Questions and Topics We Can Help You To Answer:

This short paper is at least three double-spaced pages of text (Times New Roman, font size 12) and you must consult a minimum of two academically credible sources. Bibliographies and citations will be in the Chicago Manual of Style format or APA or MLA.

The short paper needs to be turned in through the assignment section for grading. If you use any of the information from your sources word-for-word, you must cite the source by using endnotes or footnotes. If you read the information and write it in your own words and it is not common knowledge, then you must cite the source because you are paraphrasing someone's information. 

The short paper must include a cover page with your name, course number and course title, instructor's name, and date. You must also include a bibliography at the end of your paper. While composing your paper, use proper English. Do not use abbreviations, contractions, passive voice, or first/ second person (I, you, we, our, etc). Before submitting your paper, check your grammar and use spell check. Remember, the way you talk is not the way you write a paper. Please label your paper as follows: lastnamefirstnameHIST101ShortPaper (for example).



Information from Lynn Elizabeth Marlowe:
HIST 222 Research Paper Suggestions 
These are suggestions. Feel free to come up with your own. 

Remember that: the more specific your topic, the better the paper. In other words, a paper focused on World War II in general will be a less scholarly paper than a paper focused on Army battles in Europe in WWII, for example. My topics below are a little vague on purpose, you will need to refine them. You will need at least 3 sources, one of which must be a primary source. The primary source could be the first-hand account of an eyewitness to an event, a biography written by a historical figure, or a novel that is considered essential to understanding an event, for example. Secondary sources are textbooks and books or articles written by scholars studying an event. 

If you don’t know what to write on, start out by reading your textbook to get a basic understanding of the different paper topics. The aim of the paper is NOT to repeat the basic elements of the topic that you find in textbooks. The aim is to read about your subject and become somewhat of an expert on it (hence the need to narrow it down) and both lay out the basic ideas and elements of it AND analyze it. 

So, for example: if you wrote a paper on the Iraq War, (which obviously would not really apply to this class), you would start by laying out some of the most pertinent elements of the facts of the war. But, the “meat” of the paper would be your analysis. What thinkers or politicians believe that we should stay in the war, what thinkers or politicians want to withdraw our troops? What is the background for these beliefs? You would state your case (backed up by the entire paper’s facts and analysis) – or your argument. This is a much different paper than simply stating statistics and a list of “who’s who”. Finally, once you decide on a topic listed here, but don’t know what some of the deeper questions regarding it are, just ask me. 

Again, these are just ideas and all of these would have to be narrowed down. The topic has to be different than the topic of the first paper.

1) This short paper is at least three double-spaced pages of text (Times New Roman, font size 12) and you must consult a minimum of two academically credible sources. Bibliographies and citations will be in the Chicago Manual of Style format or APA or MLA.

The short paper needs to be turned in through the assignment section for grading. If you use any of the information from your sources word-for-word, you must cite the source by using endnotes or footnotes. If you read the information and write it in your own words and it is not common knowledge, then you must cite the source because you are paraphrasing someone's information. 

The short paper must include a cover page with your name, course number and course title, instructor's name, and date. You must also include a bibliography at the end of your paper. While composing your paper, use proper English. Do not use abbreviations, contractions, passive voice, or first/ second person (I, you, we, our, etc). Before submitting your paper, check your grammar and use spell check. Remember, the way you talk is not the way you write a paper. Please label your paper as follows: lastnamefirstnameHIST101ShortPaper (for example).

Dr. Blodgett 
Director, Undergraduate History and Military Studies Programs

Information from Lynn Elizabeth Marlowe:
HIST 222 Research Paper Suggestions 
These are suggestions. Feel free to come up with your own. 

Remember that: the more specific your topic, the better the paper. In other words, a paper focused on World War II in general will be a less scholarly paper than a paper focused on Army battles in Europe in WWII, for example. My topics below are a little vague on purpose, you will need to refine them. You will need at least 3 sources, one of which must be a primary source. The primary source could be the first-hand account of an eyewitness to an event, a biography written by a historical figure, or a novel that is considered essential to understanding an event, for example. Secondary sources are textbooks and books or articles written by scholars studying an event. 

If you don’t know what to write on, start out by reading your textbook to get a basic understanding of the different paper topics. The aim of the paper is NOT to repeat the basic elements of the topic that you find in textbooks. The aim is to read about your subject and become somewhat of an expert on it (hence the need to narrow it down) and both lay out the basic ideas and elements of it AND analyze it. 

So, for example: if you wrote a paper on the Iraq War, (which obviously would not really apply to this class), you would start by laying out some of the most pertinent elements of the facts of the war. But, the “meat” of the paper would be your analysis. What thinkers or politicians believe that we should stay in the war, what thinkers or politicians want to withdraw our troops? What is the background for these beliefs? You would state your case (backed up by the entire paper’s facts and analysis) – or your argument. This is a much different paper than simply stating statistics and a list of “who’s who”. Finally, once you decide on a topic listed here, but don’t know what some of the deeper questions regarding it are, just ask me. 

Again, these are just ideas and all of these would have to be narrowed down. The topic has to be different than the topic of the first paper.

1) What was the Harlem Renaissance and why was it important? 
2) The importance of the church in the civil rights movement 
3) Why nonviolence did not work in Northern urban communities during the Civil Rights Movement. 
4) The reputation of the Black Panther Party and an explanation of the real history behind the BPP. 
5) How did world events impact the modern civil rights movement and organizations like SNCC and the slogan Black Power? 
6) The struggle for voting rights in a certain locality 
7) Jim Crow - ONE aspect of it 
8) What was the Nation of Islam and how is it significant to the Black community? 
9) What was the UNIA and how did it help or harm the black community? 
10) What was SNCC? - develop a thesis statement about it. 

Read my special announcement about plagiarism in the announcements area.
  

* Papers must be on an African American history topic covered in the time period of this course. No biographies, please.

• Students need to cite at least once every paragraph, to acknowledge an author’s ideas. This is done even if there are no quotes, see Chicago guides for more information. If more than one author’s ideas are used in a paragraph, then more than one citation needs to be used. 

• Any quote needs a citation at the end of it. 

• Use both footnotes or endnotes and a bibliography. 

• Papers need an intro (with a thesis statement) and a conclusion. 

• Papers need a title page. 

• Papers should be free of writing errors, there is help available at APUS for writing if you need it. Watch for grammar, typos, etc. 

* Don't forget that we use Turnitin to check student papers for plagiarism. Paraphrase correctly or if you use exact words: use quotation marks and cite.

? 
2) The importance of the church in the civil rights movement 
3) Why nonviolence did not work in Northern urban communities during the Civil Rights Movement. 
4) The reputation of the Black Panther Party and an explanation of the real history behind the BPP. 
6) The struggle for voting rights in a certain locality 
7) Jim Crow - ONE aspect of it 
8) What was the Nation of Islam and how is it significant to the Black community? 
9) What was the UNIA and how did it help or harm the black community? 


Read my special announcement about plagiarism in the announcements area.
  

* Papers must be on an African American history topic covered in the time period of this course. No biographies, please.

• Students need to cite at least once every paragraph, to acknowledge an author’s ideas. This is done even if there are no quotes, see Chicago guides for more information. If more than one author’s ideas are used in a paragraph, then more than one citation needs to be used. 

• Any quote needs a citation at the end of it. 

• Use both footnotes or endnotes and a bibliography. 

• Papers need an intro (with a thesis statement) and a conclusion. 

• Papers need a title page. 

• Papers should be free of writing errors, there is help available at APUS for writing if you need it. Watch for grammar, typos, etc. 

* Don't forget that we use Turnitin to check student papers for plagiarism. Paraphrase correctly or if you use exact words: use quotation marks and cite.