Essay Writing Guide
An Introduction to World History 1500-1800
HIST 1370
Winter 2020
General Information: Your research essay should be 8-10 pages, double-spaced and in 12 point font with standard margins and page numbers. You should also have a separate title page. If you wish to write on a topic other than those found at the end of this handout you must clear your topic with me. Essays on inappropriate topics will receive a failing grade.
Sources: Your essay must use at least four secondary sources. A text book or encyclopedia (tertiary source) is not an acceptable source, but can be used to find appropriate sources.
Journal articles are quite helpful and can be found by searching one of several periodical databases available on the Library website. For help using periodical databases ask a librarian.
Online sources are ONLY acceptable if they are written by a known and reputable author and subjected to the same system of peer review as journal articles and published monographs. If you don’t know who wrote something, it cannot be considered reputable.
GOOD: Using the internet to find an article published in a scholarly journal.
BAD: Taking information directly from wikipedia or someone’s personal website (because you don’t know the source of the information)
Books: Are still the “Gold Standard” for the historical profession. Either monographs (books by a single author on a single subject) or collections of articles are the best place to go to research your paper. Try to find the most up to date material published in your area. A book written in 2010 is not necessarily better than one written in 1950 but it will reflect 60 more years of historical scholarship on your topic and provide a better idea of what current historical writing is saying about it.
Locate your sources far in advance of when the essay is due, even if you do not have time / do not intend to write your paper immediately. Then when you are ready to write the essay you will know that sources are available and where to find them.
Documentation: Your paper Must include footnotes or endnotes. Papers without such evidence of research will be given an F. Proper format for Endnotes/Footnotes are as follows (for information on other types of sources use the Chicago manual of style)
For a Book:
Jane Smith, A History of Ice Cream, (Toronto: University of Toronto Press, 1998) p. 23
For an Article:
John Doe, “Toast and ways of Preparing it”, Journal of Canadian Breakfast, Vol. 10 No. 3, Oct. 2003, p. 56
When to Cite: A good paper usually has at least 2-3 footnotes per page. You must cite your source using a footnote when:
- Directly quoting or paraphrasing another author
- Introducing factual information (names, places, dates, statistics etc.) That is not considered “common knowledge”
- Using the ideas of another author
Failure to document any of the above is considered a form of plagiarism (passing someone else’s work off as your own)
If you are unsure as to whether you need to include a citation or not the rule of thumb is “when in doubt, footnote”. It is far better to include too many citations than too few!
**Note: If you have information from the same source throughout a single paragraph, you can place your footnote at the end of the paragraph. It is not necessary to footnote each piece of information separately**
Tips on Writing Essays: Every essay should provide an answer to a question about history, preferably one to which there can be more than one answer. Your job is to collect all relevant writing on the subject, examine what various historians have written about the question and then decide where you stand. Although you may agree with one interpretation more than another, be sure to discuss all sides of the issue. In other words, arguments that do not support your point of view should not be ignored but instead acknowledged and criticized.
Introduction: The answer to your question should be articulated in a thesis statement in your introduction. In this introduction, you should provide background to your subject, introduce your question and then provide your answer. Although you must take a position in your essay, you do not necessarily have to make the situation seem black and white. Historical questions seldom have easy answers, a fact that can be reflected with a nuanced thesis.
Body: The body of your paper should expand upon your thesis and convince the reader, in a logical and organized way, that your thesis is correct. Be sure that you do not simply retell what others have said, but approach the subject in your own way, using your own ideas and interpretations. Find a way to structure your paper that allows you to build your argument without repetition. Usually, history papers are structured chronologically, but on some occasions a thematic approach may be useful. Make sure that every piece of information in your body relates to your thesis in a way that is clear to the reader. Do not include information just because it happens to be interesting or to make your paper the required length!
Conclusion: Your paper should also include a brief conclusion that does not simply restate what you have already said but effectively concludes your paper and puts it into context.
Common Errors: Here are some common problems that I have encountered while marking papers
– Avoid the passive voice (ex. It was thought that…). Always state who is performing the given action
– The word “it’s” means “it is” it is not the possessive
– Avoid cliches and colloquialisms. Ex. “Napoleon couldn’t see the writing on the wall” becomes, “Napoleon failed to understand that he was losing the war”
– Avoid words such as “good”, “very”, “nice”, “thing” etc. that don’t really say anything, “ex. The French revolution was a very good thing for the people of France” becomes, “the French revolution brought many improvements to the lives of the people of France such as…”
– Always write history in the past tense. Be very careful not to switch tenses in the same paragraph or sentence.
– Do not use first person as in, “I think that…” It is assumed that any argumentative statements are your opinions by the very fact that you wrote the paper.
– Similarly, do not address the audience as “you” or “we”. Ex. “What you need to understand is…” Write from the third person omniscient perspective.
– Avoid generalizations and vague terms such as, “things”, “common sense” or “natural”.
– Avoid exaggeration, hyperbole, or making claims that you cannot back up with evidence.
– Do not editorialize. Having an opinion is fine, but it must be an opinion which can be immediately supported with evidence and one that is directly related to your topic.
– Introduce your quotations. Otherwise the reader does not know who is talking and why they are a reputable source. Ex. As Jane Doe argues, “….”
– Never use a quotation when paraphrasing the information would work just as effectively (never quote “facts” such as statistical information)
– A quotation from a historian is not in itself evidence and does not “prove” anything except that a historian believes something to be true.
– Geopolitical entities such as “Russia” cannot act as a person can. Therefore, do not write about them performing actions that people perform. Ex. “Russia thought”. The same rule applies to abstract entities and ideas. Do not personify them.
– Watch out for “their” versus “there” and “affect” versus “effect” etc.
– Avoid too conversational or casual a writing style. This is a formal paper and the audience expects a certain degree of formality in your writing. Don’t write like you talk!
– Do not “narrate” your paper as you write it. Ex. do not say, “In this paper I will argue…” Just go ahead and argue it.
List of Potential topics:
- Evaluate the success of any revolution based upon its original goals (American, French, Haitian etc.)
- Was the French Revolution worth its human cost?
- What accounts for the differences in approach to indigenous peoples in the New World taken by the Spanish, French and English?
- What was the long-term impact of “Enlightenment” thinking on world history?
- Account for the decline of the Ottoman Empire in comparison to Europe after 1500
- Evaluate the short and long term impact of the slave trade upon Africa
- What was the political impact of the Protestant reformation?
- How did the Mughal Emperors contend with the challenges of ruling such a vast and diverse Empire? How successful were they?
- Why did Spain lose its role as the most powerful country in Europe?
- To what extent did women benefit from the Renaissance and Enlightenment?
- Did Europe’s conquest of the New World improve life for the working classes?
- What was the Columbian Exchange and what was its impact upon world history?
- To what extent was the 30 years war a “Religious War”?
- Why were the Incan and Aztec Empires unable to resist Spanish colonization?
- Evaluate the role of the joint stock company in world history
- Should the period 1500-1800 be characterized as one of stagnation and decline for China. Why or why not?
- Did the Slave trade increase the prevalence of Racism in the modern world? Did racism develop because of the slave trade or vice versa?
- How did the era of Spanish Colonialism in South America set the stage for revolution in the early 1800s?
- Evaluate the influence of China on surrounding areas of Southeast Asia such as Japan, Indochina and Korea
- Create your own topic!!!
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