1. No category

DAR American History Essay
Contest 2013
2013--2014
“The Lives of Children During The
Revolutionary War”
By notifying Ms. Spivey, teachers may have the essays picked up or
they can be mailed to:
Ms. Gwen Spivey
803-474-3431
gwenrs@comcast.net
Nancy Carson Library Research Guide
www.abbe
www.abbe--lib.org
Member ABBE Regional Library System
Step-by-step Guide To Writing Bibliography Entries (MLA)
If you were to use a book called South Carolina and the American Revolution by John W.
Gordon, you would follow the example below.
Step One: - author’s name (last name first, followed by the first name, and then the
middle name) followed by a period.
Gordon, John W.
Step Two: add the title (underlined or in italics) followed by a period.
Gordon, John W. South Carolina and the American Revolution .
Step Three: add the location of the publishing company (place of publication)
followed by a colon.
Gordon, John W. South Carolina and the American Revolution.
Columbia, SC :
Step Four: add the name of the publishing company followed by a comma. Indent if
you are going to a second line.
Gordon, John W. South Carolina and the American Revolution.
Columbia, SC : University of South Carolina Press,
Step Five: add the copyright date and a period.
Gordon, John W. South Carolina and the American Revolution.
Columbia, SC : University of South Carolina Press,2003.
2013-2014 AMERICAN HISTORY ESSAY CONTEST RESOURCE LIST
Title: “The Lives of Children During the American Revolution”
Topic: Pretend you are a boy or girl during the colonial fight for freedom. Using historical
facts, discuss how the war is affecting your life.
BOOKS:
1). Beller, Susan Provost. The revolutionary War. New York: Benchmark Books, 2002.
(see timeline on page 84 and "Life on the Homefront" on pgs. 70-75)
2). Burt, Barbara., The Eve of Revolution. Washington, DC: National Geographic Society,
2003.
3). Carter, Allen R. The American Revolution. New York: Franklin Watts, 1992
4). Cohn, Scotti. Liberty's Children: Stories of Eleven Revolutionary War Children.
Guilford, Connecticut: Twodot, 2004.
5). Meltzer, Milton. The American Revolution- A History in Their Own Words 1750-1800.
New York: Thomas T. Crowell, 1987.
(see "Did Polly Set The Sponge for the Bread" pg. 69)
6). Moore, Kay. If You Lived at the Time of the American Revolution. New York:
Scholastic, Inc., 1997.
7). Volo, Dorothy Denneen and James M. Volo., Daily Life During The American
Revolution. Westport, Connecticut: Greenwood Press, 2003.
(see pgs. 71; 110-115; 210-214, 242.
8). Sichel, Marion. History of Children's Costume. New York: Clelsea House Publishers,
1983.
9). Taylor, Dale. Everyday Life in Colonial America from 1607-1783. Cincinnati, Ohio;
1997.
10). Wroble, Lisa A. Kids in Colonial Times. New York: PowerKids Press, 1997.
MAGAZINES:
1). "Did You Know." Cobblestone (2000):24-25.
2). "The Armies Clash." Cobblestone (2006 ): 22.
(also view "Did You Know" on pgs. 34-35.
WEBSITES:
1). American-Revolution-L Archives
http://archiver.rootsweb.ancestry.com/th/read/AMERICAN-REVOLUTION/200509/1127485432
2). American Revolution- Life as a Revolutionary War Soldier
http://www.ducksters.com/history/american_revolution/life_as_a_revolutionary_war_soldi
er.php
3). Black Soldiers in the Revolutionary War
http://soldiers.dodlive.mil/2013/02/black-soldiers-in-the-revolutionary-war/
4). Children and Teenagers in the American revolution
http://www.gradesaver.com/johnny-tremain/study-guide/section13/
This summary of the novel Johnny Tremain gives some tips on the life of kids during the
war.
5) Families in the Revolution: Patriots in the Countryside
http://www.nps.gov/adam/forteachers/upload/newfamily2.pdf
(Pages 8 featuring boys life in colonial times and 9 featuring girls might be especially
helpful)
6). The Roles of Women in the Revolutionary War\ History of Massachusetts
http://historyofmassachusetts.org/the-roles-of-women-in-the-revolutionary-war/
7). Rufus Landon, Rev. War Drummer
.http://www.revolutionarywararchives.org/landon.html
8). Sarah Osborn Recollects Her Experiences in the Revolutionary War
http://historymatters.gmu.edu/d/5833/ HISTORICAL FICTION
(The use of history in these novels may give some ideas for using historical facts in your
writing)
1). Gregory, Kristiana. The Winter of Red Snow- The Revolutionary War Diary of Abigail
Jane Stewart.New York: Scholastic, Inc., 1996.
2). Osborne, Mary Pope. Revolutionary War on Wednesday.New York: Random House,
2000. DAR Essay Rules
FORM
1. Handwritten, typed, or prepared on a
word processor.
2. Use black ink only.
3. When using a computer use non-script
font no smaller than 12 point or larger
than 14 point
(double spaced)
4. The essay must be in your own
words.
ELEMENTS OF JUDGING
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
Historical accuracy 1-25
Adherence to topic 1-15
Organization of material 1-15
Originality 1-10
Interest 1-10
Spelling and punctuation
1-10
7. Grammar 1-10
8. Bibliography 1-5
9. Completeness of title
page 1-5
Absence of bibliography or title page will
disqualify essay.
** numbers indicate point
value of each category.
Length of Essay
Grade 5: 300-600 words
Grades 6th-8th: 600-1,000 words
Do Not count the words on your title page
or in your bibliography. All other words
count. Dates count as one word.
Sample Title Page
“The Lives of Children During the Revolutionary War”
John Smith
1 My Street
North Augusta, SC 29841
803-111-0000
itsmyessay@myhouse.org
Name of My School
8th Grade
Martintown Road Chapter, DAR
495 words
Please note that an incorrect title page will eliminate the essay
from being judged according to the national DAR Society’s rules.
Title Page
must be as follows:
“”The Lives of Children During The Revolutionary War”
Contestant’s full name and address
(include street, rural route, or PO box, city, state, and zip code)
Contestant’s telephone number with area code
and e-mail address if available
Name of the contestant’s school with grade level
Name of sponsoring DAR chapter
Number of words in essay
NOTE: School contact information may
be substituted if a school prohibits
release of student contact
information.
**Failure to include all of the above information
will result in the disqualification of your essay”
LOCAL DAR CHAPTERS
Aiken: The Henry Middleton Chapter, NSDAR
Barnwell: General John Barnwell Chapter, NSDAR
Edgefield: Old Ninety-Six District, NSDAR
North Augusta: Martintown Road Chapter, NSDAR
Trenton: Trenton Chapter, NSDAR
Contact: Ms. Gwen Spivey
803-474-3431
gwenrs@comcast.net
DAR Bibliography Guide
Book references consist of the following information when available:
Author last, Author first. Title. Editor, Compiler and/or Translator. Edition. Vol. Series name. Place of publication:
Publisher, date of publication.
Article references consist of the following information when available:
Author last, Author first. “Title of article.” Name of the periodical. Series number or name. Vol.Issue (Date of
publication): page numbers.
Book - single author
Meltzer, Milton. The American Revolutionaries. New York: Thomas Y. Crowell, 1987.
``````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````
.
Book - anonymous
A Guide to Our Federal Lands. Washington: Natl. Georgraphic Soc., 1984.
Encyclopedia article
Hickey, Donald R.. “War of 1812 (1812-15).” American Heritage Encyclopedia of America. New York: American
Historical Society, Inc. 1934.
Article from a journal
Nelson, Daniel A. “Ghost Ships of the War of 1812.” National Geographic (1983): 289-313.
Work in an anthology
Rubinstein, Arye. “Children with AIDS and the Public Risk.” Aids: Facts and Issues. Ed. Victor Gong and Norman
Rudnick. New Brunswick: Rutgers UP, 1986. 99-103.
Article in a multi-volume series
Miller, Ruth. “Emily Dickinson.” Dictionary of Literary Biography. Ed. Joel Myerson. Vol. 1. Detroit: Gale, 1978.
34-45.
Electronic references consist of the following information when available:
Author last, Author first. “Title of poem, short story or similar short work within a larger project, database or
periodical.” Title of the scholarly project database, periodical or professional or personal site. Editor or Compiler of
project.Version of source or volume and issue number. Day Month Year of publication or last update. Name of
sponsoring institution or organization. Day Month Year of access <URL>.
Journal article in database
Needham, George. “Institutions Changing Under the Force of New Information Technology.” Generations full-text
database 21.3 (1997). Expanded Academic Index. 14 Feb. 1998 <http://infotrac.galegroup.com/itweb/usclibs/>.
Professional site
Portuguese Language Page. U of Chicago. 1 May 1997 <http://humanities.uchicago.edu/romance/port/>.
General website (be sure to evaluate content before using in scholarly writing)
“The Building of the Transcontinental Railroad.” History Central.com. 30 May 2009 <http://www.historycentral.com/
railroad/trans.html>.
These examples are based on:
Gibaldi, Joseph. MLA Handbook for Writers of Research Papers. New York: Modern Language Association of America, 1995.
Gibaldi, Joseph. MLA Style Manual and Guide to Scholarly Publishing. New York : Modern Language Association of America, 1998.
MLA Style 17 Oct. 2000. The Modern Language Association of America. 18 May 2001 <http://www.mla.org>.
“MLA Works Cited Format (Modern Language Association)” SIRS Knowledge Source. Nancy Carson Library North Augusta, SC. 21 May 2001 <http://
www.sirs.com/>.