https://padlet.com/jennifer_egas/y6k25juo89ou Made with magic en-us 2018-05-23 22:04:24 UTC 2018-05-23 22:29:18 UTC hello@padlet.com jennifer_egas https://padlet.com/jennifer_egas/y6k25juo89ou/wish/263178930 This is always a daunting task...just starting to write is hard for many students.  
My best advice: Just start writing. You will NOT (I hope) be turning in your first draft of any essay. So just get going. Open a Word doc and start!]]> 2018-05-23 22:07:04 UTC https://padlet.com/jennifer_egas/y6k25juo89ou/wish/263178930 jennifer_egas https://padlet.com/jennifer_egas/y6k25juo89ou/wish/263179082 Your first paragraph will be your INTRODUCTION.
Do NOT tell me what you will be telling me.  Just start telling me...for example: 
"The United States began as individual colonies, each established for different purposes and as such each colony developed over decades in very different ways based upon region. For example, each colony's development was influenced by the colonists' reason for being there whether it be for personal profit or gain, religious freedom or a new start in life. Additionally, the geography and climate of each colony heavily influenced the crops grown there, the labor needs and the problems faced by the colonists over time." (I wrote this in 3 minutes. It's not perfect, but I didn't say, "I am going to tell you about the history of the United States in this essay.") ]]> 2018-05-23 22:08:34 UTC https://padlet.com/jennifer_egas/y6k25juo89ou/wish/263179082 jennifer_egas https://padlet.com/jennifer_egas/y6k25juo89ou/wish/263179541 Then begin discussing the development over time of the East (1607 basically to the end of the Civil War.) ]]> 2018-05-23 22:12:43 UTC https://padlet.com/jennifer_egas/y6k25juo89ou/wish/263179541 jennifer_egas https://padlet.com/jennifer_egas/y6k25juo89ou/wish/263179615 You can choose to organize your essay by era or period. For example, you can organize it like this:
1.  Introductory Paragraph
2.  Describe/explain how the three regions (East, South, West) developed in the Colonial Period, the Revolutionary Period, the Early Republic, during Westward Expansion, during the Jacksonian Era, etc.  (One paragraph for each period---they don't have to be really long, but you could organize it this way.)
3. Conclusion (Paragraph) after however many eras you cover.  

In this framework you would need to discuss the East, West and South in each era which may be too much unless you are very concise.]]> 2018-05-23 22:13:50 UTC https://padlet.com/jennifer_egas/y6k25juo89ou/wish/263179615 jennifer_egas https://padlet.com/jennifer_egas/y6k25juo89ou/wish/263179956 Discuss the South over the same period.]]> 2018-05-23 22:17:53 UTC https://padlet.com/jennifer_egas/y6k25juo89ou/wish/263179956 jennifer_egas https://padlet.com/jennifer_egas/y6k25juo89ou/wish/263179985 Discuss the West's development for the same time span. ]]> 2018-05-23 22:18:07 UTC https://padlet.com/jennifer_egas/y6k25juo89ou/wish/263179985 jennifer_egas https://padlet.com/jennifer_egas/y6k25juo89ou/wish/263180019 Tie up all the loose ends and give your essay some type of ending. Summarize!]]> 2018-05-23 22:18:31 UTC https://padlet.com/jennifer_egas/y6k25juo89ou/wish/263180019 jennifer_egas https://padlet.com/jennifer_egas/y6k25juo89ou/wish/263180096 Conventions are the spelling/grammar/punctuation rules you follow when writing anything.  You are certainly expected to have subject-verb agreement, consistent tense (You will write in the past tense for history courses of course!)  and you are expected to use spell check and to write complete sentences. 

While this is NOT a "research paper" so to speak, in some ways it's more difficult because it's shorter than a research paper and for some people (like me) being concise and still including pertinent information is a challenge.  

USE the tools in Word to help you!  Spell check is there for a reason and there should be NO mistakes in your paper!

CITE your sources! The citation for your textbook appears at the top of your screen before Lesson 1. NO excuses for NOT citing your book.

You can use scholarly sources of information. (Ex. .org and .edu websites and GALILEO are the BEST.)
DO NOT use other students' papers as sources of information. They are NOT experts AND you will hike up your originality percentage when you submit your essay in the Dropbox because ALL papers are processed through SafeAssign and yours will match whether you cite your sources or not.

You are expected to keep your percentage BELOW 25% at a maximum. The optimal level is 10%.  That allows for a couple of quotes and your bibliography and that is all. 

Paraphrase your information. That means changing the sentence structure and putting the information in your own words.  

Use MLA or Chicago Turabian as formatting styles. You can use the "references" tool in Word to store your sources of information and it will format your entire bibliography for you! (Ask me for more information if you don't know how to do this!)

Also useful are easybib.com and citationmachine.net for formatting.  You can choose from a huge number of formats in the two websites and in Word. You can't go wrong!


]]> 2018-05-23 22:18:58 UTC https://padlet.com/jennifer_egas/y6k25juo89ou/wish/263180096 jennifer_egas https://padlet.com/jennifer_egas/y6k25juo89ou/wish/263180832 If you are concerned about your potential score, submit your paper in a free plagiarism checker before you submit it in Blackboard.  

Penalties per the WGTC Academic Honesty policy include a zero on your essay, reporting to the college and/or failing the course depending upon your instructor's judgment and the decision of the college administration.  

It's best to NOT do it. And if you have questions, ask your instructor for guidance!]]> 2018-05-23 22:27:18 UTC https://padlet.com/jennifer_egas/y6k25juo89ou/wish/263180832