Guidelines for Writing a Historical Essay

1. Title (on title page – no headers or footers please!):

• This should include: (a) the title of your essay, (b) your name and student ID number. (c) the date of submission, (c) the course title (Modern History) and course code (HIST 1110), and (d) my name (in case you mislay your essay). Please note: this is NOT page one of your essay and therefore should NOT be numbered as such!

2. Introduction & Thesis (1 paragraph):

• Your opening sentence should establish your topic.
• The rest of the introduction should outline the broad historical significance of topic.
• Your introduction should also clearly state your main thesis (i.e. the argument or claim that your essay will support and develop). Key questions to keep in mind:why is your topic interesting? Why should anyone (i.e. the reader) care about it? Keep these to the front of your mind while writing!

3. Historical Context/Background of Your Topic (1-2 paragraphs):

• You should write a brief paragraph or two to establish the wider context/background of your topic
• For example, answer a few basic definitional questions regarding your topic:
  • When?
  • Where?
  • What?
  • Who?
• For example, if discussing the significance of Einstein’s Theory of Relativity, you might discuss his personal circumstances at the time (was he a trained scientist), the state of knowledge/theory in physic more generally, who else was working on the same questions, the more general/popular notions about the universe at the time, etc.

4. Argument & Analysis:

• You should use your research material to develop a logical and coherent argument that supports and illustrates your main thesis.
• You should demonstrate your own critical thinking when it comes to using and assessing your own research material. For example, it is likely that different authors and/or sources may have different opinions or interpretations of the dame event individual or development. If you favour one over another, say and show how/why.
• Once you’ve considered each source individually and compared their respective arguments/merits, you should now attempt to provide your own interpretation of the topic
• Your essay should develop a logical structure, with transitional sentences and paragraphs moving from one idea to the next. Your aim is to guide the reader through the chain of reasoning and/or progression of ideas to reach the same conclusions that you do.
• The length of your analysis depends, in part, on how deep you wish and/or able to go/ Obviously, the deeper and more insightful your analysis is, the better you are likely to do.

5. Conclusion (1 paragraph):

• A good conclusion should (a) bring your paper to a clear and concise end and (b) draw meaning (i.e. conclusions) from what you have written. Does yours?
• If you like, restate your main thesis, and link it to your discussion of the sources and to your own analysis.
• Reaffirm the historical significance of your topic, as demonstrated here
• Suggest any outstanding questions/issues/problems that might still merit discussion/research/investigation.
• End strongly!

6. Footnotes/References/Bibliography

• Why? It is important that you properly any sources or materials that you use in the course of your paper. A failure to provide ANYor SUFFICIENT references may constitute plagiarism and, consequently, a failing grade.
• When?You should provide references in the following instances:
  1. When you directly quote an author or source
  2. When you paraphrase or refer to an author’s arguments or claims
  3. When you refer to information that is NOT common knowledge (e.g. everyone knows King Kongis a movie about a large gorilla; not everyone knows what its budget was in 1933, so you would need to provide a reference to this)
  4. When you want to summarize the sources that you have used to support a general theme or idea that you develop in the course of a paragraph
  5. When you want to direct the reader to additional sources not directly referred to in your text
• How?You are encouraged to use the MLA style of referencing as this is most commonly used in the Humanities and Social Sciences. That said, however, you are free to use another style if you prefer; the crucial requirement is that your reference system should be clear and consistent. You should also, at the end of your essay and starting on a separate page, include a Bibliography or list of Works Cited that includes ALL the material that you have referred to in your paper.

Your essay is, potentially, worth 20 marks. Here is a breakdown of what the range of possible grades will be based on.

18-20 -- Outstanding work! You make a solid argument for the historical significance of your subject, use your evidence well, and express your thoughts clearly and convincingly.

15-17 – Very good! Again, a solid case is made and, generally, you provide examples or illustrations to support your claim. You might draw on wider research to secure your argument and take a little more care with grammar and phrasing here and there.

12-14 -- Good, but you could have gone further. Essays in this range tend to draw on limited sources, don’t make full use of those sources to illustrate their arguments, dwell too much on narrative/biography instead of getting right to the heart of the matter, and/or might expand their scope (i.e. are a little on the short side). In short, they complete the minimum requirements of the assignment, but leave some room for development.

10-11 -- Minimum or borderline pass, essays falling in this range may provide much information about the subject, but fail to make a convincing argument as to its lasting significance, often drawing on limited-value sources (e.g. Wikipedia, unsubstantiated websites, non-peer-reviewed articles, etc.). In many, if not most instances, such essays show much promise but require additional work and reflection to achieve their potential.

9 or under -- Essays in this range fail to demonstrate or develop a clear argument, do not draw on research/evidence to illustrate their argument, are too short, and/or generally do not establish the significance of their subject. They might still be the product of much time and effort, but need reflection and development to build on that effort.

0 -- Reserved for documentable instances of plagiarism. PLEASE DO NOT RISK THIS!!