Bully! You are stuck with that bonehead for an entire year!!!

2013-2014 A.P. U. S. History Welcome Class of 2014 and Congratulations! Bully! You are stuck with that bonehead for an entire year!!!

2013-2014 A.P. U. S. History After a year with him, you will look like me! Enough, General! All right, now my colleagues and I will tell you about your summer work.

2013-2014 A.P. U. S. History Assignment 1: research the topic Colonel Simoncini assigns you and then write an 800-1,000 word (3-5 page) paper about it. You must have a minimum of 3 sources, one of which must be a book. Simoncini will discuss mechanics issues in a few moments. The paper is due on Friday, July 27, 2012.

2013-2014 A.P. U. S. History You will also be required to make a poster depicting the key aspects of your topic. I expect that poster to be totally HOOAH!! In other words, of high quality. The poster is due the first day of school. During the year, when we cover your topic in class, I expect you to be able to contribute depth to the discussion, based on your research.

2013-2014 A.P. U. S. History Your final assignment is to read the book that I, Upton Sinclair, wrote: The Jungle. You must also prepare a 2-3 page paper outlining the book and analyzing 3-5 historical points I made about immigrants and the meatpacking industry in the book. Do it or you’ll answer to me, see?!?! And turn it in on the first day of school.

2013-2014 A.P. U. S. History And I, Al Capone, was an outlaw. I, Clarence Darrow, was a man of the law. To make this legal, you and your parent/ guardian must sign a contract. And gumba, it must be in by 5/21/2012

2013-2014 A.P. U. S. History My e-mail address: psimoncini@oakdale.k12.ca.us The Class Website: http://psimonciniohs.net

2013-2014 A.P. U. S. History Ladies and Gentlemen, what are your questions?

2013-2014 A.P. U. S. History All right, you boneheads, PAY ATTENTION. Below is the Colonel’s website URL. Go there this summer, open up this PowerPoint on the AP US history page and read through the Colonel’s pet peeves about mechanics. Students can be removed from the course for bad mechanics. http://psimonciniohs.net

Common Term Paper Errors • Thesis statements should be extensive • and comprehensive: • state your case up front • tell the reader what you are going to • tell him/her in the body of the paper Its vs. it’s its=possessive; it’s=“it is” contraction Led = past tense of “to lead”

Common Term Paper Errors Use active voice NOT passive voice Passive: “John was given a high grade by Mr. Simoncini.” Active: “Mr. Simoncini gave John a high grade.” Passive: “Iraq was attacked by the U.S.” Active: “The U.S. attacked Iraq.” Always place the actor at the front.

Common Term Paper Errors This/that/these/those DO NOT use the above terms as stand alone nouns. “This was due to a conflict in Eastern Asia.” Use the above words as adjectives. “This situation evolved as a result of a conflict in Eastern Asia.”

Common Term Paper Errors This/that/these/those “This” and “these” imply things close by in terms of time or distance. Therefore those terms should not be used when referring to the past or to things in the distance. “That” and “those” imply things far away in terms of time or distance.

Common Term Paper Errors Avoid paragraphs that are too long. When referring to people in a formal history paper, you should refer to them by their family name. You may also use a title (President Lincoln); but avoid simply referring to a person by only their given (or first) name. One exception may be when you are discussing two people with the same last name; but try to find work arounds in those cases.

Common Term Paper Errors The first time that you discuss a person in a paper, you should include the full name and title (Lieutenant Colonel Peter Simoncini). After you have introduced the individual, you may refer to him/her by simply their last name in the remainder of the paper. “The game was close, which made it exciting.”

Common Term Paper Errors 45=forty-five; 63=sixty-three Except for “its,” possessives require apostrophes (the dog’s bone) Place punctuation INSIDE close quotes (Bob said, “That was a fun time.”)

Common Term Paper Errors When you use an acronym, except for those that are VERY common (USA), you should write it out first, then show the acronym parenthetically. Subsequently, you may use simply the acronym. [Oakdale High School (OHS)] In the body of the paper, document EVERYTHING that you have obtained from an outside source EVEN IF YOU DO NOT QUOTE IT. Use parenthetical citations.

Common Term Paper Errors General McAuliffe responded to the German surrender ultimatum simply by saying, “Nuts!” (Keegan 245). What is remarkable about this courageous remark is the fact that McAuliffe did not know, at that time, that General George S. Patton’s Third Army was racing to his rescue (D’Este 643.) Note: passive voice in this case is allowable because McAuliffe is the actor.

Common Term Paper Errors Avoid superlatives—all, everyone, etc.— if you use a superlative be certain that it is true: i.e. “all men are created equal.” I shall post this slide show as well as other hints on my website before the end of the school year. HOOAH!!! Go forth and write awesome papers

Bully! You are stuck with that bonehead for an entire year!!!