This is continued work that needs further progression. I also have prior work that can craft the assignment, I just need better direction.
Rough Draft Word Count: 1000-1200 words
This semester you are required to write a paper that considers the history of American citizenship & immigration. Your paper should address the following questions:
Historically, how has the United States defined and establish citizenship? How has this changed over time? Have there been restrictions placed on who can become a citizen in the United States? If so, explain the restrictions–who did they applied to?
Define “race” and “ethnicity.” How have immigrants’ race and/or ethnicity impacted their immigration experience to the US? What are the US’ philosophies of race and ethnicity and how have they changed over time?
How did the US treat America’s first non-citizens, Africans? Historically, how has the US handled African American citizenship? Has this changed over time?
How did the US handle citizenship for other immigrant groups that we discussed in this course?
You must use these questions and create a thesis statement that introduces your paper and your point of view. Don’t think of this assignment as addresses 4 separate prompts—you should find a way to make this a cohesive paper.
You must address Forced African immigration as well as 2 other groups.
I have chosen Mexicans and Cubans as my other immigration group.
Introduction/Context:
Your introduction provides context to your readers to prepare them for your paper’s argument or purpose. An introduction should begin with discussion of your specific topic (not a broad background overview) and provide just enough context (definitions of key terms, for example) to prepare your readers for your thesis or purpose statement.
Sample Introduction/Context: If the topic of your paper is the link between educational attainment and health, your introduction might do the following: (a) establish the population you are discussing, (b) define key terms such as healthy and well-educated, or (c) justify the discussion of this topic by pointing out a connection to a current problem that your paper will help address.
Thesis Statement:
A thesis or purpose statement should come at the end of your introduction and state clearly and concisely what the purpose or central argument of your paper is. The introduction prepares your reader for this statement, and the rest of the paper follows in support of it.
Sample Thesis Statement: Because of their income deficit (Smith, 2010) and general susceptibility to depression (Jones, 2011), students who drop out of high school before graduation maintain a higher risk for physical and mental health problems later in life.
Background
After the initial introduction, background on your topic often follows. This paragraph or section might include a literature review surveying the current state of knowledge on your topic or simply a historical overview of relevant information. The purpose of this section is to justify your own project or paper by pointing out a gap in the current research which your work will address.
Sample Background: A background section on a paper on education and health might include an overview of recent research in this area, such as research on depression or on decreasing high school graduation rates.
Major & Minor Points
Major points are the building blocks of your paper. Major points build on each other, moving the paper forward and toward its conclusion. Each major point should be a clear claim that relates to the central argument of your paper.
Sample Major Point: Employment and physical health may be a good first major point for this sample paper. Here, a student might discuss how dropping out of high school often leads to fewer employment opportunities, and those employment opportunities that are available tend to be correlated with poor work environments and low pay.
Minor points are subtopics within your major points. Minor points develop the nuances of your major points but may not be significant enough to warrant extended attention on their own. These may come in the form of statistics, examples from your sources, or supporting ideas.
Sample Minor Point: A sample minor point of the previous major point (employment and physical health) might address worker injury or the frequent lack of health insurance benefits offered by low-paying employers.
The rest of the body of your paper will be made up of more major and minor points. Each major point should advance the paper’s central argument, often building on the previous points, until you have provided enough evidence and analysis to justify your paper’s conclusion.
More Major and Minor Points: In this paper, more major points might include mental health of high school dropouts, healthcare access for dropouts, and correlation between mental and physical health. Minor topics could include specific work environments, job satisfaction in various fields, and correlation between depression and chronic illness.
WRITING ABOUT HISTORY
You should not approach this assignment as if you are creating a wikipedia page. Your Zine project must be an exercise in writing about history. What does this mean? It means that you should not simply recap your notes in a wiki-style straight forward presentation of facts. Writing about history is actually arguing a point of view or perspective. For this reason you need to push beyond simply recapping facts and tell us WHY these facts matter, WHAT these facts tell us about about American history and American pesent. Your Zine needs a point of view beyond, “this happened.” Your zine should also tell us why it is important that people know these facts. What are some potential pitfalls to not knowing these facts? Please pay attention to this part of the project. It is impossible to get an A on this assignment if you don’t adequately provide a perspective of the history you are presenting.
