This document provides instructions for a term paper assignment. Students must choose a specific topic related to political events, economic systems, or social issues between the period of hominids and 1500 CE. They must submit a one paragraph proposal by February 22nd describing their topic and sources. The final paper should be 4-5 pages long, use at least 3 academic sources, have an introduction, body, and conclusion, and follow Chicago style formatting for footnotes and bibliography. Key points that will be graded include following instructions, grammar, style, inclusion of required documents, a clear thesis statement, and supporting the thesis with sources and original writing.

1. After choosing your topic, write one paragraph describing how
you would approach discussion of your topic and provide your
sources as well.
The period of your paper is open from the time of Hominid to
1500 CE.
Your topic should be very specific and narrowed down. For
example: political events, economic systems, or social issues
are very specifics.
Avoid biography!!
Term paper topic proposals are due on Monday, February 22
nd
(10 points). No points will be awarded after February 22
nd
.
1.
It should be between
4-5 pages
(typed and double spaced) in length.
2.
Use at least three sources; they should be a combination of
academic journal articles and
books or books alone, other than your textbooks.
In addition to your three proper sources,
you may
use
Internet sources with the sites that are
edu

2. or
org
domain.
The following site has excellent academic articles that may be
useful to you.
Scholarly Journal Archive
(
http://www.jstor.org
)
3.
Your paper should have an Introduction, Theme/Body, and a
Conclusion.
4.
Your paper should contain a Chicago style bibliography of your
sources (see
http://history.hanover.edu/courses/handouts/footnotes.htm
)
5.
Use Chicago style footnotes or endnotes when quoting or citing
data (see
http://writing.umn.edu/sws/assets/pdf/quicktips/chicago_bib.pdf
)
6.
Do a spelling and grammar check on your final paper.
7.
Turn your report in by the deadline if you do not wish to be
penalized
for an overdue paper.

3. Key points often missed in term papers:
Formatting, both footnotes, bibliographies, and text. If you do
not know how, ask your professor,
google
it, in your syllabus you have helpful links provided, or use the
writing center in the library.
Proofread, revise, edit, try to turn in a polished copy of your
work. No need to throw away easy points on grammar and
things like that.
Do NOT use the first person. Don't tell us what you are going
to say, just say it! (e.g. "In this paper I am going to...", "in my
opinion...", "I think...", etc.)
Fact check, don't put in fluff, we need papers that are coherent.
Here is where proper sources come into play.
Do not write the way you speak. On papers you have for a while
before you turn them in, you need to do professional writing.
Use words you are familiar with, if you want to get fancy, use a
dictionary and thesaurus first.
Do not put in questions, again just say it and commit.
Finally, and most importantly, stay on topic. Tangents will hurt
your grade. Your thesis statement is what needs to be supported
so introducing a new part to the paper half way through will
disjoint the paper and cost you points.
Grading rubric:
10
pts
for following syllabus and professor's instructions
10
pts
for
grammer
, flow, and overall style of essay

4. 10
pts
for including all required docs (e.g. bibliography, footnotes,
original approved proposal)
20
pts
for a clear intro and thesis statement
50
pts
for supporting the intro/thesis with sources and body of text
you wrote.
Good luck and enjoy the rest of your spring break.