American History 1302

Spring 2010
Research Project

Students will write a 1000-1200 word doubled-spaced research paper on some aspect of U.S.-
Mexico Border history. The instructor will provide a list of possible sources that students may
consult to both create a topic and research for the project. Students shall submit topics to the
instructor no later than September 30, 2010 .The margins on the paper will be 1 inch and the font
will be Times New Roman. All students will type their papers and the paper will be due on
March 30, 2011. The layout of the paper will consist of the following essential elements:

Thesis Statement: is a sentence that describes the main idea of the paper. The thesis sentence
will describe to the reader specifically what it is the student is going to discuss. For example, if a
student is writing on the effects of drugs on U.S.-Mexico Border history a thesis statement might
read as follows: The shipment of illegal drugs across the U.S.-Mexico Border in Texas has
dramatically affected the U.S. in the areas of law enforcement, crime, and family violence. The
thesis statement must be underlined. Students who do not underline the thesis statement
will receive a five percent reduction in the overall grade of the paper.

Body of the Paper: will describe the major points mentioned in the thesis statement. In the
example mentioned above, students should have a one paragraph about each of the following: the
affects of illegal drugs on law enforcement, crime, and family violence. Students will also need
at least one paragraph describing the nature of shipping illegal drugs in so that the reader has
adequate background knowledge to understand the remainder of the paper.

Concluding Paragraph: will summarize the paper. In this paragraph, students will sum up the
major points described in the body of the paper. Students should restate the thesis statement in
this paragraph without using the same format in which it was originally stated.

Bibliography: is a source page. Students will use a minimum of five sources and sources should
be citied through the Chicago Manual of Style. Students may use the free citation tool listed
under guides on the Library’s homepage. At least two of the sources must include books. E-
books will meet this requirement. If students use internet sources, Wikipedia or any other form
of this website will not meet the requirement and students will receive a severe reduction in the
overall grade (10%). The instructor will not accept papers without a bibliography. Students
will also submit the paper to Turnitin.com.
Quoted Material: No more than two sentences may be quoted by students in the paper. Students
who choose to use quotations in the paper must follow the quotation with the author’s last name
and the page number from which the quoted material was taken.

Example: “The one-room cabin now sheltered eight people to feed and clothe. At bedtime the
men and boys undressed first, the women and girls following, and by the code of decent folk no
one was abashed” (Sanburg—12).

Student grades will be determined by the following:

Effective thesis statement:--25%
Body of the paper—30%
Concluding paragraph—15%
Bibiliography—20%
Grammar—10%

Possible Topics:

• Drug Trafficking along the U.S.-Mexico Border

• Some aspect of immigration (should focus on how immigration affects the border or how
the border has changed immigration)

• Border Patrol Operations

• Drug Cartels

• Some cultural aspect of U.S. Mexico Border life