Response Paper Instructions
As tensions escalated between England and her American colonies, a young lawyer rose to speak to his fellow Virginians about the issues at hand. Patrick Henry’s speech in March 1775 was a bold public statement of his opinions regarding the colony’s course of action.
After reading the text of the speech, available in Blackboard, viewing the video on Patrick Henry, and reviewing Chapter 5 in your textbook, you are to construct a 1000-1500 word response to one of the following prompts. Your paper should completely address the question selected and use specific examples from the text to support your answer.
Prompts: 1) Henry’s speech was a call to action. What did he want his fellow Virginians to do? How did he justify his desire? In what ways did Henry address the concerns of those who did not agree with him?
2) Slavery was a common theme in Henry’s speech. What specific imagery did Henry use to illustrate his message? Why would those images have resonated so strongly with his audience?
3) Throughout his speech, Henry referenced a variety of Biblical themes. What are some of the most striking references Henry used? Why would these themes have resonated with his audience?
The textbook is American Stories, A History of the United States Second Edition, Volume 1 by Brands, Breen, Williams., Gross.
______________________________________________________________________________
Research: The body of the paper should be based primarily on your own reading and consideration of the document. You may do some outside reading and research to provide clarity to the document, but any sources you use in your paper must be listed in the assignment Bibliography and properly referenced in the text using footnotes in Turabian format.
Writing: Your paper should be well organized and developed, written in scholarly language with no grammar, spelling, or punctuation errors. Please be sure to reference the Writing Tips document provided in Blackboard, as you will be held responsible for the guidelines it contains. It should be at least 900 words in length, but no more than 1100 words. It should be typed in a Microsoft Word document in 12-pt Times New Roman, double spaced with 1 margins. Citations should conform to Turabian citation style with properly formatted footnotes and bibliography. (The Citation Style Guide is located in Blackboard).
A Word About Proofreading: Under most circumstances, the best papers will be those that are revised several times. Proofreading your papers will help solve most issues with grammar, spelling, punctuation, and clarity. If you have trouble with writing, I would suggest that you contact the Online Writing Center, but be certain to submit your work to them as early as possible in the week to give time for review and revision.
