African Americans active agents or passive participants

HIS 357 Milestone Two Guidelines and Rubric
Overview: After receiving feedback from your instructor on Milestone One, your next step will be to develop a rough draft of your paper that addresses all of the
critical elements of the final paper. Understand that, although this is a rough draft, it should attempt to meet all of the requirements of the final submission. You
will receive feedback on this rough draft and have the opportunity to fine-tune your paper in Module Seven based on instructor feedback. The page count for
your rough draft should be 6 to 7 pages, not including bibliography or endnotes. As you fine-tune and edit in Module Seven, your final paper will be 7 to 8 pages
in length.
Prompt: The rough draft of your paper should address the following prompt:
To what extent were African Americans active agents or passive participants in early American history? In other words, to what extent were the realities of their
lives by their own design and to what extent were they a product of external forces? Be sure to consider the full spectrum of the cultural, economic, political, and
religious contexts and draw from an appropriate breadth of scholarly evidence to defend your position.
Specifically the following critical elements must be included:
ï‚· A robust thesis that directly answers the prompt with a comprehensive and coherent claim (i.e., addresses the cultural, economic, political, and religious
contexts)
ï‚· A substantive defense of the claim with respect to the cultural context
ï‚· A substantive defense of the claim with respect to the economic context
ï‚· A substantive defense of the claim with respect to the political context
ï‚· A substantive defense of the claim with respect to the religious context
ï‚· Use of historical evidence including course materials and scholarly research (i.e., primary and secondary sources) to substantiate all claims
ï‚· Defense of the thesis presented in a logical, organized fashion (including an introductory paragraph, body paragraphs, and a concluding paragraph)
ï‚· Adherence to all appropriate writing conventions, including Turabian citation format and a scholarly tone
Rubric
Guidelines for Submission: Your rough draft must be submitted as a 6- to 7-page (not including bibliography or endnotes) Microsoft Word document with double
spacing, 12-point Times New Roman font, and one-inch margins. This second milestone should include at least eight sources integrated into your paper, properly
cited in Turabian format, with a bibliography. These eight sources should include a mix of primary and secondary sources and may include course materials.
Critical Elements Proficient (100%) Needs Improvement (75%) Not Evident (0%) Value
Thesis Thesis directly answers all parts of
the prompt with a coherent claim
Thesis answers only certain parts
of the prompt or there are
coherence issues with the claim
A thesis is not evident in the
submission
10
Cultural Context Explicit and detailed discussion of
the overall claim within the
context of early American culture
Discussion of the overall claim
within the context of early
American culture is brief or
lacking in detail
Discussion of the overall claim
within the context of early
American culture is not evident
15
Economic Context Explicit and detailed discussion of
the overall claim within the
context of early American
economies
Discussion of the overall claim
within the context of early
American economies is brief or
lacking in detail
Discussion of the overall claim
within the context of early
American economies is not
evident
15
Political Context Explicit and detailed discussion of
the overall claim within the
context of early American politics
Discussion of the overall claim
within the context of early
American politics is brief or
lacking in detail
Discussion of the overall claim
within the context of early
American politics is not evident
15
Religious Context Explicit and detailed discussion of
the overall claim within the
context of early American religion
Discussion of the overall claim
within the context of early
American religion is brief or
lacking in detail
Discussion of the overall claim
within the context of early
American religion is not evident
15
Evidence Specific references to course
materials and scholarly research
are appropriately integrated
throughout the paper
Specific references to course
materials and scholarly research
are only sparsely or
inappropriately integrated
throughout the paper
Specific references to course
materials and scholarly research
are not present
20
Organization Paper includes an introductory
paragraph, body paragraphs, and
a concluding paragraph
Paper is missing either an
introductory paragraph, body
paragraphs, or a concluding
paragraph
Paper is not logically organized 5
Writing Conventions Paper adheres to writing
conventions throughout the
majority of the paper
Paper does not adhere to writing
conventions throughout the
majority of the paper
Paper contains significant errors
in writing conventions
5
Earned Total 100%