On Demos
1301 John Demos Essay Prompts

Potential essay topics. Choose one:
Argue that the “Heathen School” is or is not a representation of American history more broadly by discussing the role of religion in the American experience.
Evaluate how John Demos’s interpretation of the history of the “Heathen School” illustrates American challenges relating to mulitculturalism and assimilation.
Situate the “Heathen School” in the longer history of US relations to Native American people; as a private institution, rather than government institution, how is the school different and similar to the government’s relations with Native American people?
Surprise me. Develop your own argument using evidence from both of their writings.

Format:
1000 words
Double space
10 or 12 point font
Standard written English
One inch margins
Cite with footnotes in Chicago style, not in parenthetical MLA style.

Content:
Your paper must have a main idea/thesis/argument. It cannot be a summary of the reading.
Your paper must be carefully edited. Grammar, punctuation, and spelling count.
Cultivate your own voice/style. You will be writing a lot of papers in college, at least three in this course, so find your voice. This does not mean the papers are about you. Do not write about yourself.
You must demonstrate understanding and familiarity with the core text.
These are reading response essays, not research papers. There should be no other source material beyond Demos’s The Heathen School; do not summarize content you have read on the internet.

Grading:
Meet the format requirements
Have a strong main idea
Write clearly and edit your work
A papers do these three tasks strongly, B papers may be weak in one area, C papers may be weak in two areas, etc.

Plagiarism: Plagiarism is the theft of words or ideas from another writer and dishonestly passing them off as your own. Any plagiarism- even a few sentences or a single paragraph- will result in a ZERO on the paper. Do not be tempted to submit work you did not create.