The essential guide to writing history essays

Bibliographic Information

The essential guide to writing history essays

Katherine Pickering Antonova

Oxford University Press, c2020

  • : hbk

Available at  / 1 libraries

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Includes bibliographical references and index

Description and Table of Contents

Description

The Essential Guide to Writing History Essays is a step-by-step guide to the typical assignments of any undergraduate or master's-level history program in North America. Effective writing is a process of discovery, achieved through the continual act of making choices-what to include or exclude, how to order elements, and which style to choose-each according to the author's goals and the intended audience. The book integrates reading and specialized vocabulary with writing and revision and addresses the evolving nature of digital media while teaching the terms and logic of traditional sources and the reasons for citation as well as the styles. This approach to writing not only helps students produce an effective final product and build from writing simple, short essays to completing a full research thesis, it also teaches students why and how an essay is effective, empowering them to approach new writing challenges with the freedom to find their own voice.

Table of Contents

1 ORIENTATION 1.1 How to Use This Book 1.2 How to Interpret Instructions 1.3 What's Different about College History 2 WHAT IS ACADEMIC WRITING? 2.1 The Virtues of Academic Writing 2.2 Academic Structure 2.3 Academic Style 2.4 The Writing Process 2.5 The Vices of Academic Writing 2.6 What Academic Writing Is Not 2.7 Who Is the Academic Reader? 2.8 Why Practice Academic Writing? 3 WHAT IS HISTORY? 3.1 Questions Historians Ask 3.2 How Historians Work 3.3 Why Everyone Should Take a History Class 3.4 What Is the History Major? 3.5 What Comes after the History Degree? 4 THE SHORT-ANSWER IDENTIFICATION ESSAY 4.1 What's Your Goal? 4.2 Studying Textbooks and Taking Lecture Notes 4.3 Brainstorming Lists 4.4 Distilling: Choosing the Right Details 4.5 Explaining Significance 4.6 Revising: Packing Your Sentences 4.7 Revising: Cutting the Crap 4.8 Revising: Grading Yourself 4.9 Proofreading: Handwriting, Spelling, and Grammar 4.10 In-Class Exams: Strategizing 5 THE RESPONSE PAPER 5.1 What's Your Goal? 5.2 Reading Academic History (Secondary Sources) 5.3 Reading: Annotating Your Text 5.4 Afternotes for a Secondary Source 5.5 Distilling an Argument 5.6 Responding to a Reading 5.7 Revising: Structure and Weight 5.8 Revising: Showing, Not Telling 5.9 Revising: Handling Quotes and Paraphrases 5.10 Revising: Word Choice 5.11 Revising: Cutting More Crap 5.12 Revising: Testing Your Draft 5.13 Proofreading: Grammar and Usage Errors 6 THE SHORT ANALYTICAL ESSAY 6.1 What's Your Goal? 6.2 Understanding the Prompt 6.3 Studying for Analytical Essays 6.4 Brainstorming: Evidence 6.5 Brainstorming: Claims 6.6 Brainstorming: Multiple Causes 6.7 Brainstorming: Addressing Counter-Arguments 6.8 Drafting: Argument-Based Outlining 6.9 Revising: Logic 6.10 Revising: Structure 6.11 Revising: Showing Your Work 6.12 Revising: Identifying Style Problems 6.13 Revising: Transitions 6.14 Proofreading: Past Tense Verbs 7 IMAGINATIVE PROJECTS 7.1 What's Your Goal? 7.2 Types of Imaginative Projects 7.3 Reading for Imaginative Projects 7.4 Brainstorming: What to Know or Invent 7.5 Brainstorming: Taking a Stand 7.6 Drafting: Playing with Ideas 7.7 Revising: Substance 7.8 Revising: Language and Style 7.9 Revising: Special Formatting 7.10 Citing and Attributing Sources 8 THE HISTORIOGRAPHICAL ESSAY 8.1 What's Your Goal? 8.2 Reading Conversations 8.3 Drafting: Conversations 8.4 Drafting: Book Reviews 8.5 Evaluating Contributions 8.6 Finding Your Contribution 8.7 Composing a Title 8.8 Revision: Structure 8.9 Revision: Subject and Verb Tests 8.10 Revision: Using Feedback 8.11 Revision: Grading Yourself 8.12 Proofreading: A Checklist 9 PRIMARY SOURCE INTERPRETATION 9.1 What's Your Goal? 9.2 What Is a Primary Source? 9.3 How Historians Use Primary Sources 9.4 Text: Sourcing Documents 9.5 Text: Document Types 9.6 Reading Primary Sources 9.7 Afternotes for a Primary Source 9.8 What Is Context? 9.9 What Is Subtext? 9.10 Brainstorming: Context and Subtext 9.11 Drafting: Analyzing Subtext 9.12 Drafting: Significance 9.13 Revising: Claims 9.14 Revising: Structure 9.15 Revising: Quoting Primary Sources 9.16 Revising: Learning from Models 9.17 Revising: Grading Yourself 9.18 Proofreading 10 HISTORICAL RESEARCH 10.1 What's Your Goal? 10.2 Using Your Library 10.3 Managing Information 10.4 Secondary Source Types 10.5 Tertiary Source Types 10.6 Internet Sources 10.7 Judging Relevance 10.8 Judging Quality 10.9 Identifying Conversations & Managing Scope 10.10 Citing Sources 10.11 Annotating a Bibliography 11 THE RESEARCH ESSAY 11.1 What's Your Goal? 11.2 Topics and Research Questions 11.3 Writing Process 11.4 Argument Types 11.5 Brainstorming Argument 11.6 Research Proposals 11.7 Drafting: Incorporating Sources 11.8 Drafting: Joining the Conversation 11.9 Revising: Ideas 11.10 Revising: Expressing Uncertainty and Limits 11.11 Revising: Structure 11.12 Revising: Getting Feedback 11.13 Revising: Style and Clarity 11.14 Revising: Grading Yourself 11.15 Proofreading and Formatting 11.16 Writing an Abstract Appendix 1: Quick Reference Appendix 2: Further Reading and Future Writing Appendix 3: Note to Instructors

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