Instruction start here!
This assignment essays will offer you an opportunity to make sense of the readings from your Voices of Freedom document books. Each assignment will ask you questions about a specific reading, such as: How does the author support his or her claim? Based on the information that you’ve read in your Foner textbook, do you agree with the author’s arguments? 

Your responses should be approximately 500 words. Strive to make a clear and decisive argument in each essay by dividing it into three parts:

1. Exposition. Your first paragraph should describe the reading, and briefly explain what you have decided about the questions posed.

2. Development. The middle of your essay should explain your answer. It should offer details about the main arguments and content of the reading to support your claims. It should also offer background from Give Me Liberty!

3. Conclusion. Your last paragraph should recapitulate your argument, and add some final point that you think bolsters your  perspective.

You can use phases like “in this essay I argue . . . ” or “I think that . . . ” or “in conclusion, I believe that . . . “

Quote a little from the readings when you find some passage that illustrates your points. Use your Give Me Liberty!  textbook to provide background, or to add additional quotes. When you quote, reference your quote at the end of the sentence like this:

(Give Me Liberty!, 375) or (Voices, 96).

But don’t over-quote. Use your own words. And don’t just copy passages verbatim as if they were your own. That’s plagiarism (Links to an external site.).

Your teaching assistants will grade your papers from 100 to zero. Here is the rubric:

High grades (90+) will go to focused papers that emphasize a strong argument backed by clear references and that pay attention to spelling and grammar.

Medium grades (80-89) will go to competent papers that touch on the questions, but with less focus, organization, or reference backing.

Lower grades will go to all other submissions.

Your papers are due when the assignment window says that they’re due. You can hand them in late, but you’ll lose ten points on the paper. After seven days, the window to submit assignments one to four closes and your chance to do the work and get any credit for them ends. The window for assignment five closes in two days.

Assignment Start here!
In his 1776 essay Common Sense Thomas Paine argued that “the cause of America is in great measure the cause of all mankind” (Voices, 98). He even argued that the new nation would become “an asylum for mankind” (Voices, 102). In your essay, explain why Paine makes this case. Based on your reading of colonial society from your Foner textbook, do you agree with Paine’s assertions? What aspects of the colonial cause do you think would support Paine’s claim? What aspects would not?

Please address all the questions in this prompt for your essay.