ESSAY GUIDELINES:

THIS IS A BIT EARLY, BUT SOME STUDENTS WERE WANTING TO START THINKING ABOUT THE IN CLASS ESSAY NOW. SO HERE ARE THE GUIDELINES.

THE BEST WAY TO START PREPARING IS TO SEE IF ONE OF THE ESSAY TOPICS BELOW INTERESTS YOU. THEN, AS YOU READ MOODY, BEGIN TO THINK ABOUT YOUR QUESTION.

You may bring an outline. Make sure it is an outline, not a series of sentences. You know the difference; ·

You may bring any Civil Rights book or other sources; ·

You will have the whole period to write your essay; ·

You may not ask your instructor how long the essay should be; the essay should have an introduction and conclusion and various body paragraphs. The essay should be detailed with names, dates, organizations, and anything else that helps you make your case; ·

Your essay will be judged on the strength of the argument and the quality of evidence that you employ to prove your case.

Again, your essay will be judged on the argument AND your use of evidence. What this means is that I expect standard English but not perfect form or perfect grammar and spelling.

 You may choose one of the following questions or come up with one of your own:

1. What was the role of organizations and individuals in the Civil Rights movement and/or resistance against it? Were individuals or organizations more important?

2. Was the strategy of non-violence in the Civil Rights movement realistic? Was it effective? Why did some activists turn away from non-violence?

 3. The traditional story of Civil Rights focuses on the big events, the main characters, and the key pieces of legislation. How does the story change if we add individuals on the sidelines?

 4. What was the role of music in the Civil Rights movement? What were the key messages in the music of the movement?

 5. Based on your analysis, were the most important changes of Civil Rights to law and politics or to the hearts and minds of the generations during and after the period in question?

You might also check out my blog with documents about the Black Panthers: http://history232blackpanthers.blogspot.com/