Writing the Paper
Once you have figured out a thesis and argument, write a draft. Below are some tips for addressing various components of the paper. As with any academic paper, your thoughts may develop and your argument may change as your write your draft. Be sure to go back and revise!
Introduction:
The introduction is key to a history paper: it provides context and outlines the main argument. However, don’t get hung up on writing the introduction. Many writers find that it’s more effective to write a “place holder” introduction that allows them to get going on the paper. Once they’ve written a full draft (which often leads to clarifying the thesis and argument), they can then go back and craft a more thoughtful and effective introduction.
In a history paper, a historical context must be given for the issue you are analyzing. This context introduces and grounds your thesis, and is developed throughout the paper as necessary. It often briefly describes things such as broader developments or trends that your topic is considered to be part of, and then introduces the particular events, individuals, or groups that play a role in the topic. How much context is given and what it includes will depend on your topic, the length of the paper, and your audience. While a two page paper might have a few sentences of context at the beginning of the first paragraph, an extended research project might need to provide context for different sections of the paper.
A word of caution: consider that you are writing for other students of history, not a general audience. Don’t start too broadly or get lost in background information. There’s no need to create a “catchy” introduction–your readers will be looking to be convinced by the logic of your argument, not entertained. For example, a paper on Plato and Aristotle should not begin with “Since the beginning of time, man has pondered one question more than all others: is he good, or is he bad? Examples of each abound, and the debate may never be resolved, but man has remained persistent in his quest to discover the true answer. Two such philosophers who debated the issue millennia ago in Ancient Greece…” Instead, jump right into the argument at hand: “Plato and Aristotle had opposing viewpoints on the fundamental nature of man.” From here you can move swiftly into your thesis, having provided appropriate context for your topic.
Evidence
Primary and secondary sources: History is built on research; you cannot write history on your own. What is appropriate historical evidence? In history, there are two broad kinds of sources that are used for evidence–primary and secondary sources. Primary sources are things that are from the time under consideration and directly connected to it. Secondary sources are things that are removed from what you are investigating. So whether a source is primary or secondary depends on context. For example, if I am writing about the history of colonialism, a book about the topic would be a secondary source. But if I am writing about the historiography of colonialism, that book might be a primary source. Sources in history are often writings, but they need not always be. Things such as maps, pictures, clothing, monuments, music, etc. can also be used as sources of evidence in history.
Don’t over-generalize: When using historical evidence, be careful about attributing something that characterizes one person or a small group to a larger group. For example, just because a piece of your evidence reveals that a doctor in 1870 in Lyon thought X, that doesn’t mean all people in Lyon thought X, or all doctors thought X, or all people in 1870 thought X, or any combination thereof. Similarly, you can’t assume that just because you can only find one account where someone says X, that means it isn’t an opinion held by a larger group.
Quoting from sources: Deciding when to use quotations can be challenging. Too many and you lose the tone and dominance of your own narrative; too few and you look like you didn’t even read the material. Remember to quote primary sources to convey an authentic sense of what people were saying about your topic as it happened: the tone, the emotions, the rhetoric. All of these are necessary to place the reader in the era you are writing about. Quoting secondary materials should be done less often, but still can be effective. If an author phrases something in a way that you believe would lose meaning if paraphrased, or if he or she writes with a certain tone you consider necessary to include in your paper, go ahead and quote.
Introduce and provide context for your quotations: Who wrote the quote? When? Who was it written for? If published, where? What message was the author trying to convey? The quotation should be placed neatly into a sentence, continuing the sentence’s natural flow. The quotation should also be explained at the end: What does it mean? How does it add to the story?
Example: Describing the fear many citizens held, newspaper columnist William Johnson wrote, “women and children hid under tables and chairs and the men flailed about the town dueling one another. I fear our days are numbered.” Like many other citizens, Johnson believed the world was coming to an end.
But always make sure your voice is the one that guides the reader through the paper, not anyone else’s.
Organization:
History papers can be organized in a couple of different ways. Sometimes professors specify what kind of organization they would prefer, but more often than not it’s up to the writer to figure out what pattern of organization would make the most sense. Two common patterns of organization are chronological and topical.
- Chronological: Chronological organization is the simplest, clearest method of organizing a history paper. This method is best for history papers that are meant to expose a relationship of cause and effect, or change over time. For instance, if writing a paper about the causes of the Great Depression, chronological organization is best because each contributing factor led to another contributing factor. The stock market crash led to bank failures, and then the bank failures led to…etc. Structuring your paper along this timeline is the easiest way to explain the events that occurred between those years, and gives you a template for arguing the why and how of these events.
- Topical: Topic-based organization is a little trickier than chronological organization, but can be very effective. In a paper organized by topic, each specific set of ideas is clumped together. For instance, if the paper is about the lifestyles of the 1920’s, topic-based organization would be very effective. By organizing topically, the writing will illustrate the differences in the lifestyles of the same period. For example, the body of the paper could include a section about women in the 1920’s, another section about farmers at the same time, and yet another section about African Americans in the same time period. Topical organization involves exposing differences in one period of time rather than over time.
Conclusion
Make sure to restate your thesis (in different words) and your “so what” at the end of the paper. Sum up your argument, and explain why it matters. How is the information important for someone trying to understand the time period or topic you’re writing about? Be ambitious. Be creative.
Style tips
- History is the study of the past. Generally, you’ll want to write in the past tense.
- Always make sure your voice is the one that guides the reader through the paper, not anyone else’s.
- Avoid clichés. These are common in student history papers and are a problem because they are simultaneously empty and incorrect, as in “since the beginning of time…”
- Avoid generalization such as “always” and “never,” as they are usually incorrect.
- Avoid passive voice. It isn’t incorrect grammatically, but it omits the subject of the sentence and so can obscure meaning. For example, the statement “the country was invaded” is a correct sentence, but the “who” that was doing the action (in this case invading) is important.
- If you use terminology that is significant to your argument, that might have contested meaning, or the meaning of which has changed over time, define how you are using the terms and how your sources use them. Terms like “civilization,” “rights,” or even “Europe” don’t mean the same thing to everyone in all times.
- Once you’ve written a draft, set it aside (if possible) to get some distance from it. Then reread it (and/or have a friend or a tutor at the Writing Center read it) to consider the strength of your argument: Is the thesis clearly stated? Well introduced? Well argued? Well supported? Revise to strengthen your argument. Then read the paper again, in hard copy, focusing on editing. Work on making your sentences as clear and succinct as possible, and on eliminating any problems with grammar, mechanics, or punctuation.
- Proofread. Proofread. Proofread. Proofread.