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Papers and Short Essays in History Format, organization, and style matters 1. A cover sheet, with a minimum of an original title and your name. 2. Double-spaced 12-point text with one-inch margins all around. 3. Page numbers in the upper right corner of each page, beginning with the second page of text. 4. Notes (if necessary) assembled at the end of the paper, beginning on a new page. 5. Bibliography (if required) after the notes and beginning a new page. This format is safe for
all
papers you
write in college, unless your professor specifies something different. Bibliography
and citation (footnote or endnote) styles vary
by discipline. Be sure to use endnotes in the the University of Chicago
Press style for History papers (see below). Keep your organization clear and simple. 1. Introduction (one
to three paragraphs) Summarize
your answer to the question your paper is intended to answer or
introduce the specific problem or
issue your paper will discuss. This could be done more
interestingly by posing a specific incident, problem, or situation that
requires explanation and analysis. Provide
the necessary
background to put the topic of your paper into a specific historical
context.
State
the major points or arguments
you will use to support your essay and put these in some logical order.
If the length of your assigned paper is limited, pick only the
three or four most
important and persuasive points, even though there may be others you
could discuss.
Include
a brief review of
what has already been written on your topic (historigraphy), if
required or appropriate.
2. Body of the paper
(several pages) Have in mind a specific organizing principle, ideally suggested or implied in the introduction. This could be chronological, most important to least important, geographical (north to south, country-state-city, etc), topical, or several other standard organizing schemes. Your reader will expect you to discuss each point in the same order mentioned in the introduction. 3. Conclusion (one paragraph)The
best conclusion is more than a summary of arguments made, but it should
at least do that much. Demonstrate how the individual arguements
combine to support the answer to a question or problem posed in the
introduction. This may be the place to discuss the implications of your
conclusion, what new issues resulted, or how your conclusion can be
applied to a larger context.
NOTES AND BIBLIOGRAPHY Notes and bibliographies in History follow precisely the University of Chicago Press style, as outlined in Kate L. Turabian, A Manual for Writers of Term Papers, Theses, and Dissertations. No other method is acceptable. The style for notes
(citations to sources) can be found in Chapter 9 and the N
examples
in Chapter 11. For bibliography style, follow exactly the B
examples
in Chapter 11. In research papers, it is customary to separate
primary
and secondary sources under their own headings.
There are
separate styles
and style books for the other disciplines, including Modern Language
Association
(MLA) style (English, literature, foreign languages), American
Psychological
Association (APA) style (psychology), and similar ones for other
disciplines.
They are not interchangeable.
WRITING STYLE History papers must follow the University of Chicago Press style exactly in all other formal matters of style as well, such as capitalization, use of Italics, abbreviations and numbers, punctuation, quotation marks, tables, and the like. See Turabian Chapters 2 through 7 and 14 for help in these matters. Spell checkers and grammar checks in word-processing programs can be helpful. Otherwise, effective writing requires lots of practice. There is no way around that. Have someone who can give you honest suggestions read your papers. EARLY DRAFT You may submit any paper a week early in any of my classes to get comments and suggestions for improvement. I can usually get the paper back to you by the next class meeting and in time for you to make revisions. This is a risk-free way to find out how you are doing and to make an improvement in your grade. Most other professors will do the same if you ask. |