How to Write an Essay for a History Class

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How to Write an Essay for a History Class
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Common Mistakes Level One

• No personal pronouns or feelings
• I, you, our, youre
• I believe/think/feel that.(nobody cares!)
• Spell out numbers under 100.
• During the Black Death, 1/3 of the population of
  Europe died.
• No contractions
• Cant, youre, theyre, shouldnt, dont
• Write in the past tense about past events
• Avoid passive voice
• ing endings, was
• Zeus, being the king of the gods, was very angry.
• Avoid overstatements and exaggeration
• The Black Death was the most devastating event in
  the history of Europe.

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Common Mistakes Level Two

• Thesis is nonexistent, or simply restates the
  question/prompt
• Paragraph organization is illogical or
  nonexistent
• Paper does not answer all parts of the
  question/prompt
• Assumptions are made without evidence
• Floating facts not connected to the thesis,
  topic sentence, or subject of the paragraph
• Irrelevant information does it help you answer
  the prompt or question? Then dont include it.

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Summary vs. Analysis

• A list of facts from lecture or the book with no
  analysis a summary.
• A summary is not an appropriate essay for a
  history class.
• Do not expect the reader to understand the
  relevance of the information, or make the
  inference for him/herself. Explain everything!
• A thesis will help you avoid a summary.
• Refer to the PIE(S) structure.

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Writing a Thesis

• Determine what kind of paper you are writing
• An analytical paper breaks down an issue or an
  idea into its component parts, evaluates the
  issue or idea, and presents this breakdown and
  evaluation to the audience.
• An expository (explanatory) paper explains
  something to the audience.
• An argumentative paper makes a claim about a
  topic and justifies this claim with specific
  evidence. The claim could be an opinion, a policy
  proposal, an evaluation, a cause-and-effect
  statement, or an interpretation. The goal of the
  argumentative paper is to convince the audience
  that the claim is true based on the evidence
  provided.

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• 2. Your thesis statement should be specificit
  should cover only what you will discuss in your
  paper and should be supported with specific
  evidence.
• 3. The thesis statement usually appears at the
  end of the first paragraph of a paper.
• 4. Your topic may change as you write, so you may
  need to revise your thesis statement to reflect
  exactly what you have discussed in the paper.

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Thesis Examples

• Example of an analytical thesis statement
• An analysis of the college admission process
  reveals one challenge facing counselors
  accepting students with high test scores or
  students with strong extracurricular backgrounds.
• The paper that follows should
• explain the analysis of the college admission
  process
• explain the challenge facing admissions
  counselors

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• Example of an expository (explanatory) thesis
  statement
• The life of the typical college student is
  characterized by time spent studying, attending
  class, and socializing with peers.
• The paper that follows should
• explain how students spend their time studying,
  attending class, and socializing with peers

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• Example of an argumentative thesis statement
• High school graduates should be required to take
  a year off to pursue community service projects
  before entering college in order to increase
  their maturity and global awareness.
• The paper that follows should
• present an argument and give evidence to support
  the claim that students should pursue community
  projects before entering college

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Weak to Strong Thesis

• Weak
• The North and South fought the Civil War for many
  reasons, some of which were the same and some
  different.
• Better
• While both sides fought the Civil War over the
  issue of slavery, the North fought for moral
  reasons while the South fought to preserve its
  own institutions.
• Best
• While both Northerners and Southerners believed
  they fought against tyranny and oppression,
  Northerners focused on the oppression of slaves
  while Southerners defended their own right to
  self-government.

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PIE Paragraph Structure

• P Point. TOPIC SENTENCE Point/Subject of
  paragraph!
• Topic sentence should always connect to and
  support your thesis.
• I Illustrate. Evidence. Examples.
• Use examples (or evidence) to illustrate your
  point.
• E Explain.
• Explain HOW and WHY your evidence SUPPORTS your
  topic sentence. Be explicit and detailed!
• Dont assumer the reader can infer the connection!

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Introductions

• Restate the question as a sentence or a sentence
  introducing the time period or topic but this
  is NOT your thesis!
• Define the important terms
• State your thesis the answer to the question
• Must respond fully and completely to the question
• Sophisticated thesis will include reasons,
  explanation, and perhaps short phrases showing
  how each reasons leads to the next reason.

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Conclusions

• The first sentence should state the conclusion
  your facts and arguments have proved to the
  reader (i.e. restatement of your thesis).
• The rest of the paragraph should explain why your
  conclusion is important.
• Does it explain something important about the
  time period? Does it lead up to the next time
  period? Does it relate an important idea about
  history in general?