Short Paper #1: What Is An American?
Due Feb 1st ,
beginning of class
Paper should be 3 to 5 pages
in length, typed, double-spaced, no extra spaces between paragraphs, 12 point Times
New Roman font, 1 inch margins, stapled. Please give your paper a title, but no
separate title page is necessary. I
expect papers to be polished – that is, grammatically correct with clear
writing and paragraph structure.
Draw from the readings and ideas you have encountered so far in the course to create an argument about what it means (or has meant) to be an American.
Okay, so this is a pretty
open-ended paper prompt! Admittedly,
“setting you free” in this way has its advantages and disadvantages. Some
tips: do not try to throw too many ideas into this paper; select the
readings/ideas that are most meaningful to you and/or that you see “speaking”
to each other. If you try to do too much in this paper, your analysis will be
superficial. Go deep! You must rely on sources: this is not simply
a personal reaction paper (i.e. “why I love
You need a “hook” for your
paper – a way to take this broad topic and shape it into something manageable
and meaningful. Choose an angle. You
might analyze some individual narratives in relationship to “mobility,” or
“literacy,” for example. You might compare two lives to each other. Some main
ideas to consider: American “exceptionalism,”
mobility (in its various forms), insiders vs. outsiders, borderlands, formation
of identity, assimilation, the “power of place,” community vs. individualism.
Be specific when crafting
your thesis, which should appear in your first paragraph (you don’t have much
time/space to fool around here.) Avoid vague framework such as “these two
individuals’ lives are both similar and different.” Similar in what way?
Different in what way? Why should we care? It takes
intellectual discipline, but try to say something revealing in your thesis
without telling too much (you’ve got several more paragraphs to develop the
main idea.) Your thesis should right away give readers a tool for thinking – a
solid idea of where you’re headed.
Good paragraph structure is
crucial for making an analytical paper hang together. Good topic and analytical concluding
sentences for each paragraph are crucial to help your reader understand why the
information in the paragraph is important, how it relates to the points you
make in other paragraphs, and especially how it relates to the overall point of
your paper.
Be specific with your
examples. Don’t rely on memory when writing; review the material. But use
quotations sparingly. Long block quotes should be avoided, particularly in
short papers. (Most of the time, readers skim block quotations anyway.) If you use direct quotes, make sure to work
them into your analysis and help readers see their relevance.
I expect you to use
citations in the text of your paper. You may use either MLA or Chicago Style
citation format. I also want you to include a Works Cited page at the end of
the paper.
Avoid “you” construction
(i.e. “As an American you have freedom”).
Again, I expect the paper to be polished and error-free. I want to be able to concentrate on your ideas, not distracted by unclear writing or sloppy mistakes. I strongly suggest that you proofread/revise your paper from a hard copy (i.e. paper print out) instead of on the computer screen. (Don’t solely rely on your spell-checker either.)