When is it due?

Topic Proposal: due by 9:00 a.m. on Tuesday, September 25, 2018
Instructor Conferencing: during week of Module 7
Peer Workshop: during week of Module 7
Final, Revised Draft: due during week of Module 8

What needs to be submitted in the essay file?

• The final, revised draft of the essay
• Annotated bibliography
• Source evaluation and annotated bibliography invention notes
• Peer workshop form
• Writing center reflection (optional for extra credit)

How much is it worth?

Essay 1 is worth 100 points toward your final grade.

• Essay (85%)
• Annotated bibliography (AB) (10%)
• Source eval and AB notes (5%)
• Peer workshop form (5%)
• Writing center reflection (if included, up to 5% additional to essay grade)

What are the guidelines?

Essay Length: Four to six (4 – 6) pages, plus title page, References and AB
Style: APA Format (a separate formatting lecture will be provided in a future module)

What is the assignment?

Topic

Human history is marked by many influential events that have changed the way we live and think – changes to our belief systems caused by a paradigm shift.

In this essay you will choose one specific historical event and argue how that event affected our belief systems and caused a paradigm shift.

In other words, consider the question: How has your chosen event created a distinct “new world” from the “old world” that existed before it?

Topic Selection and Focus

Your essay topic will address one specific, influential historical event of any time in any culture. This event can be in the distant past or one that is more recent. Allow your search for a topic to stretch beyond the common, shallow, and stereotyped “pop culture” that is most familiar to us all in the present moment.

The timing of your chosen event must be far enough in the past to have allowed for a new-world paradigm shift to have occurred, meaning that there has been time for the creation of a new belief system supported by a body of knowledge and research.

Consider the difference between a topic and an event:

Topic – Gay marriage in the U.S. (broad, general)
Event – The passage of the Marriage Equality Act (narrow, specific)

Topic – Instability in the Middle East (broad, general)
Event – The Syrian Civil War (narrow, specific)

Beyond choosing one single event, you will be focusing your research and argument on one specific belief system. In other words, what one area of our society has been altered because of this event.

Some examples of belief systems to choose from are:

• economic
• political
• educational
• medical/social welfare
• military or defense
• social identity
• spiritual or religious beliefs
• cultural systems, beliefs, patterns
• social behavior patterns

These belief systems are in themselves broad ideas and can be further broken down and made more specific depending on your topic. Use the exercises and brainstorming ideas provided for you in the lecture to help your further narrow your topic and focus.

Some Thoughts on Developing and Supporting Your Argument

Consider what specific old-world concepts have been destroyed and what new-world concepts have been built in their place. Explore both the physical world and the ideological/thought patterns

Research and Use of Sources

You will need to support your argument by integrating evidence from three (3) academic sources.

Use the library to find these sources: books, periodicals, academic journals. Only one (1) source may come from Internet searches and websites. Wikipedia and other generic sites are not reliable and credible sources of information, but can be sued as a “jumping off” point to find other, more credible sources.

Annotated Bibliography

You will formally evaluate and annotate all outside sources prior to using them in your essay. Refer to the separate Source Evaluation and Annotated Bibliography packet for more details and a sample annotation.

Peer Workshop

You will be required to participate in a peer workshop forum, either online or in person, during an upcoming module. Participation in this workshop is a graded part of this assignment.

Additional Notes

The following are important guidelines to achieve the minimum passing grade for this assignment. Any essay not meeting these basic requirements is not eligible to receive a higher grade than a “D”.

• Display a significant attempt at revision from first draft to final draft
• Fulfill all the requirements of the assignment as detailed on this sheet
• Meet the minimum page requirement
• Follow all APA formatting and citation guidelines