For this assignment, you will write a Research Paper on a topic of your choice.

For this assignment, you will write a Research Paper on a topic of your choice. The paper should
be between 6-8 pages at a minimum (but no longer than 10 pages total). In terms of format, the
paper should consist of the following attributes: there should be a short introduction that includes
a clear and strong thesis statement, a section that discusses the existing literature and
historiography of the topic (you need to discuss three or more secondary sources at a
minimum), a section that includes and analyzes a minimum of two or more primary sources
about the topic, and end with a concise and well-reasoned conclusion. In addition, the Research
Paper should include a separate title page that includes the title of the paper (extra points for
fun titles – puns accepted!) as well as your name. Following the conclusion of the piece, you will
also need to include a full bibliography using the Chicago Manual of Style. While the title page
will not count towards the 6–8-page minimum paper length, the minimum page length does
include the bibliography (in other words, if your essay is five full pages and the bibliography is
one full page, you will have met the minimum requirements). For citations, because you will be
including a bibliography for the essay, you will use the “shortened notes” style of citations from
the Chicago Manual of Style, the details of which can be found at the link below. You are
required to use footnotes, rather than endnotes. All proposals should be double-spaced, have 1”
margins, and be written in 12-font in Times New Roman
Sources to use:Sanders, William B. Gangbangs and Drive-Bys : Grounded Culture and Juvenile Gang Violence. New York: Aldine de Gruyter, 1994.
Clarke, Thomas. Cocaine and other controlled substances; transcript of hearing, Los Angeles, November 5, 1976, 1976.
Secondary Sources:
Report says CIA dealings led to U.S. crack outbreak.” National Catholic Reporter, September 6, 1996, 11. Gale In Context: Opposing Viewpoints (accessed October 9, 2023).
“A Drug Kingpin, the CIA, and Prisoners: Freeway Rick Ross and America’s Mass Incarceration Problem.” Daily Beast, March 1, 2015.
Webb, Gary. Dark Alliance : the CIA, the Contras, and the Crack Cocaine Explosion. Seven Stories Press 1st ed. New York: Seven Stories Press, 1998.
Alexander, Michelle. The New Jim Crow : Mass Incarceration in the Age of Colorblindness. New York: New Press, 2010.