Indian boarding schools in the United States
The topic for this paper is the Indian boarding schools in the United States during the 19th and 20th centuries. Begin by doing a little research to get an idea what the schools were, what they were intended to do, and what they actually did. There are numerous Wikipedia articles and other websites that will give you a good overview. (See below for details about acceptable sources.)
Develop a specific question about the Indian boarding schools. This question will be the title of your paper, and the answer to the question will be your thesis. For example, if our topic were controversies over interpreting the US Constitution, my question might be, What are the major philosophical differences in the ways the legal scholars interpret the language of the Second Amendment?
It is almost always best to develop a question that begins with who, what, why, where, when, or how, rather than with is or does.
Your question goes at the top of your paper, as the title.
The first paragraph is where you provide the context your reader needs to understand your thesis.
The last sentence of the introduction is your thesis: an explicit, arguable answer to your question.
Each supporting paragraph begins with a topic sentence that clearly develops something in the thesis.
There is no specific number of quotations required, but a successful paper would be unlikely to have a paragraph (after the introduction) without at least one quotation.
The Works Cited section should follow MLA formatting and should include at least four sources.
