Types of Writing to Expect in History Classes
Papers for introductory classes
In introductory classes the assignments will often be straightforward. They will provide you with a question and clear options for answering it. In addition, you will be provided with appropriate sources and specific methods for approaching these sources in your writing. Follow these instructions. Often these papers will not focus so much on the novelty of your argument but rather on how well you organize and use the material to support it, as well as how well you follow the assignment. These assignments help build a foundation of writing skills that you can use to construct more original arguments in higher level classes.
Papers for higher-level classes
The higher the level of the course, the fewer restrictions you have on what you can write about. In intermediate courses there is more much variation within assignments. Generally you are still given the majority of the sources, but the way you approach these sources is now largely up to you. It is your responsibility to have an original take on these sources, as well as a thorough analysis of their significance. These papers will also be longer and require the use and synthesis of more sources than papers in introductory courses. Often in intermediate courses the scope of assignments is broader, as well as the scope of your argument.
Book Reviews
A book review asks you to interpret and analyze the claims and arguments of the work. Book reviews will also ask you to do a critical evaluation of the work, to create a thesis about the book’s thesis. A book review should discuss an author’s research, methods, and place in the literature. Book reviews should summarize the important aspects of the author’s argument and also your own reactions to this argument. An important thing to remember is that professors are looking for more than just a summary: they want to hear your unique perspective on the work.
Research Papers
You will often be making two types of arguments in a research paper: a historiographical argument and a change over time argument. Historiography literally means the history of written history. The historiographical portion should come first. It should give a survey of literature on your topic (what’s already been written), which should lead to a discussion about the topic itself. The change over time argument comes next. This argument is what will fill the majority of the paper. This simply looks at your topic and the way it developed or evolved over a certain time. These two sections are not exclusive; they should work together. If on page 7 you need to argue with Carl van Woodward’s analysis of early segregation policies, your reader should already have been exposed to his views in your historiographical section. For help picking an appropriate topic and finding information on it, refer to our Creating an Argument section.
Writing a research paper is a challenging task and is usually the culmination of a semester long process in a higher level history course. In these courses you are usually entirely in charge of choosing your own topic and researching it. There is very little guidance from professors in terms of the assignment; however, you should share your ideas with them throughout the writing and research process. Your professors in seminar classes can be useful throughout the writing process. You can get feedback from them, ask them for suggestions on secondary material, or argue the validity of your thesis with them. If you approach your professor as a guide, your writing will benefit immensely.
The research process for these courses begins with your own interest and develops from there. It starts broad and gets more specific throughout the research process. These papers are from 15-30 pages in length, and require a myriad of both secondary and primary sources. Because of their length they must cover various angles, perspectives, and interpretations of your topic. Don’t be daunted by the length- these papers are your opportunity to be creative and ambitious in your approach.