A Short Guide to Writing about History

by Marius, Richard A., (late); Page, Melvin E.

• ISBN13: 9780205118601
• ISBN10: 0205118607
• Additional ISBN(s): 9780321953292
• Edition: 8th
• Format: Paperback
• Copyright: 2011-07-14
• Publisher: Longman
• More Book Details

Summary

A Short Guide to Writing about Historyis an ideal complement for any history course intended to teach students to think and write like historians.  This engaging and practical text will teach students how to go beyond reporting the basic dates and facts of their history books and show them how to infuse their writing with their own ideas and unique perspective.   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	p. xi
Acknowledgments	p. xiii
Writing and History	p. 1
Stories About the Past Intended to Be True	p. 1
Writing History as a Way of Thinking	p. 5
Basic Principles for History Essays	p. 9
Good Historical Essays Are Sharply Focused on A Limited Topic	p. 9
Historical Essays Should Have a Clearly Stated Argument	p. 12
Historical Essays Are Built, Step By Step, on Carefully Acknowledged Evidence	p. 14
Historical Essays Reflect the Dispassionate Thoughts of the Author	p. 17
History Essays Are Clearly Written With an Intended Audience In Mind	p. 21
Writer's Checklist of Basic Principles	p. 23
Paraphrase and Plagiarism	p. 23
Writer's Checklist for Avoiding Plagiarism	p. 28
Thinking About History	p. 29
Historical Questioning	p. 32
"Who" Questions	p. 33
"What" Questions	p. 34
"When" Questions	p. 36
"Where" Questions	p. 37
"Why" Questions	p. 37
Historical Fallacies	p. 39
Making Inferences	p. 42
Quantitative Data and History	p. 44
Evaluating Materials	p. 48
Writer's Checklist for Evaluation	p. 53
Gathering Information	p. 54
Focusing on a Topic	p. 56
Making Initial Inquiries	p. 61
Identifying Key Sources	p. 69
Secondary Sources	p. 69
Primary Sources	p. 76
Concluding Your Research	p. 84
Writer's Checklist for Research	p. 87
Notes and Drafts	p. 88
Recording Information and Ideas	p. 89
Keep An Ongoing Bibliography	p. 96
Avoid Copying Quotations	p. 97
Keep Any Quotations Separate	p. 98
Record Your Own Comments	p. 98
Writer's Checklist for Taking Notes	p. 99
Organizing Your Essay	p. 100
Writing and Revising Drafts	p. 105
Writer's Checklist for Peer Editing	p. 113
Voice and Style	p. 114
Modes of Writing	p. 115
Narration	p. 115
Description	p. 118
Exposition	p. 119
Persuasion	p. 122
Simple and Direct Writing	p. 124
Write in Coherent Paragraphs	p. 125
Keep Sentences Manageable	p. 126
Avoid the Passive Voice	p. 127
Write About the Past in the Past Tense	p. 129
Connect Your First and Last Paragraphs	p. 130
Word Forms and Punctuation	p. 131
Keep Modifiers Under Control	p. 132
Be Certain Pronouns Refer to Antecedents	p. 132
Form Plurals and Possessives of Nouns Accurately	p. 133
Use Intended Forms for Common Words	p. 134
Use Objective Case Pronouns Appropriately	p. 135
Maintain Parallel Form for a Series	p. 136
Use Commas and Semicolons Appropriately	p. 137
Carefully Present and Punctuate Quotations	p. 138
The Final Presentation	p. 139
Writing for Speaking	p. 141
Writer's Checklist for Expression and Conventions	p. 143
Documenting Sources	p. 144
Basic Principles	p. 145
Authorship	p. 146
Title(s)	p. 147
Location	p. 148
Date	p. 148
Shortened" Forms for Subsequent Note Citations	p. 149
Electronic Sources	p. 150
Notes and Bibliographies	p. 154
Writer's Checklist of Source Citations	p. 156
Sample Student Research Paper	p. 164
Manifest Destiny A: Characteristic of Nations	p. 165
Things to Notice About This Paper	p. 179
Writer's Checklist for Sample Research Paper	p. 180
Writing Reviews	p. 181
Reviewing as a Special Form of Writing	p. 181
A Sample Student Review	p. 186
Thomas Fleming's Discovery of Another War	p. 187
Things to Notice About This Review	p. 193
Writers Checklist for Reviews	p. 193
Short Essay Assignments	p. 194
Writers Checklist for Short Essays	p. 201
Select Bibliography of Student Resources	p. 202
Text Credits	p. 206
Index	p. 208
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