Department of History
The Fieldston School

Andrew Meyers

Writing essays is among the most important skills you will learn in studying history. It is the means by which academics communicate ideas, opinions, and discoveries to each other. Indeed, it is the basis for the way that just about everyone – businessmen, doctors, lawyers, bureaucrats, politicians – communicate with each other.

The word essay derives from the French word which means "to try," which originated in the Latin word for weighing, balancing or examining. That’s pretty much what you do in an essay: try out ideas, weigh evidence, balance opinions, and examine conclusions. A research essay is a sub-category in which the opinions expressed are grounded in and illustrated by evidence from outside the essay itself. Depending on the discipline, such evidence can be eyewitness accounts of an event, critical opinions, paintings, texts, interpretations, facts, dates, songs, plays – just about anything.

A good essay must communicate ideas clearly, effectively, convincingly, and efficiently. A great essay will do this elegantly and provocatively. The easiest way to ensure a good essay is to follow a few well-established rules about form and content:

The structure of a classic, three-part essay is straightforward: Introduction, Body, Conclusion. The Introduction, well, introduces the topic, provides the background necessary to understand the thesis argument, and then lays out the argument itself, in abbreviated form. The Body is where the action is, breaking the thesis argument into smaller topics that can be arranged in a logical order and proven with analytical arguments, both original and borrowed, as well as historical evidence. The Conclusion permits a more sophisticated restatement of the thesis and an opportunity to expand upon the thesis, to suggest the general relevance and importance of your argument, and to answer the question "So what?"

The introduction should engage your reader, set out the general topic, and provide the core argument, or thesis, of your essay. In a legal trial, the introduction would be the equivalent of the opening statement. It is composed of three parts:

The opening line or "zinger": The "zinger" should engage the reader with a catchy phrase that relates to your topic. For example, a paper on Lincoln and the Civil War might begin: "Abraham Lincoln may not have actually built a log cabin with his bare hands, but he rebuilt the divided house that was America."

Background: Move directly from your opening into the background necessary to understand you argument. Supply the who, what, when, and where as succinctly as possible. Introduce your topic and provide a smooth segue (transition) to your thesis statement.

Thesis: A good thesis is invaluable. Your thesis should conclude your introduction by setting out the argument you will make, the point you will prove, in the body of your essay. A thesis must be an argument that can be proved or disproved. "Washington was our first president" is not a thesis because it cannot be disproved. "Washington was a good president" is better, although "good" is too vague to be argued. "Washington was among our most effective presidents because he saw the advantages of consolidating presidential power yet avoided the trappings of monarchy" is even better, as it is arguable, provable, and specific. The thesis should not only set out a point to be proven, but also lay out a "road map" for how you will go about proving it. If your essay topic were "the French and American Revolutions," a good thesis might be,

Such a thesis would require background that describes the two revolutions, in brief, and identifies some similarities (who, what, when, etc.). In providing the "because" or the "how and why," you should set up, or preview, the topic sentences of the major sections of your essay. The body is laid out in the thesis itself.

The body of your essay is where you make your case. To continue the trial analogy, the body would be where you provide evidence by interrogating witnesses and putting exhibits into the record. The classic essay has three body sections, organized from weakest to strongest (with variations), or chronologically, or thematically, or comparatively, depending upon the needs of the topic. You may want to begin your body section with a counter-argument that you refute, so as to convince your audience that you have addressed all sides of the issue. Each section may have more than one paragraph. Each paragraph should contain a topic sentence, evidence, discussion and analysis, and a transition:

The topic sentence: is like a mini-thesis, setting out the point of the paragraph by exploring one part of the overall thesis. If your thesis involved a comparison of the French and American Revolutions, one paragraph might begin with a topic sentence on the perceived absence of social distinctions in America, as opposed to the hierarchical structure of French society.

Evidence/ Support: The biggest job of your essay is research, collecting the historical material to help make your case. These could include "facts," such as dates, events, periods, movements, philosophies. You will find these in reference works, such as dictionaries, encyclopedias, biographical encyclopedias, etc. But to really learn about a period or event, you will have to explore both primary and secondary sources. The former could include: newspaper accounts, diaries, paintings, photos, advertisements, speeches, letters, minutes, declarations, manifestos, songs, poems, contemporary books, tracts, etc. Such primary sources are key, as they provide the historical legitimacy for your argument. They are the "eyewitness testimony" of your case. Secondary sources are like "expert testimony," giving your own original argument credibility by showing that some really experienced eggheads agree with you. Such sources could include: academic books, monographs, dissertations, articles, later fiction, etc. When you find a source that is very compelling or useful, you should quote it directly, otherwise you should paraphrase. In any case, footnote (see footnote section, below).

Discussion/ Analysis: The evidence needs your help! Don’t leave it hanging out there in the cold. Discuss and explain the significance of the evidence you have chosen. How does the "Declaration of Independence" illustrate the Commonwealth tradition of Great Britain? Pretend (as hard as it might be) that your reader is a bit dim and needs to be walked through the evidence. Connect the dots between the evidence and your thesis. Remember the trial analogy and never overestimate the jury.

The transition sentence: should sum up the paragraph’s point and provide a smooth transition to the topic sentence of the next paragraph or section.

Your audience (or jury) has travelled with you through at least three body sections in which you have laid out a cogent argument supported by facts and convincingly supported opinions. In your conclusion you provide the "summation" or "closing arguments" that restate your thesis argument in more sophisticated terms. Then you are free to expand upon the thesis to show its relevance to today or its usefulness in answering other important historical questions.

Thesis restatement: You can now offer a more subtle and nuanced, or more provocative, version of your thesis, because the jury now knows what you knew when you devised your thesis in the first place. Include a very succinct summary of your evidence.

Expansion: While avoiding excessive hyperbole (exaggeration), you should permit yourself to go a bit wild in the expansion. Here is where you can directly address the "so what" question. So, Washington was an effective president, "so what?" The American revolution succeeded while the French failed, "who gives?" Tell us why your answer to the thesis question is significant for subsequent history, and/or for today. What does it tell us about current society? The political process? The human condition? Here is your chance to editorialize, a bit. Go for it.

should have a title of essay that encapsulates thesis in a provocative manner (centered). Your name, your teacher's, the course title, and the date should be listed in a column several lines below the title and offset to the right. Avoid busy or cartoony fonts. Stay simple and be sure to spell the teacher’s name correctly (!)

Conclusion-

Bibliography-

These are suggestions I have culled from comments I frequently make on students’ work:

General Practical Hints (in no particular order):

• A research essay is neither a report nor a list, but "a composition on a particular theme or subject – generally analytic, speculative, or interpretive" (Random House Dictionary).

• Have fun and make your own voice audible, but do not use the first person ("I").

• Avoid using the passive voice ("the Mona Lisa was made by Leonardo").

• Avoid double negatives, colloquialisms, and listing ideas without discussing them.

• Avoid choppy sentences. Use clauses to vary your sentence structure and create "flow."

• Do not use section headings in a short essay (your topic sentences should be enough), but do provide extra line spaces between sections ("section breaks").

Form:

• Be sure to double-space.

• Please put page numbers at the bottom of the pages (but not on the cover page or first page of the text; start numbering on page 2).

• When you cite a book in the text, please italicize the title.

• Please save your rough drafts as many teachers ask you to turn in your rough draft with your final draft.

Paragraphing:

• Each paragraph (¶) should cover one idea, stated in the topic sentence at or near the start of the ¶.

• Test each sentence in your head. Does it belong in this ¶?

• When you switch ¶s, ask yourself: Is there a reason for switching? Am I moving on to another idea?

• Be sure that each ¶ is complete. Think of a ¶ as a mini-essay: its topic sentence is an "intro," the ideas, examples, quotes, and specific analyses constitute the "body," and the transition is a "conclusion" (but one that points toward the next topic).

• Be sure that your ¶ flows, that your sentences are not choppy or list-like.

Quotes:

• Primary-source quotes (i.e., from the period you are discussing) should always be introduced and discussed. Who said it, when, and why? What is its significance?

• Secondary-source quotes (i.e., from historians or later observers) should be used only if you cannot say what they say as well as they do. Otherwise paraphrase concisely and footnote the idea.

• If the quote is more than three lines, then indent the whole quote and remove the quotation marks.

• Always introduce, analyze, discuss, and/or explain your quotes (do not end a ¶ with a quote).

Use of Specifics:

• When you see comments such as "vague," specify," "explain," "evidence," etc., please add the who, what, when, where, and especially why of your idea.

• Choose a city, person, work of art, or event from history that supports your idea.

• "God is in the details."

The point of references is to help the interested reader find your sources and to credit others when you use their ideas. If no example seems to match your particular source, just do your best, give information that you think will be useful to others, and be consistent. You can also check The Chicago Manual of Style (see References) for many, many more examples.

• Quotes

• When paraphrasing any opinion that is not your own

• When stating a controversial idea that is not your own

• When using a fact that is not common knowledge, but the result of one person’s research

• When you wish to state information that is interesting but would break the flow of your paper

• To mention works that pursue an argument further

• Place a number in superscript at the end of the quote, passage, or fact you wish to footnote.

• Place the same number in superscript at the bottom of the page (footnote) or in a list at the end of your essay (endnote).

• Type out the citation (source) following the examples below.

• If you have an easy footnote program then, use it.

• The form for a footnote is: author’s first name and last name, book title in italics, then in parenthesis, place of publication followed by a colon, publisher, date of publication, end parenthesis, p. [page #] of material being referenced.

• Bibliographic form: author’s last name, first name. book title in italics, place of publication, publisher, date of publication.

• The bibliography should list the books alphabetically by author’s last name.

Note: The information in a note and a bibliography is essentially the same, but the punctuation is different, as is the order of the author’s names. The note resembles a "sentence" (only one period), and the author’s name is first name then last name. With the bibliography, the information is presented in chunks, each separated by a period, and the author’s name is inverted because the entries need to be alphabetized by author.

Titles:

Titles of works – books, plays, movies, paintings, journals (periodicals), etc. – are set off with italics or underlining. Titles of short works – articles or other short pieces within a collection (e.g., a song from a show, a poem) – are set off with quotation marks. Subtitles are separated from main titles by a colon

Book:

Article in a periodical:

Essay in an edited collection:

Same source immediately following the previous reference:

Second reference of previously named source (use short title):

Bibliographies are arranged in alphabetical order by author. Again, note the differences in order and punctuation between a footnote and a bibliographic entry.

Another book by the same author:

A book by two authors:

Organization as "author":

The following examples are drawn from the MLA Style Webpage. Modern Language Association. 21 March 2000 <http://www.mla.org/style/style_top_index.htm> Another good source is Page, Melvin E. A Brief Citation Guide For Internet Sources In History And The Humanities (Version 2.1). 21 March 2000 <http://www2.h-net.msu.edu/~africa/citation.html.>

Scholarly Project:

Victorian Women Writers Project. Ed. Perry Willett. Apr. 1997. Indiana U. 26 Apr. 1997 <http://www.indiana.edu/~letrs/vwwp/>.

Professional Site:

Portuguese Language Page. U of Chicago. 1 May 1997 <http://humanities.uchicago.edu/romance/port/>.

Personal Site:

Lancashire, Ian. Home page. 1 May 1997 <http:// www.chass.utoronto.ca:8080/~ian/index.html>.

Book:

Nesbit, E[dith]. Ballads and Lyrics of Socialism. London, 1908. Victorian Women Writers Project. Ed. Perry Willett. Apr. 1997. Indiana U. 26 Apr. 1997 <http://www.indiana.edu/~letrs/vwwp/ nesbit/ballsoc.html>.

Poem:

Nesbit, E[dith]. "Marching Song." Ballads and Lyrics of Socialism. London, 1908. Victorian Women Writers Project. Ed. Perry Willett. Apr. 1997. Indiana U. 26 Apr. 1997 <http://www.indiana.edu/~letrs/vwwp/nesbit/ballsoc.html#p9>.

Article in a Reference Database:

"Fresco." Britannica Online. Vers. 97.1.1. Mar. 1997. Encyclopaedia Britannica. 29 Mar. 1997 <http:// www.eb.com:180>.

Article in a Journal:

Flannagan, Roy. "Reflections on Milton and Ariosto." Early Modern Literary Studies 2.3 (1996):16 pars. 22 Feb. 1997 <http://unixg.ubc.ca:7001/0/e-sources/emls/02-3/flanmilt.html>.

Article in a Magazine:

Landsburg, Steven E. "Who Shall Inherit the Earth?" Slate 1 May 1997. 2 May 1997 <http:// www.slate.com/Economics/97-05-01/Economics.asp>.

Work from a Subscription Service:

Koretz, Gene. "Economic Trends: Uh-Oh, Warm Water."Business Week 21 July 1997: 22. Electric Lib.Sam Barlow High School Lib., Gresham, OR. 17 Oct.1997 <http://www.elibrary.com/>.

"Table Tennis." Compton's Encyclopedia Online. Vers. 2.0. 1997. America Online. 4 July 1998. Keyword: Compton's.

Posting to a Discussion List:

Merrian, Joanne. "Spinoff: Monsterpiece Theatre." Online posting. 30 Apr. 1994. Shaksper: The GlobalElectronic Shakespeare Conf. 27 Aug. 1997

<http://www.arts.ubc.ca/english/iemls/shak/ MONSTERP_SPINOFF.txt>.

Department of History

Andrew Meyers

(√ = very good; • = satisfactory; x = unsatisfactory)

A = If you fulfill all seven categories effectively, thoroughly, elegantly, and are utterly convincingly

A- = If you fulfill all seven categories effectively and thoroughly

B+ = If you fulfill six

B = If you fulfill five

B- = If you fulfill four

C+ = If you fulfill three

C = If you fulfill two

C- = If you fulfill one

D = If you attempt to fulfill one