AP

U.S. History: Post-AP Exam Project

“What does it mean to be an American?”

You have spent eight months intensively studying the history of the United States, mostly in a
relatively detached style. You’ve been asked to learn about events and consider the motivations
of the people involved but mostly we’ve avoided what you’ve personally thought about these
events and people.

Now, you will write an analytical essay answering the question “what does it mean to be an
American?” The heart of this essay will be your personal observation, but it must be informed by
the history we’ve studied together. To that end, your conclusion can’t be over-the-top flag-waving
patriotism or knee-jerk down-spirited cynicism. This class may have increased your cynicism or
your patriotism (or something else entirely), but above all, your understanding of what an
American is should have increased due to your study.

Analytical focus:

While the end point of this essay is personal – it is focused on what you have come to believe – it
must be informed by an analysis of historical events that we’ve studied. That is, it can’t be
essentially “I was always raised to believe that our country was the greatest in the world, and that’s
what believe, period.” or “I was always raised to believe that people are liars and fake, and that’s
what our country is, period.”

What is analysis? The simple version is giving detailed evidence to support the conclusion you’ve
drawn, as well as including material that doesn’t support your conclusion. History is a messy,
lumpy compilation of events. Any essay that presents things too neatly, with no possible
contradictions, is most likely the result of not having looked at the evidence closely enough!

Some questions to answer to get you started on the paper:

First, think about some personal questions. Before this class, what did you think it meant to be an
American? What did we study that made you think most about this topic? What did we study that
made you proudest to be American? What did we study that made you most uncomfortable to be
an American?

Second, review the “big ideas” from each of the units we’ve studied. (A list of them is compiled into
a single document on the class web site for easy review.) Which one (or two) sticks out most to
you? Which one made you think the most?

Finally, you might want to deliberately look for something that was not an original interest of
yours. Surprise yourself. If at the start of the class, you were really interested in military history,
for instance, then what did learning more about social or cultural features of the country’s past do
to inform you about what it means to be an American?



Minimum amount of evidence required

You need at least three specific pieces of historical evidence to support your answer. One should
come from the time span 1750 – 1849, a second from 1850 – 1949, and a third from 1950 – present.

You must also include at least one specific piece of historical evidence that goes against, doesn’t
fully support, or nuances your answer. That piece can be from 1750 – present.

Imagery in the Paper

You are required to insert at least one image in the paper. The image can be a picture, photograph,
portrait, or other similar material. The image(s) should be thoughtfully chosen to support the text
of your paper; think about what we’ve looked at that surprised you, made you think, etc. Each
image should have an appropriate caption. Each image should be inserted into the body of the text
(not simply added to the end of the paper) at the appropriate matching spot in the text. Each image
should be sized to take up between ⅙ and ½ of a page. Each image needs to be sharp – no fuzzy
or ‘pixelated’ pictures! Each image should have a corresponding entry in the bibliography to credit
the source.

Source material

Mainly, you need to use the material we’ve worked through in this class – the textbook and the
articles we’ve read. All the articles are still available on the class website.

That’s it. You don’t have to go beyond any of this to write a high-quality essay. However, I hope
you pick a topic that interests you and one that you want to find out more about. If so, you can use
additional sources. One easily accessible set is the additional (optional reading) articles from the
year. They’re available on the class website.

Other sources can be found in the collection of links I have on the class website. The “General
History Links” can be used for mostly secondary sources, while “Primary Documents” can be used
for … well … primary documents! Finally, some books are available in Room 102. These can be
checked out; please talk with me before taking one out of the room.

By the way: Wikipedia (or any other encyclopedia) does not count as an ‘official’ source. It can be
a useful stop along the way, but do not cite it as a source in your essay. Its best use is in terms of
providing links to additional web sites.

Length of the Paper

The length of the paper should be three full typewritten, double-spaced pages of text with one-
inch margins all around and 12-point font. Note: once you include a title and the required image,
the page count will, of course, be over three pages (probably about 3.5 pages, at least). Don’t go
short; this is your opportunity to show your thoughtfulness on the subject.


What does this count for?

This counts the same as an essay test. The score for this paper will go into that category. The
grade on it will be given as the grade for the final exam on the semester’s report card.

Due Date

Thursday, May 23, 2019 by the start of class. Have the paper printed and ready to physically
hand in. (Ecologically, it’s better to print double-sided!)

Grammar, Spelling, Style, and Proofreading

Grammar, spelling, and style constitute 20% of the grade. Make sure to leave enough time before
the due date for editing and proofreading. As a guide, see the document posted on the class
website which is checklist of common errors.

Presentations

There will be formal presentations related to this essay. You’ll need to prepare a short (2 minute)
re-cap of your ideas. No PowerPoint is necessary. You’ll come to the front of the room to share
your ideas. (If you don’t want to speak in front of class, you can prepare a video of you sharing
your ideas; again, keep it to two minutes.) This will happen in the week of May 20. Note: this is
before the due date for the paper, so you can’t leave formulating your ideas to the last night; you’ll
need to have ideas ready to share for this presentation. This can be fairly low-key, but you should
be well prepared (and practiced) to share details of your thoughts.

What are the video pieces we’ll watch?

We’ll watch three biographies in class. As we watch these, you should take some notes about how
you think the historical person would have answered the question “what does it mean to be an
American?” That figure’s answer might very well not be the same as your own but thinking about
the question through the other person’s eyes can get you to think more about the factors
influencing a person’s life and why or how she would come to his or her answer.

Warning Regarding Plagiarism

The paper you submit must be your own work. You are not to work with others in the class
on it. You may use information from your sources (including direct quotations or
paraphrasing) but only (a) in so far as you use it to create a paper that is your own and (b)
you give credit (through citations) for ideas that are someone else’s. Any hint of plagiarism
will not be accepted and will be dealt with harshly (simply put: plagiarism is using other
people’s work and representing it as your own). A plagiarized paper will receive a score of
0% and the student will be directed to Mr. Vesper for further possible disciplinary action.


 Scoring Rubric

Spelling, grammar, flow, structure [20 pts: -1 for each 3 errors]
Presentation [5 points]
Length [4 points]
Bibliography* [2 points]
Effective thesis statement / opening paragraph [10 points]
Factual evidence for support included [15 points]
(at least 3 specific pieces, from different time periods: 1750-1850, 1851-1950, 1951-present)
Analysis of evidence, leading to conclusion [15 points]
Factual evidence for complexity, nuance, counterpoint included [5 points]
(at least 1 specific piece)
Analysis of evidence, leading to complexity, nuance, counterpoint [5 points]
Effective conclusion (significance, connection to other ideas?) [10 points]
Imagery [9 points]
Must have at least 1 portrait, picture, painting, etc. that helps tell the story
Image(s) must be appropriately embedded in the paper
Image(s) must sharp (not pixilated)
Image(s) must have appropriate caption
Late penalty [see below]
A paper turned in late will be marked normally, then its grade is penalized 5% for each day (24-hour span) that it is
late; a weekend counts as one day. A paper turned in more than five days late will be recorded with a grade of 0%.

*Sample Bibliography Entries
Your bibliography must have at least two entries: the textbook and the source of the image you used. If you use
additional sources, include those in your bibliography.

Book:
Last of author, First name of author. Title. Place of publishing: Publisher, year of publication.

Photograph or other image
See Purdue’s site (look under “A Painting, Sculpture, or Photograph):
https://owl.purdue.edu/owl/research_and_citation/mla_style/mla_formatting_and_style_guide/mla_works_cited_ot
her_common_sources.html

Article from a magazine:
Last of author, First name of author. “Title of article.” Title of magazine Vol. #, No. # (Date of issue): page # - page #

Article from a website:
“Title of article” Name of website (or organization) Year of article. Date on which article was accessed <URL>

You can use the following link for more information on the MLA format for papers:
http://owl.english.purdue.edu/owl/resource/747/01/
Post-AP Exam Timeline for Class

This is a ‘sketch’ – some details could change, but this will give you an idea of the final three
weeks of the class.

5/10/19 Friday (E) Wrap up (only 7th period)

5/13/19 Monday (U) How was the AP exam?
Expectations for paper
Initial thoughts, writing
5/14/19 Tuesday (B) Single period video: Andrew Carnegie
– Wednesday (C) Double period videos: Emma Goldman & Chuck Berry
5/16/19 Thursday (D)
5/17/19 Friday No class – Faculty Work Day

5/20/19 Monday (U) Work day?
5/21/19 Tuesday (E) Presentations
5/22/19 Wednesday (E) Presentations
5/23/19 Thursday (E) Last day of class (final exam)
Paper due
Citizen George Washington contest
Final conclusions about paper
5/24/19 Friday No class – Prize Day

5/27/19 Monday No class – Memorial Day
5/28/19 Tuesday No class – exams
5/29/19 Wednesday No class – exams
5/30/19 Thursday No class – exams

There is no final exam for AP U.S. History; so the last day of class is May 23 (no exam period for
you!). The final paper will be reported on the semester report card as the final exam grade. The
paper will count as an essay test.