Drawing on El Zarco and other relevant materials, write a 4-5 page paper that addresses one of the following questions.

1) What are the characteristics of “good” men and how can they strengthen the nation?

2) What are the characteristics of “bad” men and how do they weaken the nation?

3) What are the characteristics of “good” women and how can they strengthen the nation?

4) What are the characteristics of “bad” women and how do they weaken the nation?

Guidelines

• You may use lecture notes for context (no need to cite lecture). Do not use any other sources (books, internet, etc.).

Format

• Paper needs to four full pages minimum and five pages maximum.
• Double space, one-inch margins all around, 11 or 12-point font.
• Put your name and the date (single-spaced) in the top left-hand corner of the first page only.
• Place your paper’s title in 14-point font on the top of the first page. Think of a title that reflects your paper’s argument.
• Eliminate the extra space between paragraphs (in “Format,” choose “paragraph,” and check box that says “Don’t add space between paragraphs of same style.”
• No cover sheet.
• Number every page on upper right-hand corner.

Spelling and Grammar: One point will be deducted for each spelling and grammar mistake.

• In Spelling and Grammar Preferences in Micro Soft Word set “writing style” to “formal.” For PCs, set to “check style” and place checkmarks in all of the stylistic features. Make sure to fix problems indicated by red or green lines.

Writing: Observing these tips will significantly improve your paper and grade.

• Write a clear introduction that catches the reader’s attention, previews your entire paper, and gives an indication of your particular argument or focus. It is often easiest to write your introduction after writing the rest of the paper.
• Jump write into the topic at hand. Don’t begin with a broad, universal generalization (“From the dawn of time… the struggle between good and evil has shaped human nature”).
• Use concrete examples to support your points.
• Write paragraphs around a single, specific idea, clearly expressed in a topic sentence.
• Concluding paragraph should tie the paper together. Restate argument and show how the evidence in paper supports argument.

Citations

• Be sure to cite direct quotations as well as ideas and points you draw from the sources, even when you do not use their exact words. NOT CITING WILL DRASTICALLY LOWER YOUR GRADE.
• Since your paper will draw on a single source, cite by placing the page number (only the number) between parentheses at the end of the sentence, before the period.

  When referring to concepts in the book without repeating exact language, cite as follows:
  The concept of calidad included several factors (9).

  When using repeats exact language from the book, cite as follows:
  Francisca attributed her daughter’s behavior to the workings of “a diabolic entity” (177).

• Important note: Quote the words of the people and documents discussed in the book, but avoid quoting the author’s words directly. In general, keep quotations to a minimum. No quote should exceed two lines. Try to incorporate quotations into your own sentences, as shown in the second example above.