US History Honors - Reconstruction Essay

Suppose that you are the editor of a high school US History textbook and you need a title for the chapter on Reconstruction. You want a title that expresses the best analysis of the Reconstruction era. Was Dunning right about the heroes and villains of the era? Was Du Bois? How can you put it in a way that high school students will understand? A few titles that have worked in recent textbooks are:

A. Little Effort, Little Change D. Half a Revolution: The Seeds of Change

B. A Darn Good Try E. Too Much Too Soon

C. Heroic Efforts of Freedmen F. How the South Won the Second Civil War

Feel free to use one of these titles if you think it best captures the significance of Reconstruction policies, experiences and outcomes. Write a 5 paragraph essay in which you explain your choice for an analytical chapter title and explain how your title captures the significance of the Reconstruction era.

Use SPECIFIC examples and details to support your analysis [think - names, dates and events]. Part of your challenge is to LIMIT yourself to the best examples available.

Turn in your outline and this assignment sheet with your final draft.

Remember elements of formal organization:

- title - intrigues reader, previews thesis

- introduction - intrigue the reader

- answer the question in a thesis statement

- preview your evidence

- use the language of the question

- body - topic sentence that links to thesis

- describe evidence - who, what, when, where

- explain what the evidence demonstrates

- conclusion - restate thesis and summarize main points, closing thoughts

Don’t forget these elements of formal style:

- no personal voice - I, you, one, we

- no contractions or slang

- pronoun control - nouns are your friends

- no rhetorical questions

- use power vocabulary: no basically really big things seem to have occurred