Essay Prompt and Guidelines
Deadlines
General Instructions
- Your paper should be 1,000-1,200 words (in other words, your paper should be at least 1,000 words but not over the 1,200 words limit)
- Use Times New Roman, 12pt font, double spacing, and one-inch margins
- Include page numbers at the bottom or top corner of each page
- Include your full name, date submitted, and course number
- The title of your essay should reflect its main argument and the overall scope of the essay
- Use parenthetical citations to cite your sources. For example: “Racial identity,” one scholar argues, “is enacted through racialized reproduction practices and beauty practices” (Candelario, 206).
- Include a brief introduction, body paragraphs, and a concise conclusion
- Each body paragraph should have a clear topic sentence, evidence, and analysis
- Your evidence should draw from the course readings, lecture slides
- No bibliography or works cited page is necessary because this is not a research paper (all sources cited should be assigned readings, lectures, or videos shown in class)
- The TurnItIn Similarity Score on your essay should not exceed 25%
Prompt
Citing primary and secondary sources, explain how economic, social, political, and cultural institutions shaped Mexicans’ lives (their behavior) in what is today the US Southwest.
Grading Criteria
- Does the paper fully answer the prompt?
- Does the paper reference relevant readings (primary and secondary sources)?
- Does the paper cite its sources using footnotes, endnotes, or parenthetical citations?
- Does the paper contain a clear, strong thesis in the introduction?
- Does the introduction catch the reader’s attention and provide the reader with relevant information necessary to understand the topic and argument?
- Are the body paragraphs clearly organized and structured? Do they each contain a topic sentence?
- Does the evidence presented in the body paragraphs support the main thesis?
- Does the conclusion succinctly review the main arguments and thesis?
- Is the writing clear, mostly free of grammatical mistakes?
