Final Paper Preparation

This assignment will prepare you for the Final Paper by initiating the research process and will help you map out the specific events and developments you will explore in depth in your paper. Review the instructions for the Final Paper laid out in Week Five of the online course or the Components of Course Evaluation section of the Course Guide before beginning this project. For your Final Paper, you must discuss at least six specific events or developments related to your chosen topic.

For this assignment, you will choose your topic and the six (or more) related events and developments that span the years 1865 to the present. You will then work on the research for your essay, and develop a draft of your introduction with a thesis statement. For your research, you must compile at least eight scholarly sources; choose at least six of your scholarly secondary sources from the Ashford University Library and include at least two primary sources. Primary sources are documents or artifacts that were created at the time of a historical event or by someone who personally experienced a historical event. Primary sources can be newspaper or magazine articles, books, letters, speeches, photographs, oral histories, paintings, or any other record of a historical event. The best place to find scholarly sources is the Ashford University Library’s research databases and eBook collection.

In a paragraph or two at the beginning of the paper, identify the topic that you’ve chosen for your paper, how you plan to address it and state your thesis. It is recommended that you identify the events and developments you will discuss in your Final Paper and explain why you believe they are significant. Your thesis should be a one or two sentence summary of the main conclusions that you drew while researching your topic and that you will support in your paper by constructing a logical argument based on evidence (sources).

You will then create a summary of sources by completing an annotated bibliography. To create an annotated bibliography, list each source in full APA reference format. Then, beneath each source write a one or two paragraph explanation of the important information in the source and how you plan to use it in your paper. The annotations must be in your own words. It is not acceptable to copy and paste the abstract or any other text. You must have annotations for all eight sources.

Please notice that you have been provided with many wonderful primary and secondary sources in the required reading and recommended reading sections for each week. Feel free to use these sources when constructing your assignment. Please visit the Academic Research section on your Course Home page (accessible through the Student Responsibilities and Policies tab on the left navigation toolbar) to review what types of materials are not acceptable for academic, university level research.

This assignment must meet the following minimum requirements:

• The paper must be three pages in length (excluding title and reference pages) and formatted according to APA style as outlined in the Ashford Writing Center.
• You must use at least eight scholarly resources other than the textbook to support your claims.
• Two of these sources should be primary sources; the remaining six sources should be scholarly secondary sources from the Ashford University Library.
• You must provide a draft of your introduction with a concise thesis statement.
• You must provide a one paragraph annotation for each source.
• You must cite your sources within the text of your paper.

You must choose from one of the topics below to write the final preparation paper about who the final paper will be about:
Choose from one of the topics below and review its history from 1865 to the present. Select six specific events or developments that span the years covered by this course, based on their impact on the topic and write a thesis. Three of your chosen topics must be from before 1930 and three must be from after 1930. Your thesis should summarize the main conclusions that you drew while researching your topic and that you will support by creating a logical argument based on evidence (sources).

In your paper, make sure to connect each of the events or developments you have chosen back to your main thesis. Ensure you organize your paper effectively to create a flow either along chronologically or thematic lines. For example, a paper about African Americans might choose the Harlem Renaissance and the Black Power Movement as two of its events. In that case, the paper would provide basic information about the two movements. It would explain what each one revealed about the role of African Americans in broader American society in, respectively, the 1920s and the late 1960s, explain how and why the roles of African Americans in the 1920s differed from their roles in the late 1960s, and explain how events in the 1920s may have contributed to developments in the later decade.

Choose one of the following topics:

1. Native Americans
2. African Americans
3. Immigrants
4. Women
5. Foreign affairs
6. Civil liberties
7. The economy
8. The role and powers of the presidency