Name: _____________________ Date: ______________________ Final Essay!

AP US History Mrs. Waters

For your final paper, you have a choice of topics, whose breadth you may narrow down to a specific focus area of your choosing. You may write about either the development of political institutions or a pressing problem in American history or international relations. All of what we have learned this year is fair game, as are current events, as long as your paper is driven by a historical parallel (therefore incorporating the past into an evaluation of the present). We will brainstorm ideas in class! This paper must be three full pages minimum. I will not read past four! Following the guidelines bulleted below, it should be printed, stapled and 3-hole punched ready to be collected at the start of class Wednesday May 22nd. Remember that you must have a thesis statement! Put it right out there in the first paragraph, then defend and support your position with examples from history. Dont forget your handout on thesis statements. Vague is the enemy! Also, you will have learned how to use footnotes, and must practice them in this paper this is in addition to a bibliography. We will likely have a brief peer editing exercise on Monday before it is due to make sure youre on the right track, so be prepared with a draft. Guidelines minimum of 3 pages, no longer than 4 includes a title displayed left or center justified has a proper heading in the upper right hand corner page numbers starting with 1 on first page of content page numbers found in the lower right hand corner Page Formatting 12 point default font, 1 margins no spaces, correct indentations all paragraphs a minimum of 3 sentences all paragraphs broken up appropriately, no run-ons Thesis Statement can be found in the first paragraph answers the question being asked of you definitively Bibliography separated by category, alphabetized and 2nd line of citation indented footnotes used in paper must come after end punctuation uses correct MLA formatting for the type of source