For your first paper, you will write a five-page essay addressing the following question from The Scratch of a Pen:

In1763, what new factors pushed Indigenous peoples to join Pan-Indianmovements such as Pontiac’s War (consider issues such as the “MiddleGround” in your answer)? What new factors pushed Indigenous peoplesinto new wars against one another (consider the westward movement ofIndian Nations as well as events in Louisiana)? Why didn’t thePan-Indian efforts succeed?

Yourpaper should include an introduction with a thesis statement, detailedevidence from the book, and a conclusion. When quoting from the book,be sure to use quotation marks and cite the page number in parenthesis.Plagiarism will result in a failing grade and possibly a “0” on thepaper.

Youressays must be typed, double-spaced, and carefully proofread. Pleaseuse one-inch margins and 12 pt., Times New Roman font. You will notneed a title page. The final papers you turn in should be polishedessays, not rough drafts. They should be thoughtfully organized andfree of basic grammatical and spelling errors.

Your essay will be graded holistically based upon the following rubric:

A: The essay exceeds expectations and demonstrates an exceptional understanding of the book, The Scratch of a Pen,and other relevant course material. The content of the essay ishistorically accurate and reveals an excellent understanding of thethemes, topics, and events covered by the course and of historicalconcepts such as change over time, chronological thinking, and cause andeffect. The essay effectively answers all components of the questionusing specific examples (evidence) from The Scratch of a Pen.It is well organized: the introduction clearly states the thesis,topic sentences refer back to the overall argument and providetransition between paragraphs, and the conclusion explores thesignificance of the topic. The argument is compelling, offers originalinsight, and is strongly supported by evidence from the book. The essayis polished and free of grammatical and spelling errors.

B: The essay exceeds expectations and demonstrates a very good understanding of the book, The Scratch of a Pen,and other relevant course material. The content of the essay ishistorically accurate and reveals a capable understanding of the themes,topics, and events covered by the course and of historical conceptssuch as change over time, chronological thinking, and cause andeffect. The essay effectively answers all components of the questionusing specific examples (evidence) from The Scratch of a Pen.It is well organized: the introduction states the thesis, topicsentences refer back to the overall argument and provide transitionbetween paragraphs, and the conclusion explores the significance of thetopic. The examples from the book effectively support the argument.The essay is well written and free of grammatical and spelling errors.

C: The essay meets expectations and demonstrates an adequate understanding of the book, The Scratch of a Pen, andthe relevant course material. The content of the essay is historicallyaccurate, with few errors, and reveals a competent understanding of thethemes, topics, and events covered by the course and of historicalconcepts such as change over time, chronological thinking, and cause andeffect. The essay answers all components of the question using atleast some examples (evidence) from The Scratch of a Pen.It has an introduction that states the thesis and an identifiableconclusion. The examples from the book support the argument. The paperis nicely written and contains few grammatical mistakes.

D: The essay is below expectations and demonstrates an inadequate understanding of the book, The Scratch of a Pen, andthe relevant course material. It displays little understanding ofhistorical concepts such as change over time, chronological thinking,and cause and effect, and it contains significant historicalinaccuracies. The essay fails to address the question in its entiretyand includes no specific examples from thebook. Furthermore, it is not well organized: it lacks either anintroduction or a conclusion, and the paragraphs are not organized undertopic sentences that logically flow from one to the next. The paper isnot grammatically correct and needs to be edited.

F: The essay is unacceptable and shows little understanding of the book, The Scratch of a Pen, andthe relevant course material. Historical concepts such as change overtime, chronological thinking, and cause and effect are missing from thepaper, which also contains major historical inaccuracies. It fails toaddress the question on even a basic level and includes no specificexamples from the book. The essay has no argument and lacks structure. It is not grammatically correct and needs to be edited.

Points will be determined by the following rubric:

Content– 50/100 points (The content of the essay is historically accurate anddemonstrates an excellent understanding of the themes, topics, andevents covered by the course and of historical concepts such as changeover time, chronological thinking, and cause and effect. The argumentis convincing and supported by appropriate evidence.)

Organization– 30/100 points (The introduction has a strong thesis statement, andtopic sentences refer back to the argument and provide transitionbetween paragraphs. The conclusion answers the “so what?” question.)

Editing – 20/100 points (The essay is polished and free of grammatical and spelling errors.)