the paper will require each of you to trace the effects of the late 19th and 20th century on one approved aspect of American society that most interests you. Keep in mind that you will ultimately

the paper will require each of you to trace the effects of the late 19th and 20th century on one approved aspect of American society that most interests you. Keep in mind that you will ultimately need to use at least 3 to 5 primary documents from your reader to support your argument. Finally, the topic you choice should prominently span a majority of the time periods and event covered in class up until now, as well as in the remaining two weeks. Students should begin by scanning through the documents that we have covered thus far with our readings, then look ahead to the coming chapters in search of the topic’s continuation throughout the mid to late 20thcentury.

For example, if a student wanted to highlight the struggle for women’s equality in America since the Civil War, it might be good to use the writings from female activists in reconstruction then women workers arguing for fair treatment during the gilded age, followed with, the women’s suffrage movements before WWI. I would then probably continue with something showing how influential women were in organizing and participating in the Civil Rights struggles of the 1950s and 1960s. Finally, I would close with an example of the birth of new feminism in the 1970s, 80s, and 90s. I would open with a brief paragraph explaining my argument or thesis, then outline how the documents show the evolution of your topic has changed over time. Next, use the body paragraphs to explain the significance of each piece of evidence you’ve selected. Finally, be sure to wrap things up with a solid paragraph that recaps how your evidence supports your overall argument

Seeing how all of your sources will come from your document reader, you don't have to include footnotes or a bibliography page; we will simply use in-text citations as needed.