Your final paper will analyze of the weekly themes discussed over the course of the semester:
- Week 1 – The Dynamics of Identity & Labels
- Week 2 – The U.S – Mexican War
- Week 3 – Mexican American Lynching & Segregation
- Week 4 – WWII & the Bracero Program
- Week 5 – Mexican American Education and the Chicano Movement
- Week 6 – Mexican Americans in the 2000s
You have the option of choosing which theme you would like to analyze. You may choose any aspects to analyze. For instance, you can discuss women in WWII, you can discuss the experience of Texas Braceros, you can analyze the significance of the Mexican American Education court cases, you can discuss the significance of the Chicano movement and it’s legacy, etc. If you are unsure and need guidance, feel free to email me the weekly theme you’re interested in and I will help you narrow down a specific topic. It should be 4 pages (FULL pages). Sample prompts are on Blackboard.
What is an analytical paper?
When you are required to write an analytical essay, it means in your essay you should present some argument, and then to analyze it thoroughly.
Elements
The basic elements of academic essay writing are two: a thesis and evidence, divided into three parts: an introduction, the systematic development of an argument with EVIDENCE, and a conclusion. All scholarly writing, from the most concise paper to the longest book, follow these basic guidelines.
Paper Guidelines:
- Citation: Chicago Manual of Style, MLA, or APA (just be consistent)
- Times New Roman, 12 point, 1 inch margins, double-spaced
- You must cite at least THREEE sources, They can be readings from class or outside academic articles that you’ve found.
- You should have at least TWO direct quotes from a reading. Additional evidence may be paraphrased and referenced.
Final Exam OPTIONAL Question Prompts
For anyone who needs help choosing a final paper topic, I have listed several questions prompts below. While you are free to choose any of these question prompts for your final paper, you are NOT required to choose of these if there is something else you would rather write about.
- How can labels impact the way one chooses to identify themselves?
- What were the driving forces behind Mexican lynching?
- How does learning about Mexican lynching impact our understand of Mexican history?
- How did the U.S. Mexico War transform U.S. -Mexico foreign relations?
- What were the causes of the U.S. – Mexico War?
- How does the difference in names: the American Invasion vs the U.S. – Mexico War, signify a difference in understand of the event itself by Mexico and the United States?
- Did WWII transform Mexican American life and culture in the United States? Why or why not?
- How did WWII influence the Chicano Movement?
- In what ways did the Bracero Program impact/transform both the United States and Mexico?
- Why was Mendez v. Westminster a watershed for Mexican American education transformed throughout the 20th and 21st-centures?
- What was the aim (or aims) of the Chicano Movement? What did it accomplish? What was not accomplished?