Choose a primary source document from Chapter 18 or 19 of The American Yawp Primary Source Reader. My choice is chapter 19 Rudyard Kipling, The White Mans Burden (1899). http://www.americanyawp.com/reader/19-american-empire/rudyard-kipling-the-white-mans-burden-1899/
What does this document tell us about the society that produced it? Your thesis statement should respond directly to this question. You can begin your thesis statement [Document Name] shows that
if you would like. Be careful not to overstate your thesis! Support your claim with a structured argument that mobilizes specific pieces of evidence from your document. Provide context for the document using information provided in your textbook. [Remember: context = the historical events transpiring when a source was produced that may have influenced the ideas being presented in the source]
Begin your paper with an introduction to the source that ends with your thesis statement. You may not know what your argument should be until you have read through your notes on the source. You may want to start writing the paper and then compose your thesis statement once you have decided what you think. End with a brief concluding paragraph that summarizes your main points.