) Your topic can be anything that touches on African American history, such as politics, sports, fashion, science, media, education, music, freedom struggles, culture, art, etc

 I’m working on a african studies writing question and need a reference to help me learn.

1) Your topic can be anything that touches on African American history, such as politics, sports, fashion, science, media, education, music, freedom struggles, culture, art, etc. If you are concerned about whether your topic is acceptable, please message me and I’ll let you know

2) Your argument is a statement or claim. For example, “Frederick Douglass was an abolitionist” is not an argument, it is a statement of fact. However, the statement “People have written more about Frederick Douglass’s work as an abolitionist than about his work as the Ambassador to Haiti.” This is an argument that you support with evidence. For instance, you could look up Frederick Douglass in 19th century newspapers and demonstrate that there were more articles about his abolition work than his diplomatic work.

Your argument should also be narrow enough that you can support it with evidence. For example, “Slavery was dehumanizing for African-descended people” is an argument, but one that is so broad as to be difficult to fit into 10-12 pages. Ideally, you would narrow this down to something more specific. For example, “African American men and women had different experiences of the dehumanizing effects of slavery,” and then go on to explain what those differences were and why they mattered.

In each case, the argument should make a claim that you can support with evidence–that means primary and secondary sources. Don’t worry if you start out with one argument and realize partway through that it’s not a good argument–or that you were wrong–that’s part of the process. It’s ok for your argument to change as you learn more about your topic.

3) For this assignment, your sources should be cited in the Chicago Format (this link from VCU is helpful https://history.vcu.edu/current-students/student-resources/chicago-style-citation-for-historians/Links to an external site.). These sources should relate to your topic and offer evidence that you think will help your argument. You must have at least one primary source. If you have more than three sources, that’s ok, please list them.