Guidelines for Writing History Papers

 

Marjorie McIntosh, Eric Love, and Jim Denton of the History Department at the University of Colorado created this guide in its original form. Dr. R. Todd Laugen at Metropolitan State College of Denver made the adaptations below. Distributed with permission from the original authors.

 

Table of Contents

  1. Descriptive vs. Analytic Writing
  2. Organization & Paragraph Structure
  3. Acknowledging Sources
  4. Primary vs. Secondary Sources
  5. Use of Direct Quotations
  6. Writing in Formal English

 

A. Descriptive Writing vs. An Analytic or Critical Approach

  1. Descriptive writing merely says what happened or what another author has discussed; it provides an account of the topic.
  2. An analytic (or critical) approach asks and answers questions, makes comparisons, and presents and defends a thesis or argument. Rather than just stating the facts, this approach explains and interprets them. Why did events take place, what were their consequences, how did they relate to other developments? Why did the authors you read take differing stands? What is your own interpretation of the issues?
  3. Few assignments in history courses will be simply descriptive. Rather than just summarizing what happened or what you read, you will usually be asked to provide your own analysis of the topic or issue about which you are writing and to argue a thesis or conclusion. Be sure that you understand what each assignment requires, in terms of the balance between description, analysis, and argument.
  4. You must provide evidence and examples to buttress your analysis and arguments.
  5. If you encounter material that does not agree with your position, you cannot just ignore it; instead you need to explain why you think that evidence is less important or persuasive.
  6. Crafting a Thesis:  Analytical essays must have a thesis which should appear near the beginning of your paper.  The best thesis will emerge as you write out a first draft of your paper.  An effective writer will then refine a thesis in the second or third draft.  A good thesis should make a persuasive case for a historically specific position.

 

B. Clarity of Organization and Paragraph Structure

  1. The body of your paper should be organized into several main sections, each of which deals with a given sub-topic, issue, or question within your general subject. In each section, you will have one or more paragraphs focusing on individual aspects of that topic.
  2. A paragraph consists of a block of material about a particular subject or about a specific point, one of the issues that contributes to the development of the analysis. The paragraphs should thus support your thesis.
  3. Each paragraph should begin with a general topic sentence that indicates what subject the rest of the paragraph will discuss, what issue it will explore, or what point it will make. By reading just the topic sentences of the paper, your reader should be able to get a summary of the subjects you are addressing and the position you are defending.
  4. The remaining sentences in each paragraph provide more detail or evidence about the main topic. A paragraph should develop the subject or point it is making; hence it normally contains at least three sentences in addition to the topic sentence and may have a concluding sentence as well. (Here formal writing differs from journalistic style, which often uses shorter paragraphs.)
  5. Transitions:
    1. Between sections you will need a transition or linking statement, indicating that you are moving on to a new topic.
    2. Each paragraph within a section should also be clearly related to the one before and the one after, creating an even, logical flow. If the link is not readily apparent, you should include a sentence which describes the transition.

 

C. Primary Sources vs. Secondary Works

  1. In order to support your thesis, you will regularly need to refer to either primary or secondary works.
  2. A primary source is a record left by a person (or group) who participated in or witnessed the events you are studying or who provided a contemporary expression of the ideas or values of the period under examination. Letters, autobiographies, diaries, government documents, minutes of meetings, newspapers, or books written about your topic at that time are examples; non-written sources include interviews, films, photos, recordings of music, and clothing, buildings, or tools from the period.
  3. Secondary works are accounts written by people who were not themselves involved in the events or in the original expression of the ideas under study. Written after the events/ideas they describe, they are based upon primary sources and/or other secondary works. Thus, an early 20th-century historian could prepare a secondary study of the American Civil War through her reading of documents from that period, interviews with veterans, examination of weapons, and so on.

 

D. Acknowledging Your Sources (Referencing) and Academic Honesty

  1. You must acknowledge the sources of all your information and any ideas or interpretations you have taken from other works, including the internet. These references are usually placed into notes, with a bibliography at the end of the paper that lists all works used.
  2. Plagiarism. This serious academic offense can take many forms, including using another writer's phrase without putting it into quotation marks, not giving the source for a quotation, taking information from other works including the internet without acknowledgment, presenting other people's ideas as if they were your own, or submitting a paper that you did not write.  For a more detailed description of plagiarism and how to avoid it, please see the American Historical Association website: http://www.historians.org/pubs/Free/ProfessionalStandards.cfm#Plagiarism
  3. You may not use a paper you wrote for one course to fill an assignment in another class.

 

E. Use of Quotations

  1. When working with secondary accounts, limit your use of direct quotations. In general, your paper will flow better if you paraphrase the statement, putting it into your own words. Quote only when you wish to call attention to the author's precise phrasing.
  2. When using primary sources, you may want to use a few more direct quotations, to illustrate the mood, language, or "flavor" of your sources. But even here, be sparing. A good rule of thumb is to quote only when you plan to analyze or interpret the passage; otherwise, paraphrase.
  3. Do not use a direct quotation as the topic sentence of a paragraph.
  4. Every direct quotation must be put into quotation marks and given its own individual reference, normally in a note.
  5. An indirect quotation is when you present a direct quotation of the words of person A that you found in a book written by author B (that is, author B was himself quoting person A). In such cases, you must give both sources in the reference that accompanies the quotation.
  6. In short papers that draw upon only one or two sources (such as a book review), you may be able to cite a work with a simple parenthetical note.  Here is an example: Historian Kristin Hoganson argues that American imperialists were motivated by gender anxieties as much as economic concerns (86).  The number in the parenthesis in the preceding sentence refers to the page number in the assigned text.
  7. Please follow your instructor's directions regarding the style you should use for bibliographical references and for endnotes or footnotes. Often history instructors will want you to use the Chicago Manual of Style. However, some, especially in lower division courses, may permit any standard style.
  8. Quotations of five or more lines need to be indented 5-8 spaces on each side and single spaced. When you use this format, do not use quotation marks (but do still give the reference in a note). Shorter quotations should be typed as part of the regular paragraph.
  9. Punctuation with quotation marks. When ending a quotation in the text, a final comma or period always precedes the closing quotation marks, whether or not it is part of the quoted matter. Question marks and exclamation marks precede the quotation marks if they are part of the quoted matter but follow the quotation marks if they are part of the entire sentence of which the quotation is a part. Thus: The newspaper reported that "150,000 young people gathered in Denver." Should we accept its account of "a stupendous congregation"?
  10. If you leave out words from a quotation, to shorten it or to make it fit into the grammar of your own sentence, indicate the omission by using periods with a space between each one. For gaps in the middle of a sentence, use three periods; for omissions at the end of the sentence, use four periods. E.g., "History can be fantastic . . . ."
  11. If you insert a word into a quotation, to increase clarity or adjust it to your own presentation, put the insertion into square brackets. E.g.: She commented that "by January . . . [the trees] looked sickly."

 

F. Writing in Formal English

 

Although most of us speak in casual or colloquial English, it is important to learn how to write formal English too. Our normal conversational style differs in many respects from formal written English. Your ability to write effectively will be one of the most critical factors in getting a job or being accepted for further training. Hence it is worth working on your formal writing skills while you are in college.

For more explanation about writing mechanics and grammar, see Diana Hackett's A Pocket Style Manual; for help with your style, consult William Strunk and E.B. White, Elements of Style. Also see the Metropolitan State College of Denver’s History Department web page http://www.mscd.edu/~history/ for more information.