Historians are regularly faced with the problem of reading and weighing the relative significance of primary source material: How should a source be understood? What is its context? How valuable is it? In order to assess the worth of a primary source (and of course, the same questions and criteria hold for secondary sources as well), historians must rely on carefully crafted and practiced analytical skills. But equally important in the process is the ability to relate findings and conclusions in a clear and concise manner. Not only must historians understand pieces of evidence, they must also explain them.
The task at hand, then, is to analyze the primary sources required for this course. To that end, you are to construct essays according to the following conditions:
1. Each essay is to be five (5) double-spaced paragraphs in length–no more, no less. The essay as a whole shall not exceed three typed pages, using a 12 font and one inch margins. Any writing that extends beyond the third page will not be read and will negatively affect the overall grade of the paper. Any attempts to meet these guidelines using “computer trickery” (i.e., wider margins, smaller font) as determined by the instructor will meet a similar fate!
2. Each essay shall have an introductory paragraph. This introduction will present a clear analytical theme (if you will, a thesis argument). Furthermore, the introduction will also include three arguments from the text to support the thesis. In effect, the introductory paragraph will provide the blueprint for where the essay seeks to go so that the reader knows what to expect.
3. Following the introduction, the essay will then present three paragraphs, each of which will address one argument as noted in the introduction. These explanatory paragraphs should be concise in their construction, with the paragraph point made definitively.
4. Any evidence from the text to support the argument(s) in question (and there should be evidence from the text) will be cited simply: at the end of the quotation/paraphrase, place (in parentheses) the corresponding page number. Failure to note properly when an idea has come from the text will severely harm the final essay grade.
5. Each essay shall conclude with a “
Historians are regularly faced with the problem of reading and weighing the relative significance of primary source material: How should a source be understood? What is its context? How valuable is it? In order to assess the worth of a primary source (and of course, the same questions and criteria hold for secondary sources as well), historians must rely on carefully crafted and practiced analytical skills. But equally important in the process is the ability to relate findings and conclusions in a clear and concise manner. Not only must historians understand pieces of evidence, they must also explain them.
The task at hand, then, is to analyze the primary sources required for this course. To that end, you are to construct essays according to the following conditions:
1. Each essay is to be five (5) double-spaced paragraphs in length–no more, no less. The essay as a whole shall not exceed three typed pages, using a 12 font and one inch margins. Any writing that extends beyond the third page will not be read and will negatively affect the overall grade of the paper. Any attempts to meet these guidelines using “computer trickery” (i.e., wider margins, smaller font) as determined by the instructor will meet a similar fate!
2. Each essay shall have an introductory paragraph. This introduction will present a clear analytical theme (if you will, a thesis argument). Furthermore, the introduction will also include three arguments from the text to support the thesis. In effect, the introductory paragraph will provide the blueprint for where the essay seeks to go so that the reader knows what to expect.
3. Following the introduction, the essay will then present three paragraphs, each of which will address one argument as noted in the introduction. These explanatory paragraphs should be concise in their construction, with the paragraph point made definitively.
4. Any evidence from the text to support the argument(s) in question (and there should be evidence from the text) will be cited simply: at the end of the quotation/paraphrase, place (in parentheses) the corresponding page number. Failure to note properly when an idea has come from the text will severely harm the final essay grade.
5. Each essay shall conclude with a “reflective paragraph”. In this paragraph, the student will make a summation of the arguments/thesis presented in the body of the text. In addition, the student may (probably should) make some conclusions about the validity of the text in terms of the essay thesis. In other words, what does the text fail to address? What does it leave out? How could questions like these be answered?
”. In this paragraph, the student will make a summation of the arguments presented in the body of the text. In addition, the student may (probably should) make some conclusions about the validity of the text in terms of the essay thesis. In other words, what does the text fail to address? What does it leave out? How could questions like these be answered?
