Welcome Class of 2016 and Congratulations!

Bully!

You are stuck with that bonehead for an entire year!!!

Theodore Roosevelt

After a year with him, you will look like me!

Gen. Winfield Scott Enough, General!

All right, now my colleagues and I will tell you about your summer work.

Thomas Jefferson

Abraham Lincoln Assignment 1: research the topic Colonel Simoncini assigns you and then write an 800 1,000 word (3-5 page) paper about it. You must have a minimum of 3 sources, one of which must be a book. Simoncini will discuss mechanics issues in a few moments. The paper is due on Friday, July 25, 2014.

You will also be required to make a poster depicting the key aspects of your topic. I expect that poster to be totally HOOAH!! In other words, of high quality. The poster is due the first day of school.

During the year, when we cover your topic in class, I expect you to be able to contribute depth to the discussion, based on your research.

Your final assignment is to read the book that I, Upton Sinclair, wrote: The Jungle . You must also prepare a 2-3 page paper outlining the book and analyzing 3-5 historical points I made about immigrants and the meatpacking industry in the book.

Do it or you’ll answer to me, see?!?! And turn it in on the first day of school.

My e-mail address: [email protected]

The Class Website: http://psimonciniohs.net

http://psimonciniohs.net

All right, you boneheads, PAY ATTENTION. Below is the Colonel’s website URL. Go there this summer, open up this PowerPoint on the AP US history page and read through the Colonel’s pet peeves about mechanics. Students can be removed from the course for bad mechanics.

Thesis statements should be extensive and comprehensive: • state your case up front • tell the reader what you are going to tell him/her in the body of the paper Its vs. it’s its=possessive; it’s=“it is” contraction Led = past tense of “to lead”

Use

active voice

NOT Passive: “John was given a high grade by Mr. Simoncini.”

passive voice

Active: “Mr. Simoncini gave John a high grade.” Passive: “Iraq was attacked by the U.S.” Active: “The U.S. attacked Iraq.” Always place the actor at the front.

This/that/these/those DO NOT use the above terms as stand alone nouns.

“This was due to a conflict in Eastern Asia.” Use the above words as adjectives.

“This situation evolved as a result of a conflict in Eastern Asia.”

This/that/these/those “This” and “these” imply things close by in terms of time or distance. Therefore those terms should not be used when referring to the past or to things in the distance.

“That” and “those” imply things far away in terms of time or distance.

Avoid paragraphs that are too long. When referring to people in a formal history paper them by their

family name

. You may also use a title (President Lincoln); but avoid simply referring to a person by only their given in those cases.

(or first) name.

One exception may be when you are discussing two people with the same last name; but try to find work arounds

The first time that you discuss a person in a paper, you should include the full name and title (Lieutenant Colonel Peter Simoncini).

have introduced the individual, you may refer to him/her by simply their last name paper.

After you in the remainder of the “The game was exciting.” close, which made it

45=forty five; 63=sixty three Except for “its,” possessives require apostrophes (the dog’s bone) Place punctuation INSIDE close quotes (Bob said, “That was a fun time.”)

When you use an acronym, except for those that are VERY common (USA), you should acronym. write it out first , then show the acronym parenthetically. Subsequently, you may use simply the [Oakdale High School (OHS)] In the body of the paper, document EVERYTHING that you have obtained from an outside source EVEN IF YOU DO NOT QUOTE IT. Use parenthetical citations.

General McAuliffe responded to the German surrender ultimatum simply by saying, “Nuts!” Army was racing (Keegan 245).

What is remarkable about this courageous remark is the fact that McAuliffe did not know, at that time, that General George S. Patton’s Third to his rescue (D’Este 643.) Note: passive voice in this case is allowable because McAuliffe is the actor.

Avoid superlatives—all, everyone, etc.— if you use a superlative be certain that it is true: i.e. “all men are created equal.” I shall post this slide show as well as other hints on my website before the end of the school year. HOOAH!!!

Go forth and write awesome papers