Synopses & Reviews
An ideal complement for any history course, A Short Guide to Writing about History helps you learn how to think and write like an historian.
This engaging and practical text helps you get beyond merely compiling dates and facts; it teaches you how to incorporate your own ideas into your papers and to tell a story about history that interests you and your peers. 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.
Table of Contents
Preface Chapter 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
Avoiding Plagiarism
Writer’s Checklist for Avoiding Plagiarism
Chapter 2: Thinking about History
HistoricalQuestioning
Historical Fallacies
Making Inferences
Evaluating Materials
Writer’s Checklist for Evaluation
Chapter 3: Gathering Information
Focusing on a Topic
Making Initial Inquiries
Identifying Key Sources
Concluding Your Research
Writer’s Checklist for Research
Chapter 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
Chapter 5: Voice and Style
Modes of Writing
Simple and Direct Writing
Word Forms and Punctuation
The Final Manuscript
Writer’s Checklist for Expression and Conventions
Chapter 6: Documenting Sources
Basic Principles
Electronic Sources
Notes and Bibliographies
Writer’s Checklist of Source Citations
Appendix A: Sample Student Research Paper
Manifest Destiny: A Characteristic of Nations
Things to Notice about This Paper
Writer’s Checklist for Sample Paper
Appendix B: Book Reviews
Reviewing as a Special Form of Writing
A Sample Student Review
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