A Short Guide to Writing about History

A Short Guide to Writing about History is an ideal complement for any history course intended to teach students to think and write like historians.  This engaging and practical text will teach students how to go beyond reporting the basic dates and facts of their history books and show them how to infuse their writing with their own ideas and unique perspective.

Covering brief essays and the documented resource paper, the text explores the writing and researching processes, different modes of historical writing (including argument), and offers guidelines for improving style as well as documenting sources.

Preface   

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS   

1        Writing and History   

Stories About the Past Intended to Be True   

Writing History as a Way of Thinking   

Basic Principles for History Essays   

Writer’s Checklist of Basic Principles   

Paraphrase and Plagiarism 

Writer’s Checklist for Avoiding Plagiarism   

Historical Questioning   

Historical Fallacies   

Making Inferences   

Evaluating Materials   

Writer’s Checklist for Evaluation   

Focusing on a Topic   

Making Initial Inquiries   

Identifying Key Sources   

Concluding Your Research  

Writer’s Checklist for Research   

 4        Notes and Drafts   

Recording Information and Ideas  

Writer’s Checklist for Taking Notes   

Organizing Your Essay   

Writing and Revising Drafts   

Writer’s Checklist for Peer Editing   

Modes of Writing  

Simple and Direct Writing   

Word Forms and Punctuation   

The Final Presentation   

Writing for Speaking  

Writer’s Checklist for Expression and Conventions   

6        Documenting Sources   

Basic Principles   

Electronic Sources  

Notes and Bibliographies   

Writer’s Checklist of Source Citations   

Manifest Destiny: A Characteristic of Nations   

Things to Notice About This Paper   

Writer’s Checklist for Sample Research Paper   

Reviewing as a Special Form of Writing   

A Sample Student Review   

Thomas Fleming’s Discovery of Another War   

Things to Notice About This Review   

Writer’s Checklist for Reviews   

Appendix C         Short Essay Assignments   

Writer’s Checklist for Short Essays  

Select Bibliography of Student Resources  

Text Credits   

Index   

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