College Essay (U.S History)

Exam Question:

When Spanish and English first encountered Indigenous people in the Americas, many believed that their natural superiority and God’s favor allowed these Europeans to succeed in colonizing people they encountered in the western hemisphere. With the advantage of hundreds of centuries separating us from the events in question, historians now understand that the causes for European dominance in the New World were initially much more fragile. This exam should explain the differences in the ways that Spain and England interacted with those they encountered in the Americas and the resistance by Indigenous Americans to maintain control over their own lands, and responses to the European settlers. Choose three themes from the list below that best explains the differences between the two European colonizers and the various interactions between Indigenous people they encountered.

– Settling practice of the colonizers
– Importance of alliances
– Motivations of colonizers
– Differing approaches to labor shortages
– Religious differences
– European orientation towards monetary rewards

This is an open book, formally written, collegiate level exam dealing with all material covered in American Yawp Chapters 1 through 3 and the primary source readers corresponding to each chapter. No outside material from other sources are allowed for exams; 10 points will be deducted for each outside source used in your exam.

Format:
• Double Spaced
• Save and submitted as a Word doc and then uploaded to D2L
• 12 point font
• 1” margins (left/right; top/bottom)
• Avoid grammar/spelling errors; no contractions in a formal paper
• Each theme of the question must have AT LEAST 2 citations using the form practiced in the Historical Response discussions; more sources that a reflect a higher level of analysis may earn a higher score.
• All submissions will go through plagiarism software, so proceed carefully.

FAQ’s about essay

“How long should the essay be?” Precise page numbers are hard to estimate. This essay represents your careful consideration of several weeks of material. Your essay should be long enough to fully answer the question and support your thoughts with collegiate level analysis. Critical analysis is necessary and weakly supported submissions will not earn maximum scores. If you hit eight (8) pages [AND I HOPE YOU DON’T] of double spaced, 12 point font, 1” margins…TAKE A BREAK and please consider evaluating your paper’s length. A short concise paper is favorable to a lengthy eight page paper filled with rambling words and sentences constructed to make it appear that great analysis is happening. The number of pages does not impress me; thoughtful, logical analysis does.

“How to should I organize my essay?” One possibility is, after a paragraph that includes a statement of your thesis, start right in with the most important element then fully explain what this element refers to, why it was important. Then you will do the same for other elements that further support your thesis statement, also explaining completely all aspects and implications of the events/evidence in question. Your approach is your decision. Points will be deducted for not answering all parts of the question.

“What is taking up all those pages?” In short: explanations of meaning of the evidence. It is a good strategy to explain your choices as though you were not writing for your history professor, but rather an interested person who may not know nothing about the questions asked. In other words, do not get caught in the common trap of not explaining your points fully, because you assume your professor will know what you mean by mentioning a term or a short reference. Assuming this will negatively influence your score. It is not my task to assume you know what you are writing about, you have to prove it through the thoughtful explanation of all aspects of your thesis.

“How will I be graded?” You will be graded on the following criteria:

Did you develop a thesis?
Did you show thoughtful analysis?
Did you explain the moments in history correctly?
Did you use at least 2 sources for each of the three themes?
Did you explain how the evidence you selected proves your thesis?
Do you have a clear introduction and conclusion?
Have you avoided serious grammar, punctuation, and spelling errors? [Remember, no contractions.]
Have you applied the proper formatting to your essay?