For and Against Prompt for Life in a California Mission: (La Pérouse)

For and Against Prompt for Life in a California Mission: (La Pérouse)

Write two single-spaced paragraphs (typed), one in support and one against the following statement concerning Jean François Galaup de La Pérouse’s journal in Life in a California Mission. Each paragraph is worth 60 points, 120 points overall. Statement: The events in Jean François De La Pérouse’s journal illustrate that Spanish colonialism completely altered Native American culture and every day life.Write a for/against paragraph (two overall) both supporting and then one challenging the statement above using evidence from La Pérouse’s journal. Make sure each paragraph includes three pieces of evidence from the journal (not the introduction) to support or challenge the statement. Although the introduction to the journal is useful background information that will help you write the paragraph, the pieces of evidence must come from La Pérouse’s journal. The final sentence in each paragraph must be a thesis sentence and assert your main argument supported by the evidence. Relisting your evidence points is not considered a strong argument, rather, make an all encompassing argument that draws a larger conclusion based on the evidence. You will be graded for having a topic sentence, evidence point 1, evidence point 2, evidence point 3, and thesis sentence. Your grade will be based on addressing these points and longer paragraphs do not automatically get higher scores. Use MLA style to cite the journal: (La Pérouse, page number)

For and Against Prompt Instructions:  

1)   Closely read and understand the statement you are being asked to both argue for and argue against.

2)   Read the source (such as Jean François De la Pérouse’s Life in a California Mission & Chavez’s U.S. War with Mexico) closely and take notes of events or phrases that can support or undermine the statement. You will need at least three pieces of evidence for each paragraph. Remember, the introduction to the journal or reader is helpful background information but you will need to use the journal or the primary source documents as evidence.  You can cite the evidence by writing (Pérouse, page number) or (Chavez, page number).    

3)   Construct the paragraphs using a topic sentence, supporting sentences with evidence (to be specific, three pieces of evidence), and a thesis sentence. You will be graded on effectively writing all these parts of the paragraph.      

4)   The topic sentence should contain the paragraph’s central theme, which in this case it should de directly related to whether you are supporting the statement or arguing against it.      

5)   Supporting sentences should use information from the source.

6) The thesis sentence should argue why your evidence supports the statement or on the other hand, how the source challenges the statement. Try not to relist your evidence in the thesis sentence but rather make a larger, broader argument that encompasses all of your evidence.