One paragraph statement of your research topic. It can be a short paragraph. Introduce your topic. Lay out your historical question.
One paragraph of essential background (drawing upon Kershaw or Paxton or encyclopedias). Provide background and context to your reader. Again, it doesn’t have to be exhaustive. This is a first take. What do we need to know to understand this topic?
One paragraph of why this topic is significant. What do you hope to show? Why does this matter?
A bibliography in two sections
Secondary Sources. You may include articles that are especially helpful, but include at least three historical monographs (important books by historians, published by university or important publishers) that could be the basis for your paper. If you know which monograph you really want to read, you can indicate with an asterisk. The other two can serve as alternates or suggestions for further reading. Remember I will need to approve your monograph.
Primary Sources. You may include articles, visual sources, memoirs, diaries, reports, etc. Remember that you will need the equivalent of about 100 pages of primary sources. That might mean a book-length memoir or a collection of news articles. Once again, you should include some options.
Additional details:
Follow the format guidelines of the Sample Research Paper – on our Handouts page
Cite your sources! For quotations, examples, background – use Chicago-style footnotes
Submit to Moodle in pdf format
Criteria of Evaluation
Do you have all elements of the assignment (title…)?
Do you have a focused topic of research?
Do you share important background on your topic?
Do you have relevant and important sources, including three historical monographs and some primary sources?
Do you have citations?
Research Assignment #2 – Summary of Historical Monograph (about 2 pp.)
Due Fri 10/25/24 on Moodle
Summarize your historical monograph in at least three paragraphs. You’d like this to be a first draft of the first half of your monograph paper.
Note that I need to approve your choice of historical monograph
As you are reading and analyzing your historical monograph you should look to the handout “How to Read a Historical Monograph” – on our Handouts page
A question: will you have time to read a 300-page monograph and write this summary in a week? The answer: probably not. You should read the introduction carefully – maybe twice – and use your notes on this reading to write your summary.
Another question: can I use a book review? For sure. If you draw on book reviews in writing your assignment you should cite them in your footnotes.
I’d suggest you organize your short writing assignment in three or four steps
¶1, introduce the author and the topic
¶2, present the argument of the work
¶3, explain the evidence and analysis that the book is based upon
If you have time, you might also speak to where the book fits into a larger historiography, or begin to lay out your critical analysis.
Follow the format guidelines of the Sample Research Paper – on our Handouts page
Cite your sources! Cite the examples you use, the quotations, the sources you’ve used for background
Submit to Moodle in pdf format
Criteria of Evaluation
Have I approved your monograph?
Do you summarize the monograph clearly?
Do you adequately cite – quotations, examples, background?
Is the writing clear and well-organized?
Research Assignment #3 – Historical Monograph Paper (5 pp.)
Due Fri 11/1/24 on Moodle
The Assignment: write a critical review of a historical monograph on your topic. This should include:
a presentation of the work (its author, its topic, its argument, where it fits in the historiography, the evidence it is built upon)
and your critical perspective (which might include a discussion of: what is missing, what are the choices the author makes, how successful is the argument, etc.).
Give your paper a suitable organization: with an introduction to the work and, as thesis, your critical perspective; with a clear presentation of the work on its own terms (see the notes above); with a clear presentation of your critical perspective in a paragraph or two; with a conclusion that sums up your perspective and its significance.
Note that I need to approve your choice of historical monograph
Hint: this assignment will be easier if your historical monograph has a readily identifiable argument. If you read the introduction and you can’t figure out the argument, you might want to look for another work.
Length: paper should be about 1500 words or 5pp.
Follow the format guidelines of the Sample Research Paper – on our Handouts page
Cite your sources! For quotations, examples, background
Submit to Moodle in pdf format
Criteria
How well do you present the historical monograph?
How strong (interesting, relevant, valid, insightful) is your critical perspective?
How well organized is your paper?
How strong (clear and direct) is your writing?
Do you choose appropriate examples (quotations and details) to support your presentation of the monograph and your critical perspective?
Do you appropriately cite all sources?
Is your paper free of small errors of format, grammar, spelling?
Research Assignment #4 – Summary of Primary Source (about 2 pp.)
Due Fri 11/8/24 on Moodle
Summarize your primary source in at least three paragraphs. You’d like this to be a first draft of the first half of your primary source paper.
Note that I need to approve your choice of primary source
As you are reading and analyzing your primary source you should look to the handout “How to Analyze a Primary Source” – on our Handouts page
I’d suggest you organize your short writing assignment in the following way:
¶1, introduce the author and the primary source
¶2 and ¶3, present the source with concrete examples
If you have time, you might begin to lay out your critical analysis
Follow the format guidelines of the Sample Research Paper – on our Handouts page
Cite your sources! For quotations, examples, background
Submit to Moodle in pdf format
Criteria of Evaluation
Have I approved your primary source?
Do you summarize the primary source clearly?
Do you adequately cite – quotations, examples, background?
Is the writing and format clear?
Research Assignment #5 – Primary Source Analysis Paper (5 pp.)
Due Fri 11/15/24 on Moodle
The Assignment: write a critical analysis of a primary source on your topic. This should include:
a presentation of the source (its author, its topic, its surface meaning), an explanation of its historical context
an analysis of the source in light of some research question.
Give your paper a suitable organization: with an introduction to the topic and your question and, as thesis, a pithy statement of your interpretation; essential background; a clear presentation of the primary source on its own terms (see the notes above); a clear presentation of your interpretation, with quotations, examples, and analysis; a conclusion that sums up your perspective and its significance.
For this assignment you will need to choose a primary source (or sources) equivalent to a short book or a 100 pages. I must approve of your choice of primary source.
Ultimately, you are going to integrate this into your research paper. You would like your question and primary source to connect clearly with the topic of your historical monograph.
Length: paper should be about 1500 words or 5pp.
Follow the format guidelines of the Sample Research Paper – on our Handouts page
Criteria
How well do you present the primary source?
How strong (interesting, relevant, valid, insightful) is your interpretation of the source?
How well organized is your paper?
How strong (clear and direct) is your writing?
Do you choose appropriate examples (quotations and details) to support your presentation of the primary source and your interpretation?
Do you appropriately cite all sources?
Is your paper free of small errors of format, grammar, spelling?
Final Research Paper (10-15 pp.)
Due Friday 12/6/24 at midnight on Moodle
The Assignment: write a 10-15 page research paper, based on primary and secondary sources, that investigates some interesting question of European history in the period we are studying.
Your final research paper should integrate (with appropriate adaptations, of course) the historical monograph paper and the primary source analysis paper you wrote earlier
I suggest you organize your paper in the following manner:
a title that lays out the subject and the central point
a 2 ¶ introduction
the first ¶ should draw in the reader and announce the topic with a concrete example
the second ¶ should lay out the question that you are exploring, point to the works you will use in your analysis, and lay out the thesis
important background and context – in 1-3 ¶s
treatment of the historiography through your analysis of the monograph – in a few ¶s
analysis of a primary source – in a few ¶s
presentation and analysis
this is the heart of your paper, where you delver the argument
a conclusion
typically 1 to 2 ¶s
you would want to summarize your central point and tell us why it is significant
And if any of these guideliines turn out to be unworkable for your topic and your approach, feel free to throw them out. (But note, the criteria of evaluation will still apply).
Length: paper should be at least 3000 words and at most 4500 words (about 10-15 pp.)
Follow the format guidelines of the Sample Research Paper – on our Handouts page
Include a bibliography of the sources you have used
Some of you may want to include figures in your paper. These are welcome but not necessary. If you do use them, insert them into the text at about 1/4 page size and add a figure caption that connects the image to the paper and indicates the source. For example: A British trench during the Battle of the Somme, in July 1916 (Wikimedia Commons) or Vera Brittain With Her Brother Edward in 1915 (Testament of Youth, Penguin Edition).
Criteria
Do you introduce your paper well?
Do you provide important context and background to help us understand the topic?
Do you present and analyze your monograph well?
Do you present and analyze your primary source well?
Is the paper well organized?
Is your argument interesting?
Do you provide strong evidence to support it?
Is the writing strong: clear and direct?
Do you appropriately cite all sources?
Is your paper free of small errors of format, grammar, spelling?
Do you include a bibliography (no annotations necessary, but correctly formatted) of all of the sources you used?
