Overview
In this assignment you will use primary documents, in addition to other course materials, in an analytical argument.
Details: 2-3 pages, double spaced, 12 pt type, 1 inch margins. Grammar, logic, and clarity count. Specific and detailed evidence required. Use of primary documents from the Thinking Historically: American Indians and the Wars for Empire folder in Topic 7 is required. You must have, at minimum, three pieces of evidence in support of your thesis drawn from these documents.
This is an individual assignment – do not work on it with others
Assignment Prompt
Discuss the role of the Indians in the wars for empire from the 1690s through the 1760s. Were they simply pawns of the European combatants or did they have their own strategies and goals from the war? What factors caused Indian tribes and confederations to choose one European power over another as an ally?
You may wish to concept map or outline key issues first and then pull out your three strongest arguments to develop more fully in the essay.
THE “RULE OF THREE”
You will need to use an analytical writing style in this class. The basic form of analytical writing utilizes the “Rule of Three.” Simply, there should be at least three key points/pieces of evidence in a piece of writing introduced by a strong clear thesis.
This is a 2-3 page essay length assignment. Your paper should begin with an Introduction which sets the prompt in the historical context, the LAST sentence of the intro paragraph is the thesis statement which lists the (minimum of) three points (X,Y,Z) that will be more fully developed in the paper. The first paragraph of the body (paragraph 2) would discuss key point X (this paragraph would have its own thesis as the first sentence, followed by three pieces of evidence/analysis in support), then a paragraph on Y, and finally one on Z. An essay ends with a conclusion paragraph – which sums up the argument you made and ties X, Y, and Z together. The conclusion is NOT the place to introduce new arguments or evidence.
Another way of thinking about it is that an essay is comprised of three paragraphs in the body of similar composition to the one paragraph you wrote in the Reaction 1 exercise.
So Rule of Three means three key points in a thesis, a body with three paragraphs (one for each of your key points), each paragraph has a thesis supported by three key pieces of evidence. Followed by a conclusion.
