Mastering Historical Writing: Key Steps and Strategies

2. What is history? • What types of writing have you done in your history classes? • What does it mean to write history “as a historian”?

4. 1. What do you notice about this document? 2. What type of document is this? 3. Why was this document produced? 4. What went into producing this document?

5. Consider a historical question or problem • Research and sift through the available sources • Draw inferences and conclusions to create a thesis • Organize information and evidence • Writing, feedback, revision, and editing • Complete and submit the work Question: Which step is the most critical?

6. Why do historians write? • What might be some reasons for writing in history classes? • What are the purposes for different types of writing? • What is the audience’s role in historical writing?

7. What is a prompt? • The importance of addressing the prompt • TAP: Topic, Audience, Purpose • Prompt Analysis—Practice • Common terms found in prompts:

8. Read as a “historical detective” to gather evidence in response to a question or prompt (putting the pieces of the puzzle together) • Sourcing • Contextualizing • Corroborating

9. SOAPS: Speaker, Occasion, Audience, Purpose, Significance • 5W’s plus S: • Who? (the source, including point of view and bias) • What? (the type of document and its key ideas) • Where? (context) • When? (context) • Why? (purpose of the document’s creation) • So what? (significance)

10. Organize information and sources into categories: • SPRITE: Social, Political, Religious, Intellectual, Technological, Economic • Subcategories such as causes, effects, women, military, etc. • Categories should relate directly to the thesis • Categories provide the focus for body paragraphs • A single document may fall into multiple categories

11. Organizing and Pre-Writing • Why are maps created? • Create a plan or road map for writing • Make sure you have enough information to begin writing • Various formats of organization: • Outlining • Categorizing and classifying charts (a column for each body paragraph, with info under each column) • Two-column charts (pro v. con, or interpretation and evidence

12. Thesis Statement • The main idea or argument that you will support and defend with evidence • Sets up the plan for the whole paper and directly relates to the prompt or historical question • Supported by key points, categories, or topics in your introducation as a preview of the body paragraphs • Sample thesis statement: • “The social, political, and economic ideals stated by the Declaration of Independence have not been satisfactorily realized in contemporary America.”

13. Introduction • Set-up and packaging for a thesis statement • Historical Background/context: • “The Civil War between the United States and the Confederate States of America took place between 1861 and 1865 across thousands of battlefields.” • Catch a reader’s attention so they want to read further • “Thos who oppose immigration to American are un-American, unless of course they are Native Americans.”

14. Body Paragraphs: Topic Sentences • Topic Sentence: The first sentence of a paragraph, which sets out the main idea • The topic sentence should directly link to the thesis • Subsequent sentences should directly link to the topic sentences’s main idea • The language used should reflect the type of thinking required by the prompt • Example: What were the causes of World War One? • “One of the causes of World War One was militarism.”

15. Body Paragraphs: Evidence • Like a lawyer, you must prove your case with evidence: • Your evidence should link to your topic sentence, as well as the thesis • Use clear, convincing quotes and facts from multiple primary or statistical sources – at least two per paragraph • Avoid saying, “Document A says x”; weave in quotes instead • Example: The “right of the people to keep and bear arms” meant something completely different in 1787, due to the socio-political context in which it was written

16. Body Paragraphs: Explanations • The explanation (also called commentary or analysis) helps the reader understand exactly why and how your evidence supports your thesis and topic sentence • Should interpret the evidence and also answer the question, “So what?” • May require multiple sentences • Basic example: Bob was seen at a soccer game by four different individuals at 2 pm (evidence). Therefore, he could not have robbed the store at 2 pm (explanation).

17. Body Paragraphs: Concluding Sentences • The concluding sentence should reconnect the reader to the idea expressed in the topic sentence and thesis • The concluding sentence should not merely restate the topic sentence.

18. Concluding Paragraphs • The conclusion provides the final opportunity to make your point to your audience • Do not merely repeat your introduction and thesis, but instead think about what lessons should be learned form this event, or its relevance today • Write something which wil stand out to your audience—a memorable quote, or a restatement of the thesis that brings out the “So What?” of your main argument.

19. Revising • Reflect and read • Rubric: How well does my writing reflect the criteria? • Word choice: Avoid “I”, “in my opinion,” “obviously,” “you”, and clichés, and slang • Citation: Has proper attribution been given? Has formatting been used? • Clarity: Would someone who does not know about history understand what is being said?

20. Thinking About Your Writing • What are your stronger points? How do you know? • What do you need to work on? How do you know? • How will you improve? In other words, what is the frontier of your writing?