper: The actual Research Paper will be submitted as an assignment in Week 12. I do not
want or require a hard copy of the paper. I will grade your online Word document submissions on
Canvas. This assignment will be worth 300 points. This is the largest single project in this course.

Grading Breakdown:
 Research Paper Intro and Library Tour: 10 pts.
 Topic/Thesis/Citation Assignment: 15 pts.
 Research Paper: 300 pts.

Thesis statement: A thesis statement is a basic one to two sentence statement of the main argument/point
you are making in your paper. Your thesis statement is the backbone of your paper. It should be placed at
the end of your introductory paragraph. Your thesis should be the guide to writing the rest of your paper.
There should be nothing in your paper that does not apply to furthering the argument in your thesis. Your
thesis should always be worded as a statement, and not as a question. Here are some examples of a good
thesis statement:

The early industrialization of the American economy was the single most important factor in making the
United States the dominant global economy of the 20th century.

The Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor was a surprise on Dec. 7, 1941, but it was also the result of years
of degrading diplomatic relations between the Japanese Empire and the United States.

These are just a couple of examples to give you a template to start from as you craft your own thesis
statement.

Grading Rubric: The rubric by which the Research Paper will be graded is available on the last page of
this document. Check this out to understand how your grade will be weighed and calculated. Insufficient
word count, not having 6 sources, not citing the listed sources, and sloppy grammar are the most common
issues with grading. I highly recommend that you refer to the rubric to help you craft your paper.

Late work: As stated in the syllabus, I will accept your work until 11:59 PM on the due date. Late papers
will be subject to a penalty of one letter grade per day (30 points). Essays more than one week late will
not be accepted and will receive a grade of zero. No exceptions. As this is a Gordon Rule course,
failure to complete this assignment will result in a grade of 0 for the class.

Format: Your paper must be written in MLA format, and MUST include proper in-text citation of
sources AND a “Works Cited” page at the end of the paper. The library is a great source for help with
MLA formatting, in case you don’t remember your English classes or still have the Little-Brown
handbook. I have placed a PowerPoint on MLA formatting and a sample MLA formatted paper in the
Research Paper module. You should use these to compare your paper and check to see that you are
following the correct format. See the library website for links to library help: http://www.lssc.edu/library

Sources: Your Research Paper will be supported by arguments based upon a minimum of 2 primary
sources and 4 secondary sources.

Primary sources are original documents (letters, diaries, church/government records, census data, etc.)
written during the era you are studying. The Voices of Freedom documents that you will use in your
discussions are excellent examples of primary source documents.

Secondary sources are documents about the topic (history books, textbooks, journal articles, etc.) written
after the events happened. In short, primary sources are raw data, while secondary sources are
interpretation.

ALL sources that you use must be cited in MLA format your paper, or they are irrelevant and you will not
receive credit for them.

Finding acceptable academic sources:

The LSSC library has an enormous amount of resources available, ranging from databases to journals,
magazines, and books, to help you research your topic. Be sure to view the Library Tour videos on
Blackboard to help you find enough sources. If you need further help finding sources, visit or contact an
LSSC librarian – that’s what they are there for.

Wikipedia, Ask.com, about.com, yahoo.com, or any “answers” website are NOT acceptable academic
sources, nor are encyclopedias, your textbooks, and other general reference materials.

Be wary of websites – make sure they know what they’re talking about! One way to check this is to see if
the website has any historical references, like the ones you’re using in this paper. If there are no
references, you should not use that website.

Writing help: The LSSC Learning Center, located in Building 1, is an excellent resource for writing
help. Questions about writing should be pursued there. Questions about content for your paper should be
brought to Professor Rogers.

Avoiding Plagiarism: Plagiarism means presenting someone else's ideas, writing, or other work as your
own, without crediting the original source. Plagiarism is unacceptable and will result in failing the
assignment. It is important that you avoid plagiarism, whether inadvertent or intentional. The LSSC
library has some great advice and guidance on avoiding plagiarism.
http://www.lssc.edu/library/plagiarism.htm

Here are some basic tips to help you avoid plagiarism:

1. Avoid copying and pasting
2. Summarize or paraphrase as much as possible
3. Avoid rushing, start your research early
4. Cite your sources as you use them
5. Use quotation marks for all direct quotes
 I highly recommend that you download and use Grammarly to assist you in avoiding plagiarism and
checking your grammar. I use it myself, as do many professionals. You can find it at
http://libguides.lssc.edu/c.php?g=576246. If you sign up through LSSC, you should have full access to all
of the features of Grammarly, including the plagiarism checker. If you have inadvertently plagiarized
parts of your paper, Grammarly will note those instances and suggest citations you can use. You can also
rework those parts of your paper so that they are not plagiarized.

Research Papers that are plagiarized and are not the students’ own work will be subject to the LSSC
plagiarism policy as outlined in the LSSC Student Handbook. Possible plagiarism penalties range from a
zero on the paper to an F for the course to expulsion from LSSC, so please avoid plagiarism!

Grading rubric for AMH 2020 Research Paper:

Total possible points: 300/300

Criteria Ratings Pt
s
Partial
Full Marks High Marks Low Marks No Marks
Marks
60.0 to 49.0 48.0 to 37.0 36.0 to 25.0 24.0 to 13.0
12.0 to 0 pts
pts pts pts pts
Word Count Paper is 100 Paper is 200 Paper is 300 Paper is 500 60
Meets the words or words or words or words or Pts
specified Meets the
more short of more short of more short of more short of
1500 word 1500 word
specified specified specified the required
count. count.
1500 word 1500 word 1500 word 1500 word
count. count. count. count.
Thesis and The paper Paper The paper 60
Paper No thesis
Content includes and includes a includes a Pts
includes and statement,
The paper follows weak or weak or
follows thesis and the
includes and thesis confusing confusing
statement, content of the
follows thesis statement, thesis thesis
and most of paper does
statement, and and all statement, statement,
the content of not apply to
content of the content of and all of the and some of
the paper is the topic or
paper is the paper is content of the the content of
related to the thesis
related to the related to the paper is the paper
topic and statement.
paper topic paper topic related to the does
thesis
and the thesis and the thesis
statement.
statement. thesis statement.
statement.

Grammar Demonstrate Demonstrates Occasional Frequent Continuous 60

Refers to s mastery of an errors in errors in and repetitive Pts
spelling, word grammar, understandin modifier use; modifier use; errors in
usage, creating g of most verb tense verb tense or modifier use;
grammar, compelling grammar; a and agreement; verb tense;
capitalization, prose; few to few spell agreement; pronoun use, pronoun use
, punctuation, no errors. check, pronoun use, reference, & reference;
and ability to capitalization reference, and spelling and
proofread. , or other and agreement; punctuation;
grammar agreement; spelling and capitalization
errors spelling and punctuation; ; word usage;
remain. punctuation; capitalization or other
capitalization ; and/or repetitive
; word awkward or grammar
choice; inappropriate issues.
and/or word choices.
punctuation.
Sources Includes all 6 Includes all Uses less Minimal use No use of 60
Refers to or more of of the than required of required primary and Pts
using all 6 of the required required 2 primary sources; lacks secondary
the required primary (2) primary and and 4 audience sources; no
academic and secondary secondary awareness; Works Cited
historical secondary sources; sources; sources attached;
sources that (4) sources; small errors occasional weakly sources
are proper and in MLA errors in support irrelevant to
appropriate to accurate citations and MLA thesis; thesis and
the audience MLA formatting; citations and multiple, arguments.
and purpose; citations and small errors formatting; repetitive
use of formatting; in Works sources apply errors in
appropriate accurate and Cited; to topic and Works Cited
and formatted properly sources arguments; page.
MLA formatted support occasional
citations; Works Cited argument. errors in
sources used page; sources Works Cited.
support thesis perfectly
statement; support
paper includes argument;
properly few to no
formatted errors.
Works Cited
page
Format and Superb Sentences Includes Irrelevant No 60
Structure introduction show variety introduction introduction introduction Pts
Refers to and in length, and and or
choosing conclusion pattern, and conclusion; conclusion; conclusion;
words for supporting rhythm; Sentences redundant sentences
deliberate thesis; papers strong word show some wording; show no
effect; proper display unity choice with variation in inconsistent variation;
introduction and few length, organization; frequent run-
and coherence; inappropriate pattern, and vague, ons and
conclusion; excellent use words; rhythm; ordinary fragments; no
logical of wavering appropriate word choice MLA format.
 organization vocabulary; structure; word choices; with clichés
of material; correct MLA some MLA several MLA and jargon;
accurate MLA formatting. format format occasional
paper format. problems. problems. fused
sentences and
fragments.
Total Points: 300.0