Meeting of the Minds: A Civil Rights Discussion
Written Assignment Instructions
Civil rights leaders have impacted the lives of many generations of Americans. You will be selecting an important civil rights leader to research.
In class, you will work with your teacher to select one of the following people:
1. Susan B. Anthony-19th century women’s rights activist
2. Cesar Chavez-Mexican/American farm workers/civil rights activist
3. Hillary Clinton-former US Secretary of State and First Lady
4. Frederick Douglass-19th century abolitionist
5. Mahatma Gandhi-leader of the Indian independence movement
6. Thomas Jefferson-3rd President of the US and author of the Declaration of Independence
7. John F. Kennedy-35th President of the US
8. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.-civil rights activist
9. Abraham Lincoln-16th President of the US
10. Barack Obama-44th President of the US
11. Rosa Parks-civil rights activist
12. Alice Paul-leader of women’s suffrage movement
13. Jackie Robinson-1st African-American major league baseball player
14. Eleanor Roosevelt-1st politically active first lady
15. Harriet Tubman-leader of the Underground Railroad
16. Sidney Poitier-1st African American to win the Academy Award for Best Actor
17. Malala Yousafzai-Pakistani teen activist for female education and the youngest-ever Nobel Peace Prize winner.
18. Nelson Mandela-former President of South Africa, protest leader to send segregation in that country
2. Your research must satisfy the criteria listed on the attached rubrics.
3. You must have at least three different reputable sources and follow work cited guidelines. Two of these three sources must be from database/scholarly articles. The other source could be a third database article, a scholarly website, or a book. Please remember to cite things correctly.
4. Your teacher will be checking with you periodically to follow up on your progress (HINT: There is no way you can do this at the last minute). You must keep up with the deadlines that are given to you. Work will be check and graded on these deadlines.
5. Your writing should follow the following breakdown:
Paragraph 1: Biographical Information Due:
You must include: birth/death, education, early influences, home and family life, and location.
Paragraph 2: Contributions to Society Due:
You must include: accomplishments, noted awards, and other recognitions in relation to equal rights.
Paragraph 3: Reflect on the following Due:
In this well written paragraph, use the information you have learned about your leader to answer the following question. Be sure to use evidence from your research to support what you are saying.
· What would your leader do to help and affect change in schools where bullying and school violence are prevalent?
Bullying in schools includes: excluding others, cyber-bullying--including texting and Facebook bullying, verbal and physical harassment, and other forms of school violence.
Paragraph 4: Pick ONE of the following questions to answer Due:
In this well written paragraph, use the information you have learned about your leader to answer ONE of the following questions. Be sure to use evidence from your research to support what you are saying.
· Option 1: What would the world be like if your person was never born? How would your life and the world be different? Be specific.
· Option 2: What would be different in the world if your person was born 20 years earlier? OR What would be different in the world if your person was born 20 years later?
· Option 3: What advice about diversity and equal rights would your person give to you and your classmates if they were a speaker in your school?
Paragraph 5: Conclusion Due:
Reflect on your study of your individual. Be sure to include answers to these questions:
· How do you better understand equal/human rights now?
· What does the world still need to accomplish to have equal rights for all?
· Make the connection between your individual and the impact they had on where equality and human rights are today
DUE DATE for final project: January 7th
This assignment will be an important part of your 2nd marking period grade. Failure to complete and/or pass this assignment on time will result in your inability to participate in the EVG-LMS joint panel discussion on January 19, 2016.
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Parent/Guardian Signature