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This quick-reference guide provides a practical introduction to typical history assignments, exercising critical reading skills, evaluating and documenting sources, writing effective history papers, conducting research, and avoiding plagiarism.
Introduction. History is a discipline based on interpretation, debate, analysis, and synthesis. Because of this, history essays are more than narrative accounts of the past. The purpose of a history essay is to communicate useful conclusions about past events in a purposeful and persuasive manner.
written history, specifically the peculiarities of different works, scholars, or schools of thought). Some papers emphasize social or cultural history, others political or military history, and still others intellectual or economic (or any other genre of) history. In undergraduate courses, you’ll most likely notice a distinc-
The lessons in this book teach Structure and Style ® in writing. As they move through various modern world history themes and topics, they incrementally introduce and review the models of structure and elements of style found in the Institute for Excellence in Writing’s Teaching Writing: Structure and Style ®.
specialized “historical style.” A successful history paper is clear, precise, concise, organized, analytical, and concrete. It uses the active voice; it has a thesis; it explains the significance of the topic; and it tells the reader who, what, when, where, why, and how. We hope that this booklet will
Writing in History & Literature involves building on the ideas of other writers and thinkers, contributing ideas of your own, and signaling clearly for readers where each idea comes from.
Use correct writing style for academic papers. Students often fall into traps here; on the one hand, it is important not to use clichés, slang terms, or contractions, as formal writing is not the same as everyday conversation. On the other hand, you should avoid academic jargon or the esoteric style you may read in published works.
