John Winthrop's Sermon and the Concept of American Exceptionalism

Here is the full assignment description.
Your paper should be 4 pages minimum, meaning 4 full pages, top to bottom. The 6 page maximum is flexible; you may go over as long as your paper is on topic. You should include a title page. Your paper should also include a Works Cited page, although neither the Works Cited nor the title page count toward your 4-page total. Don’t forget MLA style in-text citations (parenthetical references). The paper will be in MLA format. It is double-spaced, 12-point Times New Roman, Arial, Cambria, or Calibri only. Use 1” margins.
Avoid the following: second person (“you”), “till,” “thru,” abbreviations, contractions, profanity, slang/colloquialisms, texting shorthand, and bigoted speech.
Make sure that your paper has a strong thesis; tell me what point you are trying to prove. Each paragraph should have direct quotes from the text to support your argument. The assignment dropbox for this paper will have TurnItIn enabled; this program will give you an “originality percentage.” Use this to your advantage. Anything under 15%, and you don’t have enough direct quotes as evidence to support your premises. Anything over 30%, and you are not explaining the significance of each quote. You should thoroughly explain each quote before moving on to the next one; you will never start or end a paragraph with a quote. You can also go into the originality report; the report highlights every time you have a quote, so you can check to make sure that you have quotation marks and parenthetical references for each. If your paper is short, but your percentage is within range, then there is some essential part of the discussion that you are missing. You may submit as many times as you like to check this; I will only read the most recent submission after the dropbox has closed.
If you have questions on how to use or cite research, please ask and I will be happy to help you. I will also read rough drafts provided I get them early enough in advance. Feel free to use proofreading apps such as Grammarly or Hemingway or make use of the Learning Center (all of which are linked for you on the Student Resources module).
Research Requirements
For this paper, you will need to use at least 2 academic-quality sources other than your primary texts. Secondary sources should come from a peer-reviewed source such as our library databases. Sources such as Spark Notes are NOT academic-quality and should not be used. If you have a question about whether a source is of high-enough quality, ask.
General Grading Rubric
Essays in this class are graded holistically, meaning I grade them as a whole, rather than using a rigid rubric with specific points for specific categories. That said, there are general guidelines for each letter grade.
A—90-100
These essays are outstanding. They have few, if any, problems with grammar and mechanics and effectively employ research to support their premises. Their paper is well-structured to support a central thesis, which is a new interpretation or idea instead of a regurgitation or summary.
B—80-89
Essays in this category likely have a good basic grasp of grammar or mechanics, but are probably performing shallow analysis. These papers might not have enough support for their premises, or might be relying on other people’s ideas or class notes instead of creating their own interpretation. These essays are good.
C—70-79
Essays in this category may be performing a “surface read” of the topic rather than an analysis. They may have issues integrating research, or be lacking adequate support from the primary text or research sources for their premises. The premises may not be well-developed. There may be some difficulty with grammar or mechanics. These essays are adequate.
D—65-69
Essays in this category are likely short. They may be missing research components. They may have serious problems with grammar or mechanics.
F—64 and below
Essays in this category do not meet assignment guidelines. They are several pages short, they do not answer the essay prompt, or they are mere summaries of the readings. They may have egregious patterns of grammar and mechanical errors and be difficult to read. They probably have no research, as it is difficult for a paper with no research to receive a passing grade after the 30 point deduction.
Standard Point Deductions:
Length
The minimum length requirement of 4 pages is firm. It is measured top-to-bottom. For each page you are short, you will lose 25 points (12 points for ½ page, 6 points for ¼ page).
Timeliness
I will accept late essays only in cases of documented emergencies, up to one week past the original due date. Tech problems do not count as emergencies. The clock on your device might not match D2L’s clock, so do not wait until 11:58 pm to submit. Note that it is your responsibility to make sure that the document did in fact get submitted; make sure that you receive and keep the dropbox submission receipt. Also make sure that the file is not corrupted and can be opened. The file must be in .doc, .docx, .rtf, or .odt formats; no other file formats will be accepted. Do not send .pdf, Google docs, etc.
Format
If the essay has incorrect margins, an incorrect typeface/font size, incorrect spacing, or extra white space, I will correct the formatting before assessing the length. Any appropriate length deductions will be taken, and you will also lose 5 points for incorrect formatting.
Research
If you are missing research, you will lose 30 points. If your sources are not academic quality, you will lose 10 points per source. If you have research but no works cited page, you will lose 15 points.