Ideals Essay Assignment
Name___________________
This assignment is worth 52 points and is a culminating assessment of the entire year of study in
American History II.
T-Chart Due Date: Monday, June 9th
Good Copy Due Date: Wednesday, June 11
*This should be typed and printed. If you need me to print it, save it to a flash drive/email it to
me or get a pass for the library to print it by Tuesday, June 8th.
Your objective is to write an essay that examines whether or not America has lived up to the
ideals* expressed in the declaration of Independence.
*Liberty, Democracy, Opportunity, Rights, and Equality
When answering this question, you may examine ONE of the ideals the whole way through your
paper, OR you may use ANY or ALL of the ideals throughout the paper.
The format of your paper should be as follows:
1. Opening paragraph including a hook, thesis and main ideas that will be discussed in this paper.
2. THREE (3) body paragraphs from 3 separate time periods we have studied this year.
(ie. Industrial Revolution, Progressive Era, and WWII)
*Each body paragraph should have a clear topic sentence that relates to the thesis.
*Each body paragraph should have at least 3 well-developed pieces of evidence to support your
thesis.
3. Conclusion paragraph to restate your thesis, summarize major points, and provide adequate
closure to the essay.
Your essay should include transitions between each paragraph and have a good flow of ideas. It
should be grammatically correct, with no punctuation or spelling errors.
*Your thesis should state your opinion (without using “I” statements) about whether America lived
up to the ideals expressed in the Declaration of Independence or not.
- If your thesis states America DID live up to the ideals, ALL three of your body
paragraphs (time periods) should be filled with evidence to support that thesis.
- If your thesis states America DID NOT live up to the ideals, ALL three of your body
paragraphs (time periods) should be filled with evidence to support that thesis.
*You may choose to write a thesis stating that at some points in history we did not live up to the
ideals, but in others we made a lot of progress towards them or we did live up to them.
-In this case, you should have full body paragraphs of time periods (1 or 2) supporting we
DID NOT live up to the ideals
AND
-Full body paragraphs of time periods (1 or 2) supporting we DID live up to the ideals.
**Use the outline on the back of this page to create a T-chart to help organize your
essay.
T-CHART FRAMEWORK:
Paragraph 1: Introduction:
Hook/Lead in:
-something to grab the reader’s attention
Thesis Statement: (why you are writing this article)
-subject
-position
-reasons:
Paragraph 2: Body Paragraph #1
Transition/topic sentence:
Evidence from one time period ________________
to support your topic sentence
1. Evidence 1________________________
2. Evidence 2________________________
3. Evidence 3________________________
Paragraph 3: Body Paragraph #2
Transition/topic sentence
Evidence from one time period _______________
to support your topic sentence
1. Evidence 1________________________
2. Evidence 2________________________
3. Evidence 3________________________
Paragraph 4: Body Paragraph #3
Transition/topic sentence
Evidence from one time period _______________
to support your topic sentence
1. Evidence 1________________________
2. Evidence 2________________________
3. Evidence 3________________________
Paragraph 5: Conclusion
Transition “In conclusion…”
- Restate the purpose of your essay and your
evidence (without full explanation).
- Closure of the essay