History Essay Writing

Research

• The first step in writing your essay after you have selected your topic is research

• Research forms the basis of your thesis– Taking the facts and removing the bias from

sources through inspection of several sources– Basing your arguments on fact and not bias and

misinformation is the best way to write an effective thesis and essay

Organizing Essay

• Introduction Body Conclusion

• Refer to “History Essay” handout

• Refer to Sample Essay

Introduction• Starts with a general discussion of the topic

– Example: The years leading up to 1914 and WWI was full of unrest in Europe.

• General issues relating to the topic– These are reflective of your topics for your body paragraphs– Example: over the years leading up to the outbreak of war there was

competition between many countries in terms of imperialism as well as militarism. Then too, this unrest lead to a need for countries to align themselves in order to protect their borders and their national pride.

• Thesis– Must be concise and an argument– Example: The assassination of Franz Ferdinand was simply the trigger

incident and not the cause of WWI and the causes in fact were long term.

Conclusion• Starts with a restatement of your thesis

– Example: WWI was brought on by long term causes and not strictly by the trigger incident that was the assassination of Franz Ferdinand

• Connecting of body paragraph arguments– Example: Due to the alliance system put in place by both the triple

entente and the triple alliance were a result of necessity to protect countries from the budding militarism and imperialism. Then too, the Nationalism displayed in each country, brought on by imperialism, encouraged the people to want to fight for their country.

• A final statement that sends home the message– Shows relevance of the essay and emphasizes the importance of the

essay– Example: Conflict is not simply started over one incident, however,

the right mixture of events and mind sets of all parties.

Introduction/ Conclusion Exercise

• Practice flowing from broad and general sentences to concise arguments

Thesis

• Must be an argument– Cannot sit on the fence you must take a side

• Should not be longer than a few lines• Should be referenced throughout the body of

your essay– All of your points will be connected to your thesis

• An effective thesis is formed near the conclusion of your research

Effective Thesis

1. Marge Simpson is important to the plot of The Simpsons

2. Marge Simpson is important to The Simpsons because she fulfills a significant family role as a mother and housewife.

3. While Marge Simpson may be a model caregiver for her family, she is a different sort of model for her audience.

4. Despite her role as a housewife and mother, Marge Simpson functions for the audience of The Simpsons as a feminist force against “middle class” values.

Thesis Writing Exercise

• Practice writing a thesis

Body Paragraphs

• The meat of your essay– Back up your thesis

• Topic sentence 1st Point Proofs to back up 1st Point Comment that relates point and proof to the thesis other points, proofs, and comments that are relevant to the topic Concluding statement

• The use of proofs is essential in a history essay– Showing the historical events and their relevance to your

essay is the most important part of your body paragraphs

Body Paragraphs Continued…

• In your body paragraphs you will use a combination of narrative history and analytical history

• Narrative History: is a chronology of events, just statements of events and what happened

• Analytical History: Shows the significance of events in history

Citations

• When using a direct quote you must cite your source

• When you paraphrase from a source you must cite your source

• For MLA format there must be an in-text citation in brackets and a full reference in the works cited page

http://owl.english.purdue.edu/owl/resource/747/01/

Citations

Book:In-Text: (Last name Page number)Works Cited:Last name, First name. Title of Book. City of

Publication: Publisher, Year of publication. Format.

EXAMPLE: Your Textbook

Plagiarism

• Any form of taking someone else’s work and passing it off as your own

• Done through:– Lack of quotations– Lack of citation– Lack of proper citation

Essay Outline

• Creating an Essay Outline is a good way to organize your thoughts an ideas before writing a rough copy

• The outline includes: thesis, topic sentences, main points and a concluding statement

Example of Essay OutlineThesis: WWI was brought on by long term causes and not strictly by the trigger incident that

was the assassination of Franz FerdinandMain Point: ImperialismProof(s):Statement relating to thesis:Main Point: MilitarismProof(s):Statement relating to thesis:Main Point: AlliancesProof(s):Statement relating to thesis:Main Point: NationalismProof(s):Statement relating to thesis:Concluding statement: the long term causes of imperialism, militarism, alliance systems and

the budding nationalism are the real reasons for war in 1914.

Proofreading

• An important and often ignored part of essay writing

• Reading over and checking for errors– Spelling errors– Grammar errors– Awkward or missing sentences– Omissions– Etc.

• Self or Peer done – Do Not Trust Spell Check!

Do

• DO express yourself in your own words• DO write complete sentences that are

grammatically correct• DO vary your vocabulary and sentence

structure• DO use a dictionary and thesaurus• DO use proper quotation methods and include

proper citations

Do Not• DO NOT repeat the same idea in different ways• DO NOT contradict yourself• DO NOT use abbreviations such as “etc.”• DO NOT use slang• DO NOT include irrelevant material• DO NOT introduce new material in the

conclusion• DO NOT use the first person “I,” “WE,” or “ME”