Essay Paper – Latin America
The bulk of your paper should be making the case for your argument. You should examine the major arguments of each author. How similar or different are the conclusions in the secondary sources (i.e. articles) to each other and to relevant secondary sources from class.
In addition, you should discuss the types of primary sources examined by the authors to develop their arguments. What kinds of information did the authors find in their primary sources? How does that information support their findings? If an author includes statistical data (i.e. charts and tables), what sources did they examine to produce such data or was that data borrowed from another academic source?
Assess the validity or strength of the authors’ arguments on the basis of the sources, especially primary sources (e.g. declassified government documents, lawsuits, laws/legal codes, interviews, images, political speeches, etc.) they examined. If no primary sources were examined or cited by the author, then is their work the opinion of a specialist with years of research behind them or the opinion of a hobbyiest or a politicized opinion? If only one type of primary source was examined by an author, assess how the examination of a more diverse set of primary sources may have strengthened, added nuance, or possibly detracted from their argument. How do the findings of one author, irrespective of source limitations or because of their source selection, support or contradict the findings of another author?
Your primary sources must be formally and methodically introduced—don’t refer to them as “my first” or “my second” primary source. Introduce and refer to each primary source as what they are (e.g. the 2000 national census of Mexico). Summarize the contents of your primary sources before examining and discussing their relevance to your research. That is, briefly explain the kinds of information typically found in such primary sources and the specific historical context in which each of your sources were produced. Then transition to your analysis. Were there other types of primary sources that you could have examined to strengthen your research findings? Lastly, determine how your analysis of primary sources supports or challenges or adds nuance to the findings in your secondary sources.
Critically assess the validity of any popular beliefs, common misinformation, or stereotypes relevant to your research topic. In what ways do non-academic popular sources inform or misinform their audiences about the historical reality of your research topic?
Conclude. Your conclusion should remind the reader of the research question of your essay and answer it, summarizing your analysis of the secondary and primary sources examined in your paper. You’re welcome to make any final comments on the state of the field with regard to your research topic.
