How to Write a History Research Paper

  • How do I pick a topic?
  • But I can’t find any material…

Research Guide

Writing guide.

See also: How to Write a Good History Essay

1. How do I pick a topic?

Picking a topic is perhaps the most important step in writing a research paper. To do it well requires several steps of refinement. First you have to determine a general area in which you have an interest (if you aren’t interested, your readers won’t be either). You do not write a paper “about the Civil War,” however, for that is such a large and vague concept that the paper will be too shallow or you will be swamped with information. The next step is to narrow your topic. Are you interested in comparison? battles? social change? politics? causes? biography? Once you reach this stage try to formulate your research topic as a question. For example, suppose that you decide to write a paper on the use of the films of the 1930’s and what they can tell historians about the Great Depression. You might turn that into the following question: “What are the primary values expressed in films of the 1930’s?” Or you might ask a quite different question, “What is the standard of living portrayed in films of the 1930’s?” There are other questions, of course, which you could have asked, but these two clearly illustrate how different two papers on the same general subject might be. By asking yourself a question as a means of starting research on a topic you will help yourself find the answers. You also open the door to loading the evidence one way or another. It will help you decide what kinds of evidence might be pertinent to your question, and it can also twist perceptions of a topic. For example, if you ask a question about economics as motivation, you are not likely to learn much about ideals, and vice versa.

2. But I can’t find any material…

No one should pick a topic without trying to figure out how one could discover pertinent information, nor should anyone settle on a topic before getting some background information about the general area. These two checks should make sure your paper is in the realm of the possible. The trick of good research is detective work and imaginative thinking on how one can find information. First try to figure out what kinds of things you should know about a topic to answer your research question. Are there statistics? Do you need personal letters? What background information should be included? Then if you do not know how to find that particular kind of information, ASK . A reference librarian or professor is much more likely to be able to steer you to the right sources if you can ask a specific question such as “Where can I find statistics on the number of interracial marriages?” than if you say “What can you find on racial attitudes?”

Use the footnotes and bibliographies of general background books as well as reference aids to lead you to special studies. If Carleton does not have the books or sources you need, try ordering through the library minitex. Many sources are also available on-line.

As your research paper takes shape you will find that you need background on people, places, events, etc. Do not just rely on some general survey for all of your background. Check the several good dictionaries of biography for background on people, or see if there is a standard book-length biography. If you are dealing with a legal matter check into the background of the judges who make the court decision and the circumstances surrounding the original incident or law. Try looking for public opinions in newspapers of the time. In other words, each bit of information you find should open the possibility of other research paths.

Learn to use several research techniques. You cannot count on a good research paper coming from browsing on one shelf at the library. A really pertinent book may be hidden in another section of the library due to classification quirks. The Readers’ Guide (Ref. A13 .R4) is not the only source for magazine articles, nor the card catalog for books. There are whole books which are listings of other books on particular topics. There are specialized indexes of magazine articles. Modern History Journals are indexed in the Social Studies and Humanities Index (Ref. A13 .R282) before 1976 After 1976 use the Social Sciences Index (REF A13 .S62) and the Humanities Index (Ref. A13 .H85). See also Historical Abstracts (Ref. D1 .H5). Reference Librarians would love to help you learn to use these research tools. It pays to browse in the reference room at the library and poke into the guides which are on the shelves. It also pays to browse the Internet.

3. Help! How do I put this together?

A. preliminary research:.

If you do not already have a general background on your topic, get the most recent good general source on the topic and read it for general orientation. On the basis of that reading formulate as clearly focused question as you can. You should generally discuss with your professor at that point whether your question is a feasible one.

B. Building a Basic Bibliography:

Use the bibliography/notes in your first general source, MUSE, and especially Historical Abstracts on cd-rom in the Library Reading Room (the computer farthest to the left in the front row as you walk past the Reference Desk — or ask there). If there is a specialized bibliography on your topic, you will certainly want to consult that as well, but these are often a bit dated.

C. Building a Full Bibliography:

Read the recent articles or chapters that seem to focus on your topic best. This will allow you to focus your research question quite a bit. Use the sources cited and/or discussed in this reading to build a full bibliography. Use such tools as Historical Abstracts (or, depending on your topic, the abstracts from a different field) and a large, convenient computer-based national library catalog (e.g. the University of California system from the “Libs” command in your VAX account or the smaller University of Minnesota library through MUSE) to check out your sources fully. For specific article searches “Uncover” (press returns for the “open access”) or possibly (less likely for history) “First Search” through “Connect to Other Resources” in MUSE can also be useful.

D. Major Research:

Now do the bulk of your research. But do not overdo it. Do not fall into the trap of reading and reading to avoid getting started on the writing. After you have the bulk of information you might need, start writing. You can fill in the smaller gaps of your research more effectively later.

A. Outline:

Write a preliminary thesis statement, expressing what you believe your major argument(s) will be. Sketch out a broad outline that indicates the structure — main points and subpoints or your argument as it seems at this time. Do not get too detailed at this point.

B. The First Draft:

On the basis of this thesis statement and outline, start writing, even pieces, as soon as you have enough information to start. Do not wait until you have filled all the research gaps. Keep on writing. If you run into smaller research questions just mark the text with a searchable symbol. It is important that you try to get to the end point of this writing as soon as possible, even if you leave pieces still in outline form at first and then fill the gaps after you get to the end.

Critical advice for larger papers: It is often more effective not to start at the point where the beginning of your paper will be. Especially the introductory paragraph is often best left until later, when you feel ready and inspired.

C. The Second Draft:

The “second draft” is a fully re-thought and rewritten version of your paper. It is at the heart of the writing process.

First, lay your first draft aside for a day or so to gain distance from it. After that break, read it over with a critical eye as you would somebody else’s paper (well, almost!). You will probably find that your first draft is still quite descriptive, rather than argumentative. It is likely to wander; your perspective and usually even the thesis seemed to change/develop as you wrote. Don’t despair. That is perfectly normal even for experienced writers (even after 40 years and a good deal of published work!). You will be frustrated. But keep questioning your paper along the following lines: What precisely are my key questions? What parts of my evidence here are really pertinent to those questions (that is, does it help me answer them)? How or in what order can I structure my paper most effectively to answer those questions most clearly and efficiently for my reader?

At this point you must outline your paper freshly. Mark up your first draft, ask tough questions whether your argument is clear and whether the order in which you present your points is effective! You must write conceptually a new paper at this point, even if you can use paragraphs and especially quotes, factual data in the new draft.

It is critical that in your new draft your paragraphs start with topic sentences that identify the argument you will be making in the particular paragraph (sometimes this can be strings of two or three paragraphs). The individual steps in your argument must be clearly reflected in the topic sentences of your paragraphs (or a couple of them linked).

D. The Third or Final Draft:

You are now ready to check for basic rules of good writing. This is when you need to check the diction, that is, the accuracy and suitability of words. Eliminate unnecessary passive or awkward noun constructions (active-voice, verbal constructions are usually more effective); improve the flow of your transitions; avoid repetitions or split infinitives; correct apostrophes in possessives and such. Make the style clear and smooth. Check that the start of your paper is interesting for the reader. Last but not least, cut out unnecessary verbiage and wordiness. Spell-check and proof-read.

– Diethelm Prowe, 1998

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  • Introduction to Historical Research

Introduction to Historical Research : Home

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This guide is an introduction to selected resources available for historical research.  It covers both primary sources (such as diaries, letters, newspaper articles, photographs, government documents and first-hand accounts) and secondary materials (such as books and articles written by historians and devoted to the analysis and interpretation of historical events and evidence).

"Research in history involves developing an understanding of the past through the examination and interpretation of evidence. Evidence may exist in the form of texts, physical remains of historic sites, recorded data, pictures, maps, artifacts, and so on. The historian’s job is to find evidence, analyze its content and biases, corroborate it with further evidence, and use that evidence to develop an interpretation of past events that holds some significance for the present.

Historians use libraries to

  • locate primary sources (first-hand information such as diaries, letters, and original documents) for evidence
  • find secondary sources (historians’ interpretations and analyses of historical evidence)
  • verify factual material as inconsistencies arise"

( Research and Documentation in the Electronic Age, Fifth Edition, by Diana Hacker and Barbara Fister, Bedford/St. Martin, 2010)

This guide is meant to help you work through these steps.

Other helpful guides

This is a list of other historical research guides you may find helpful:

  • Learning Historical Research Learning to Do Historical Research: A Primer for Environmental Historians and Others by William Cronon and his students, University of Wisconsin A website designed as a basic introduction to historical research for anyone and everyone who is interested in exploring the past.
  • Reading, Writing, and Researching for History: A Guide for College Students by Patrick Rael, Bowdoin College Guide to all aspects of historical scholarship—from reading a history book to doing primary source research to writing a history paper.
  • Writing Historical Essays: A Guide for Undergraduates Rutgers History Department guide to writing historical essays
  • History Study Guides History study guides created by the Carleton College History Department

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  • Last Updated: Jan 18, 2024 2:14 PM
  • URL: https://researchguides.library.wisc.edu/introhist

Handbook for Historians

  • Choosing a Paper Topic
  • Thesis Statement
  • What Sources Can I use?
  • Gathering sources
  • Find Primary Sources
  • Paraphrasing and Quoting Sources
  • How to create an Annotated Bibliography
  • Formatting Endnotes/Footnotes
  • Formatting Bibliographies
  • Avoiding Plagiarism

Sample History Papers

Sample title pages, outlines, & citations.

  • Research Paper Checklist

These are examples of well written, properly cited history papers.

  • Sample Paper with Outline
  • Judge and Langdon Book Review/Research Paper - Example 1
  • Judge and Langdon Book Review/Research Paper - Example 2
  • citation presentation
  • HST 302 Paper Example example of a paper for upper division History courses
  • HST 302 Title Page
  • Outline Example Example of an outline for a first year level history paper.
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  • Last Updated: Feb 21, 2024 8:00 PM
  • URL: https://resources.library.lemoyne.edu/guides/history/handbook

research paper on history

Princeton Correspondents on Undergraduate Research

How to Write a History Research Paper

research paper on history

In my last post, I shared some tips on how to conduct research in history and emphasized that researchers should keep in mind a source’s category (transcript, court document, speech, etc.). This post is something of a sequel to that, as I will share some thoughts on what often follows primary-source research: a history research paper. 

1. Background Reading   The first step to a history research paper is of course, background reading and research. In the context of a class assignment, “background reading” might simply be course readings or lectures, but for independent work, this step will likely involve some quality time on your own in the library. During the background reading phase of your project, keep an eye out for intriguing angles to approach your topic from and any trends that you see across sources (both primary and secondary).

2. T hemes and Context Recounting the simple facts about your topic alone will not make for a successful research paper. One must grasp both the details of events as well as the larger, thematic context of the time period in which they occurred. What’s the scholarly consensus about these themes? Does that consensus seem right to you, after having done primary and secondary research of your own?

3. Develop an Argument  Grappling with answers to the above questions will get you thinking about your emerging argument. For shorter papers, you might identify a gap in the scholarship or come up with an argumentative response to a class prompt rather quickly. Remember: as an undergraduate, you don’t have to come up with (to borrow Philosophy Professor Gideon Rosen’s phrase) ‘a blindingly original theory of everything.’ In other words, finding a nuanced thesis does not mean you have to disprove some famous scholar’s work in its entirety. But, if you’re having trouble defining your thesis, I encourage you not to worry; talk to your professor, preceptor, or, if appropriate, a friend. These people can listen to your ideas, and the simple act of talking about your paper can often go a long way in helping you realize what you want to write about.

4. Outline Your Argument  With a history paper specifically, one is often writing about a sequence of events and trying to tell a story about what happened. Roughly speaking, your thesis is your interpretation of these events, or your take on some aspect of them (i.e. the role of women in New Deal programs). Before opening up Word, I suggest writing down the stages of your argument. Then, outline or organize your notes to know what evidence you’ll use in each of these various stages. If you think your evidence is solid, then you’re probably ready to start writing—and you now have a solid roadmap to work from! But, if this step is proving difficult, you might want to gather more evidence or go back to the thesis drawing board and look for a better angle. I often find myself somewhere between these two extremes (being 100% ready to write or staring at a sparse outline), but that’s also helpful, because it gives me a better idea of where my argument needs strengthening.

5. Prepare Yourself   Once you have some sort of direction for the paper (i.e. a working thesis), you’re getting close to the fun part—the writing itself. Gather your laptop, your research materials/notes, and some snacks, and get ready to settle in to write your paper, following your argument outline. As mentioned in the photo caption, I suggest utilizing large library tables to spread out your notes. This way, you don’t have to constantly flip through binders, notebooks, and printed drafts.

In addition to this step by step approach, I’ll leave you with a few last general tips for approaching a history research paper. Overall, set reasonable goals for your project, and remember that a seemingly daunting task can be broken down into the above constituent phases. And, if nothing else, know that you’ll end up with a nice Word document full of aesthetically pleasing footnotes!

— Shanon FitzGerald, Social Sciences Correspondent

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Writing a Good History Paper

  • Top Ten Reasons for Negative Comments
  • Making Sure your Paper has Substance

Common Marginal Remarks on Style, Clarity, Grammar, and Syntax

Word and phrase usage problems, analyzing a historical document, writing a book review, writing a term paper or senior thesis, top ten reasons for negative comments on history papers.

(Drawn from a survey of the History Department ) 10. You engage in cheap, anachronistic moralizing .  9. You are sloppy with the chronology .  8. You quote excessively or improperly .  7. You have written a careless “one-draft wonder.” (See revise and proofread)  6. You are vague or have empty, unsupported generalizations .  5. You write too much in the passive voice.  4. You use inappropriate sources .  3. You use evidence uncritically.  2. You are wordy .  1. You have no clear thesis and little analysis.

Making Sure your History Paper has Substance

Get off to a good start..

Avoid pretentious, vapid beginnings. If you are writing a paper on, say, British responses to the rebellion in India in 1857, don't open with a statement like this: “Throughout human history people in all cultures everywhere in the world have engaged in many and long-running conflicts about numerous aspects of government policy and diplomatic issues, which have much interested historians and generated historical theories in many areas.” This is pure garbage, bores the reader, and is a sure sign that you have nothing substantive to say. Get to the point. Here’s a better start: “The rebellion in 1857 compelled the British to rethink their colonial administration in India.” This sentence tells the reader what your paper is actually about and clears the way for you to state your thesis in the rest of the opening paragraph. For example, you might go on to argue that greater British sensitivity to Indian customs was hypocritical.

State a clear thesis.

Whether you are writing an exam essay or a senior thesis, you need to have a thesis. Don’t just repeat the assignment or start writing down everything that you know about the subject. Ask yourself, “What exactly am I trying to prove?” Your thesis is your take on the subject, your perspective, your explanation—that is, the case that you’re going to argue. “Famine struck Ireland in the 1840s” is a true statement, but it is not a thesis. “The English were responsible for famine in Ireland in the 1840s” is a thesis (whether defensible or not is another matter). A good thesis answers an important research question about how or why something happened. (“Who was responsible for the famine in Ireland in the 1840s?”) Once you have laid out your thesis, don’t forget about it. Develop your thesis logically from paragraph to paragraph. Your reader should always know where your argument has come from, where it is now, and where it is going.

Be sure to analyze.

Students are often puzzled when their professors mark them down for summarizing or merely narrating rather than analyzing. What does it mean to analyze? In the narrow sense, to analyze means to break down into parts and to study the interrelationships of those parts. If you analyze water, you break it down into hydrogen and oxygen. In a broader sense, historical analysis explains the origins and significance of events. Historical analysis digs beneath the surface to see relationships or distinctions that are not immediately obvious. Historical analysis is critical; it evaluates sources, assigns significance to causes, and weighs competing explanations. Don’t push the distinction too far, but you might think of summary and analysis this way: Who, what, when, and where are the stuff of summary; how, why, and to what effect are the stuff of analysis. Many students think that they have to give a long summary (to show the professor that they know the facts) before they get to their analysis. Try instead to begin your analysis as soon as possible, sometimes without any summary at all. The facts will “shine through” a good analysis. You can't do an analysis unless you know the facts, but you can summarize the facts without being able to do an analysis. Summary is easier and less sophisticated than analysis—that’s why summary alone never earns an “A.”

Use evidence critically.

Like good detectives, historians are critical of their sources and cross-check them for reliability. You wouldn't think much of a detective who relied solely on a suspect’s archenemy to check an alibi. Likewise, you wouldn't think much of a historian who relied solely on the French to explain the origins of World War I. Consider the following two statements on the origin of World War I: 1) “For the catastrophe of 1914 the Germans are responsible. Only a professional liar would deny this...” 2) “It is not true that Germany is guilty of having caused this war. Neither the people, the government, nor the Kaiser wanted war....”  They can’t both be right, so you have to do some detective work. As always, the best approach is to ask: Who wrote the source? Why? When? Under what circumstances? For whom? The first statement comes from a book by the French politician Georges Clemenceau, which he wrote in 1929 at the very end of his life. In 1871, Clemenceau had vowed revenge against Germany for its defeat of France in the Franco-Prussian War. As premier of France from 1917 to 1920, he represented France at the Paris Peace Conference in 1919. He was obviously not a disinterested observer. The second statement comes from a manifesto published by ninety-three prominent German intellectuals in the fall of 1914. They were defending Germany against charges of aggression and brutality. They too were obviously not disinterested observers. Now, rarely do you encounter such extreme bias and passionate disagreement, but the principle of criticizing and cross-checking sources always applies. In general, the more sources you can use, and the more varied they are, the more likely you are to make a sound historical judgment, especially when passions and self-interests are engaged. You don’t need to be cynical as a historian (self-interest does not explain everything), but you do need to be critical and skeptical. Competent historians may offer different interpretations of the same evidence or choose to stress different evidence. You will not find a single historical Truth with a capital “T” on any matter of significance. You can, however, learn to discriminate among conflicting interpretations, not all of which are created equal. (See also: Analyzing a Historical Document )

Be precise.

Vague statements and empty generalizations suggest that you haven't put in the time to learn the material. Consider these two sentences: “During the French Revolution, the government was overthrown by the people. The Revolution is important because it shows that people need freedom.” What people? Landless peasants? Urban journeymen? Wealthy lawyers? Which government? When? How? Who exactly needed freedom, and what did they mean by freedom? Here is a more precise statement about the French Revolution: “Threatened by rising prices and food shortages in 1793, the Parisian sans-culottes pressured the Convention to institute price controls.” This statement is more limited than the grandiose generalizations about the Revolution, but unlike them, it can open the door to a real analysis of the Revolution. Be careful when you use grand abstractions like people, society, freedom, and government, especially when you further distance yourself from the concrete by using these words as the apparent antecedents for the pronouns they and it. Always pay attention to cause and effect. Abstractions do not cause or need anything; particular people or particular groups of people cause or need things. Avoid grandiose trans-historical generalizations that you can’t support. When in doubt about the appropriate level of precision or detail, err on the side of adding “too much” precision and detail.

Watch the chronology.

Anchor your thesis in a clear chronological framework and don't jump around confusingly. Take care to avoid both anachronisms and vagueness about dates. If you write, “Napoleon abandoned his Grand Army in Russia and caught the redeye back to Paris,” the problem is obvious. If you write, “Despite the Watergate scandal, Nixon easily won reelection in 1972,” the problem is more subtle, but still serious. (The scandal did not become public until after the election.) If you write, “The revolution in China finally succeeded in the twentieth century,” your professor may suspect that you haven’t studied. Which revolution? When in the twentieth century? Remember that chronology is the backbone of history. What would you think of a biographer who wrote that you graduated from Hamilton in the 1950s?

Cite sources carefully.

Your professor may allow parenthetical citations in a short paper with one or two sources, but you should use footnotes for any research paper in history. Parenthetical citations are unaesthetic; they scar the text and break the flow of reading. Worse still, they are simply inadequate to capture the richness of historical sources. Historians take justifiable pride in the immense variety of their sources. Parenthetical citations such as (Jones 1994) may be fine for most of the social sciences and humanities, where the source base is usually limited to recent books and articles in English. Historians, however, need the flexibility of the full footnote. Try to imagine this typical footnote (pulled at random from a classic work of German history) squeezed into parentheses in the body of the text: DZA Potsdam, RdI, Frieden 5, Erzgebiet von Longwy-Briey, Bd. I, Nr. 19305, gedruckte Denkschrift für OHL und Reichsleitung, Dezember 1917, und in RWA, Frieden Frankreich Nr. 1883. The abbreviations are already in this footnote; its information cannot be further reduced. For footnotes and bibliography, historians usually use Chicago style. (The Chicago Manual of Style. 15th edition. Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 2003.) On the Writing Center’s website you can find a useful summary of Chicago citation style prepared by a former history major, Elizabeth Rabe ’04 ( Footnotes ). RefWorks (on the library’s website) will convert your citations to Chicago style. Don’t hesitate to ask one of the reference librarians for help if you have trouble getting started on RefWorks.

Use primary sources.

Use as many primary sources as possible in your paper. A primary source is one produced by a participant in or witness of the events you are writing about. A primary source allows the historian to see the past through the eyes of direct participants. Some common primary sources are letters, diaries, memoirs, speeches, church records, newspaper articles, and government documents of all kinds. The capacious genre “government records” is probably the single richest trove for the historian and includes everything from criminal court records, to tax lists, to census data, to parliamentary debates, to international treaties—indeed, any records generated by governments. If you’re writing about culture, primary sources may include works of art or literature, as well as philosophical tracts or scientific treatises—anything that comes under the broad rubric of culture. Not all primary sources are written. Buildings, monuments, clothes, home furnishings, photographs, religious relics, musical recordings, or oral reminiscences can all be primary sources if you use them as historical clues. The interests of historians are so broad that virtually anything can be a primary source. (See also: Analyzing a Historical Document )

Use scholarly secondary sources.

A secondary source is one written by a later historian who had no part in what he or she is writing about. (In the rare cases when the historian was a participant in the events, then the work—or at least part of it—is a primary source.) Historians read secondary sources to learn about how scholars have interpreted the past. Just as you must be critical of primary sources, so too you must be critical of secondary sources. You must be especially careful to distinguish between scholarly and non-scholarly secondary sources. Unlike, say, nuclear physics, history attracts many amateurs. Books and articles about war, great individuals, and everyday material life dominate popular history. Some professional historians disparage popular history and may even discourage their colleagues from trying their hand at it. You need not share their snobbishness; some popular history is excellent. But—and this is a big but—as a rule, you should avoid popular works in your research, because they are usually not scholarly. Popular history seeks to inform and entertain a large general audience. In popular history, dramatic storytelling often prevails over analysis, style over substance, simplicity over complexity, and grand generalization over careful qualification. Popular history is usually based largely or exclusively on secondary sources. Strictly speaking, most popular histories might better be called tertiary, not secondary, sources. Scholarly history, in contrast, seeks to discover new knowledge or to reinterpret existing knowledge. Good scholars wish to write clearly and simply, and they may spin a compelling yarn, but they do not shun depth, analysis, complexity, or qualification. Scholarly history draws on as many primary sources as practical. Now, your goal as a student is to come as close as possible to the scholarly ideal, so you need to develop a nose for distinguishing the scholarly from the non-scholarly. Here are a few questions you might ask of your secondary sources (bear in mind that the popular/scholarly distinction is not absolute, and that some scholarly work may be poor scholarship). Who is the author? Most scholarly works are written by professional historians (usually professors) who have advanced training in the area they are writing about. If the author is a journalist or someone with no special historical training, be careful. Who publishes the work? Scholarly books come from university presses and from a handful of commercial presses (for example, Norton, Routledge, Palgrave, Penguin, Rowman & Littlefield, Knopf, and HarperCollins). If it’s an article, where does it appear? Is it in a journal subscribed to by our library, listed on JSTOR , or published by a university press? Is the editorial board staffed by professors? Oddly enough, the word journal in the title is usually a sign that the periodical is scholarly. What do the notes and bibliography look like? If they are thin or nonexistent, be careful. If they are all secondary sources, be careful. If the work is about a non-English-speaking area, and all the sources are in English, then it's almost by definition not scholarly. Can you find reviews of the book in the data base Academic Search Premier? If the book was published within the last few decades, and it’s not in there, that’s a bad sign. With a little practice, you can develop confidence in your judgment—and you’re on your way to being a historian. If you are unsure whether a work qualifies as scholarly, ask your professor. (See also: Writing a Book Review )

Avoid abusing your sources.

Many potentially valuable sources are easy to abuse. Be especially alert for these five abuses: Web abuse. The Web is a wonderful and improving resource for indexes and catalogs. But as a source for primary and secondary material for the historian, the Web is of limited value. Anyone with the right software can post something on the Web without having to get past trained editors, peer reviewers, or librarians. As a result, there is a great deal of garbage on the Web. If you use a primary source from the Web, make sure that a respected intellectual institution stands behind the site. Be especially wary of secondary articles on the Web, unless they appear in electronic versions of established print journals (e.g., The Journal of Asian Studies in JSTOR). Many articles on the Web are little more than third-rate encyclopedia entries. When in doubt, check with your professor. With a few rare exceptions, you will not find scholarly monographs in history (even recent ones) on the Web. You may have heard of Google’s plans to digitize the entire collections of some of the world’s major libraries and to make those collections available on the Web. Don’t hold your breath. Your days at Hamilton will be long over by the time the project is finished. Besides, your training as a historian should give you a healthy skepticism of the giddy claims of technophiles. Most of the time and effort of doing history goes into reading, note-taking, pondering, and writing. Finding a chapter of a book on the Web (as opposed to getting the physical book through interlibrary loan) might be a convenience, but it doesn’t change the basics for the historian. Moreover, there is a subtle, but serious, drawback with digitized old books: They break the historian’s sensual link to the past. And of course, virtually none of the literally trillions of pages of archival material is available on the Web. For the foreseeable future, the library and the archive will remain the natural habitats of the historian. Thesaurus abuse. How tempting it is to ask your computer’s thesaurus to suggest a more erudite-sounding word for the common one that popped into your mind! Resist the temptation. Consider this example (admittedly, a bit heavy-handed, but it drives the point home): You’re writing about the EPA’s programs to clean up impure water supplies. Impure seems too simple and boring a word, so you bring up your thesaurus, which offers you everything from incontinent to meretricious. “How about meretricious water?” you think to yourself. “That will impress the professor.” The problem is that you don’t know exactly what meretricious means, so you don’t realize that meretricious is absurdly inappropriate in this context and makes you look foolish and immature. Use only those words that come to you naturally. Don’t try to write beyond your vocabulary. Don’t try to impress with big words. Use a thesaurus only for those annoying tip-of-the-tongue problems (you know the word and will recognize it instantly when you see it, but at the moment you just can’t think of it).  Quotation book abuse. This is similar to thesaurus abuse. Let’s say you are writing a paper on Alexander Hamilton’s banking policies, and you want to get off to a snappy start that will make you seem effortlessly learned. How about a quotation on money? You click on the index of Bartlett’s Familiar Quotations , and before you know it, you’ve begun your paper with, “As Samuel Butler wrote in Hudibras ,  ‘For what is worth in anything/ But so much money as ’t will bring?’” Face it, you’re faking it. You don’t know who Samuel Butler is, and you’ve certainly never heard of Hudibras , let alone read it. Your professor is not fooled. You sound like an insecure after-dinner speaker. Forget Bartlett’s, unless you're confirming the wording of a quotation that came to you spontaneously and relates to your paper.  Encyclopedia abuse. General encyclopedias like Britannica are useful for checking facts (“Wait a sec, am I right about which countries sent troops to crush the Boxer Rebellion in China? Better check.”). But if you are footnoting encyclopedias in your papers, you are not doing college-level research.

Dictionary Abuse. The dictionary is your friend. Keep it by your side as you write, but do not abuse it by starting papers with a definition. You may be most tempted to start this way when you are writing on a complex, controversial, or elusive subject. (“According to Webster’s Collegiate Dictionary , liberalism is defined as...”). Actually, the dictionary does you little good in such cases and makes you sound like a conscientious but dull high-school student. Save in the rare case that competing dictionary definitions are the subject at hand, keep dictionary quotations out of your paper.

Quote sparingly

Avoid quoting a secondary source and then simply rewording or summarizing the quotation, either above or below the quotation. It is rarely necessary to quote secondary sources at length, unless your essay focuses on a critical analysis of the author’s argument. (See also: Writing a Book Review ) Your professor wants to see your ability to analyze and to understand the secondary sources. Do not quote unless the quotation clarifies or enriches your analysis. When in doubt, do not quote; instead, integrate the author’s argument into your own (though be sure to acknowledge ideas from your sources, even when you are paraphrasing). If you use a lot of quotations from secondary sources, you are probably writing a poor paper. An analysis of a primary source, such as a political tract or philosophical essay, might require lengthy quotations, often in block format. In such cases, you might need to briefly repeat key points or passages as a means to introduce the author’s ideas, but your analysis and interpretation of the text’s meaning should remain the most important aim. (See also: Using primary sources and Use scholarly secondary sources .)

Know your audience

Unless instructed otherwise, you should assume that your audience consists of educated, intelligent, nonspecialists. In fact, your professor will usually be your only reader, but if you write directly to your professor, you may become cryptic or sloppy (oh well, she’ll know what I’m talking about). Explaining your ideas to someone who doesn't know what you mean forces you to be clear and complete. Now, finding the right amount of detail can, admittedly, be tricky (how much do I put in about the Edict of Nantes, the Embargo Act, or President Wilson’s background?). When in doubt, err on the side of putting in extra details. You’ll get some leeway here if you avoid the extremes (my reader’s an ignoramus/my reader knows everything).

Avoid cheap, anachronistic moralizing

Many of the people and institutions of the past appear unenlightened, ignorant, misguided, or bigoted by today’s values. Resist the temptation to condemn or to get self-righteous. (“Martin Luther was blind to the sexism and class prejudice of sixteenth-century German society.”) Like you, people in the past were creatures of their time; like you, they deserve to be judged by the standards of their time. If you judge the past by today’s standards (an error historians call “presentism”), you will never understand why people thought or acted as they did. Yes, Hitler was a bad guy, but he was bad not only by today’s standards, but also by the commonly accepted standards of his own time. Someday you’re going to look pretty foolish and ignorant yourself. (“Early twenty-first century Hamilton students failed to see the shocking inderdosherism [that’s right, you don’t recognize the concept because it doesn’t yet exist] implicit in their career plans.”)

Have a strong conclusion

Obviously, you should not just stop abruptly as though you have run out of time or ideas. Your conclusion should conclude something. If you merely restate briefly what you have said in your paper, you give the impression that you are unsure of the significance of what you have written. A weak conclusion leaves the reader unsatisfied and bewildered, wondering why your paper was worth reading. A strong conclusion adds something to what you said in your introduction. A strong conclusion explains the importance and significance of what you have written. A strong conclusion leaves your reader caring about what you have said and pondering the larger implications of your thesis. Don’t leave your reader asking, “So what?”

Revise and proofread

Your professor can spot a “one-draft wonder,” so don't try to do your paper at the last moment. Leave plenty of time for revising and proofreading. Show your draft to a writing tutor or other good writer. Reading the draft aloud may also help. Of course, everyone makes mistakes, and a few may slip through no matter how meticulous you are. But beware of lots of mistakes. The failure to proofread carefully suggests that you devoted little time and effort to the assignment. Tip: Proofread your text both on the screen and on a printed copy. Your eyes see the two differently. Don’t rely on your spell checker to catch all of your misspellings. (If ewe ken reed this ewe kin sea that a computer wood nut all ways help ewe spill or rite reel good.)

Note: The Writing Center suggests standard abbreviations for noting some of these problems. You should familiarize yourself with those abbreviations, but your professor may not use them.  

Remarks on Style and Clarity

Wordy/verbose/repetitive..

Try your hand at fixing this sentence: “Due to the fact that these aspects of the issue of personal survival have been raised by recently transpired problematic conflicts, it is at the present time paramount that the ultimate psychological end of suicide be contemplated by this individual.” If you get it down to “To be or not to be, that is the question,” you’ve done well. You may not match Shakespeare, but you can learn to cut the fat out of your prose. The chances are that the five pages you’ve written for your history paper do not really contain five pages’ worth of ideas.

Misuse of the passive voice.

Write in the active voice. The passive voice encourages vagueness and dullness; it enfeebles verbs; and it conceals agency, which is the very stuff of history. You know all of this almost instinctively. What would you think of a lover who sighed in your ear, “My darling, you are loved by me!”? At its worst, the passive voice—like its kin, bureaucratic language and jargon—is a medium for the dishonesty and evasion of responsibility that pervade contemporary American culture. (“Mistakes were made; I was given false information.” Now notice the difference: “I screwed up; Smith and Jones lied to me; I neglected to check the facts.”) On history papers the passive voice usually signals a less toxic version of the same unwillingness to take charge, to commit yourself, and to say forthrightly what is really going on, and who is doing what to whom. Suppose you write, “In 1935 Ethiopia was invaded.” This sentence is a disaster. Who invaded? Your professor will assume that you don't know. Adding “by Italy” to the end of the sentence helps a bit, but the sentence is still flat and misleading. Italy was an aggressive actor, and your passive construction conceals that salient fact by putting the actor in the syntactically weakest position—at the end of the sentence as the object of a preposition. Notice how you add vigor and clarity to the sentence when you recast it in the active voice: "In 1935 Italy invaded Ethiopia." I n a few cases , you may violate the no-passive-voice rule. The passive voice may be preferable if the agent is either obvious (“Kennedy was elected in 1960”), irrelevant (“Theodore Roosevelt became president when McKinley was assassinated”), or unknown (“King Harold was killed at the Battle of Hastings”). Note that in all three of these sample sentences the passive voice focuses the reader on the receiver of the action rather than on the doer (on Kennedy, not on American voters; on McKinley, not on his assassin; on King Harold, not on the unknown Norman archer). Historians usually wish to focus on the doer, so you should stay with the active voice—unless you can make a compelling case for an exception.

Abuse of the verb to be.

The verb to be is the most common and most important verb in English, but too many verbs to be suck the life out of your prose and lead to wordiness. Enliven your prose with as many action verbs as possible. ( “In Brown v. Board of Education it was the opinion of the Supreme Court that the doctrine of ‘separate but equal’ was in violation of the Fourteenth Amendment.”) Rewrite as “ In Brown v. Board of Education the Supreme Court ruled that the doctrine of ‘separate but equal’ violated the Fourteenth ”

Explain/what’s your point?/unclear/huh?

You may (or may not) know what you’re talking about, but if you see these marginal comments, you have confused your reader. You may have introduced a non sequitur ; gotten off the subject; drifted into abstraction; assumed something that you have not told the reader; failed to explain how the material relates to your argument; garbled your syntax; or simply failed to proofread carefully.  If possible, have a good writer read your paper and point out the muddled parts. Reading your paper aloud may help too.

Paragraph goes nowhere/has no point or unity.

Paragraphs are the building blocks of your paper. If your paragraphs are weak, your paper cannot be strong. Try underlining the topic sentence of every paragraph. If your topic sentences are vague, strength and precision—the hallmarks of good writing—are unlikely to follow. Consider this topic sentence (from a paper on Ivan the Terrible): “From 1538 to 1547, there are many different arguments about the nature of what happened.”  Disaster looms. The reader has no way of knowing when the arguing takes place, who’s arguing, or even what the arguing is about. And how does the “nature of what happened” differ from plain “what happened”? Perhaps the writer means the following: “The childhood of Ivan the Terrible has provoked controversy among scholars of Russian history.” That's hardly deathless prose, but it does orient the reader and make the writer accountable for what follows in the paragraph. Once you have a good topic sentence, make sure that everything in the paragraph supports that sentence, and that cumulatively the support is persuasive. Make sure that each sentence follows logically from the previous one, adding detail in a coherent order. Move, delete, or add material as appropriate. To avoid confusing the reader, limit each paragraph to one central idea. (If you have a series of supporting points starting with first, you must follow with a second, third , etc.) A paragraph that runs more than a printed page is probably too long. Err on the side of shorter paragraphs.

Inappropriate use of first person.

Most historians write in the third person, which focuses the reader on the subject. If you write in the first person singular, you shift the focus to yourself. You give the impression that you want to break in and say, “Enough about the Haitian revolution [or whatever], now let’s talk about me!” Also avoid the first person plural (“We believe...”). It suggests committees, editorial boards, or royalty. None of those should have had a hand in writing your paper. And don’t refer to yourself lamely as “this writer.” Who else could possibly be writing the paper?

Tense inconsistency.

Stay consistently in the past tense when you are writing about what took place in the past. (“Truman’s defeat of Dewey in 1948 caught the pollsters by surprise.”) Note that the context may require a shift into the past perfect. (“The pollsters had not realized [past perfect] that voter opinion had been [past perfect] changing rapidly in the days before the election.”) Unfortunately, the tense problem can get a bit more complicated. Most historians shift into the present tense when describing or commenting on a book, document, or evidence that still exists and is in front of them (or in their mind) as they write.  (“de Beauvoir published [past tense] The Second Sex in 1949. In the book she contends [present tense] that woman....”) If you’re confused, think of it this way: History is about the past, so historians write in the past tense, unless they are discussing effects of the past that still exist and thus are in the present. When in doubt, use the past tense and stay consistent.

Ill-fitted quotation.

This is a common problem, though not noted in stylebooks. When you quote someone, make sure that the quotation fits grammatically into your sentence.  Note carefully the mismatch between the start of the following sentence and the quotation that follows:  “In order to understand the Vikings, writes Marc Bloch, it is necessary, ‘To conceive of the Viking expeditions as religious warfare inspired by the ardour of an implacable pagan fanaticism—an explanation that has sometimes been at least suggested—conflicts too much with what we know of minds disposed to respect magic of every kind.’” At first, the transition into the quotation from Bloch seems fine. The infinitive (to conceive) fits. But then the reader comes to the verb (conflicts) in Bloch’s sentence, and things no longer make sense. The writer is saying, in effect, “it is necessary conflicts.” The wordy lead-in and the complex syntax of the quotation have tripped the writer and confused the reader. If you wish to use the whole sentence, rewrite as “Marc Bloch writes in Feudal Society , ‘To conceive of...’” Better yet, use your own words or only part of the quotation in your sentence. Remember that good writers quote infrequently, but when they do need to quote, they use carefully phrased lead-ins that fit the grammatical construction of the quotation.

Free-floating quotation.

Do not suddenly drop quotations into your prose. (“The spirit of the Progressive era is best understood if one remembers that the United States is ‘the only country in the world that began with perfection and aspired to progress.’”) You have probably chosen the quotation because it is finely wrought and says exactly what you want to say. Fine, but first you inconvenience the reader, who must go to the footnote to learn that the quotation comes from The Age of Reform by historian Richard Hofstadter. And then you puzzle the reader. Did Hofstadter write the line about perfection and progress, or is he quoting someone from the Progressive era? If, as you claim, you are going to help the reader to judge the “spirit of the Progressive era,” you need to clarify. Rewrite as “As historian Richard Hofstadter writes in the Age of Reform , the United States is ‘the only country in the world...’” Now the reader knows immediately that the line is Hofstadter’s.

Who’s speaking here?/your view?

Always be clear about whether you’re giving your opinion or that of the author or historical actor you are discussing. Let’s say that your essay is about Martin Luther’s social views. You write, “The German peasants who revolted in 1525 were brutes and deserved to be crushed mercilessly.” That’s what Luther thought, but do you agree?  You may know, but your reader is not a mind reader. When in doubt, err on the side of being overly clear.

Jargon/pretentious theory.

Historians value plain English. Academic jargon and pretentious theory will make your prose turgid, ridiculous, and downright irritating. Your professor will suspect that you are trying to conceal that you have little to say. Of course, historians can’t get along without some theory; even those who profess to have no theory actually do—it’s called naïve realism. And sometimes you need a technical term, be it ontological argument or ecological fallacy. When you use theory or technical terms, make sure that they are intelligible and do real intellectual lifting.  Please, no sentences like this: “By means of a neo-Althusserian, post-feminist hermeneutics, this essay will de/construct the logo/phallo/centrism imbricated in the marginalizing post-colonial gendered gaze, thereby proliferating the subjectivities that will re/present the de/stabilization of the essentializing habitus of post-Fordist capitalism.”

Informal language/slang.

You don’t need to be stuffy, but stay with formal English prose of the kind that will still be comprehensible to future generations. Columbus did not “push the envelope in the Atlantic.” Henry VIII was not “looking for his inner child when he broke with the Church.” Prime Minister Cavour of Piedmont was not “trying to play in the major leagues diplomatic wise.” Wilson did not “almost veg out” at the end of his second term. President Hindenburg did not appoint Hitler in a “senior moment.” Prime Minister Chamberlain did not tell the Czechs to “chill out” after the Munich Conference, and Gandhi was not an “awesome dude.”

Try to keep your prose fresh. Avoid cliches. When you proofread, watch out for sentences like these: “Voltaire always gave 110 percent and thought outside the box. His bottom line was that as people went forward into the future, they would, at the end of the day, step up to the plate and realize that the Jesuits were conniving perverts.” Ugh. Rewrite as “Voltaire tried to persuade people that the Jesuits were cony, step up to the plate and realize that the Jesuits were conniving perverts.” Ugh. Rewrite as “Voltaire tried to persuade people that the Jesuits were conniving perverts.”

Intensifier abuse/exaggeration.

Avoid inflating your prose with unsustainable claims of size, importance, uniqueness, certainty, or intensity. Such claims mark you as an inexperienced writer trying to impress the reader. Your statement is probably not certain ; your subject probably not unique , the biggest, the best, or the most important. Also, the adverb very will rarely strengthen your sentence. Strike it. (“President Truman was very determined to stop the spread of communism in Greece.”) Rewrite as “President Truman resolved to stop the spread of communism in Greece.”

Mixed image.

Once you have chosen an image, you must stay with language compatible with that image. In the following example, note that the chain, the boiling, and the igniting are all incompatible with the image of the cold, rolling, enlarging snowball: “A snowballing chain of events boiled over, igniting the powder keg of war in 1914.” Well chosen images can enliven your prose, but if you catch yourself mixing images a lot, you're probably trying to write beyond your ability. Pull back. Be more literal.

Clumsy transition.

If your reader feels a jolt or gets disoriented at the beginning of a new paragraph, your paper probably lacks unity. In a good paper, each paragraph is woven seamlessly into the next. If you find yourself beginning your paragraphs with phrases such as “Another aspect of this problem...,” then you are probably “stacking note cards” rather than developing a thesis.

Unnecessary relative clause.

If you don’t need to restrict the meaning of your sentence’s subject, then don’t. (“Napoleon was a man who tried to conquer Europe.”) Here the relative clause adds nothing. Rewrite as “Napoleon tried to conquer Europe.” Unnecessary relative clauses are a classic form of wordiness.

Distancing or demeaning quotation marks.

If you believe that a frequently used word or phrase distorts historical reality, don’t put it in dismissive, sneering quotation marks to make your point (“the communist ‘threat’ to the ‘free’ world during the Cold War”). Many readers find this practice arrogant, obnoxious, and precious, and they may dismiss your arguments out of hand. If you believe that the communist threat was bogus or exaggerated, or that the free world was not really free, then simply explain what you mean.

Remarks on Grammar and Syntax

Ideally, your professor will help you to improve your writing by specifying exactly what is wrong with a particular passage, but  sometimes you may find a simple awk in the margin. This all-purpose negative comment usually suggests that the sentence is clumsy because you have misused words or compounded several errors. Consider this sentence from a book review:

“However, many falsehoods lie in Goldhagen’s claims and these will be explored.”

What is your long-suffering professor to do with this sentence? The however contributes nothing; the phrase falsehoods lie is an unintended pun that distracts the reader; the comma is missing between the independent clauses; the these has no clear antecedent ( falsehoods? claims? ); the second clause is in the passive voice and contributes nothing anyway; the whole sentence is wordy and screams hasty, last-minute composition. In weary frustration, your professor scrawls awk in the margin and moves on. Buried under the twelve-word sentence lies a three-word idea: “Goldhagen often errs.” When you see awk, check for the common errors in this list. If you don’t understand what’s wrong, ask.

Unclear antecedent.

All pronouns must refer clearly to antecedents and must agree with them in number. The reader usually assumes that the antecedent is the immediately preceding noun. Do not confuse the reader by having several possible antecedents. Consider these two sentences:

“Pope Gregory VII forced Emperor Henry IV to wait three days in the snow at Canossa before granting him an audience. It was a symbolic act.”

To what does the it refer? Forcing the Emperor to wait? The waiting itself? The granting of the audience? The audience itself? The whole previous sentence? You are most likely to get into antecedent trouble when you begin a paragraph with this or it , referring vaguely back to the general import of the previous paragraph. When in doubt, take this test: Circle the pronoun and the antecedent and connect the two with a line. Then ask yourself if your reader could instantly make the same diagram without your help. If the line is long, or if the circle around the antecedent is large, encompassing huge gobs of text, then your reader probably will be confused.  Rewrite. Repetition is better than ambiguity and confusion.

Faulty parallelism.

You confuse your reader if you change the grammatical construction from one element to the next in a series. Consider this sentence:

“King Frederick the Great sought to expand Prussia, to rationalize agriculture, and that the state support education.”

The reader expects another infinitive, but instead trips over the that . Rewrite the last clause as “and to promote state-supported education.” Sentences using neither/nor frequently present parallelism problems. Note the two parts of this sentence:

“After 1870 the cavalry charge was neither an effective tactic, nor did armies use it frequently.”

The sentence jars because the neither is followed by a noun, the nor by a verb. Keep the parts parallel.

Rewrite as “After 1870 the cavalry charge was neither effective nor frequently used.”

Sentences with not only/but also are another pitfall for many students. (“Mussolini attacked not only liberalism, but he also advocated militarism.”) Here the reader is set up to expect a noun in the second clause, but stumbles over a verb. Make the parts parallel by putting the verb attacked after the not only .

Misplaced modifier/dangling element.

Do not confuse the reader with a phrase or clause that refers illogically or absurdly to other words in the sentence. (“Summarized on the back cover of the American paperback edition, the publishers claim that...”) The publishers are not summarized on the back cover. (“Upon finishing the book, many questions remain.”) Who finished the book? Questions can’t read. Avoid following an introductory participial clause with the expletives it or there . Expletives are by definition filler words; they can’t be agents. (“Having examined the origins of the Meiji Restoration in Japan, it is apparent that...”) Apparent to whom?  The expletive it didn’t do the examining. (“After going on the Long March, there was greater support for the Communists in China.”) Who went on the Long March? There didn’t go on the Long March. Always pay attention to who’s doing what in your sentences.

Run-on sentence.

Run-on sentences string together improperly joined independent clauses. Consider these three sentences:

“Galileo recanted his teaching that the earth moved privately he maintained his convictions.” “Galileo recanted his teaching that the earth moved, privately he maintained his convictions.” “Galileo recanted his teaching that the earth moved, however, privately he maintained his convictions.”

The first fuses two independent clauses with neither a comma nor a coordinating conjunction; the second uses a comma but omits the coordinating conjunction; and the third also omits the coordinating conjunction (however is not a coordinating conjunction). To solve the problem, separate the two clauses with a comma and the coordinating conjunction but. You could also divide the clauses with a semicolon or make separate sentences. Remember that there are only seven coordinating conjunctions ( and, but, or, nor, for, so, yet ).

Sentence fragment.

Write in sentences. A sentence has to have a subject and a predicate. If you string together a lot of words, you may lose control of the syntax and end up with a sentence fragment. Note that the following is not a sentence:

“While in Western Europe railroad building proceeded rapidly in the nineteenth century, and in Russia there was less progress.”

Here you have a long compound introductory clause followed by no subject and no verb, and thus you have a fragment. You may have noticed exceptions to the no-fragments rule. Skilful writers do sometimes intentionally use a fragment to achieve a certain effect. Leave the rule-breaking to the experts.

Confusion of restrictive and nonrestrictive clauses.

Consider these two versions of the same sentence:

1. “World War I, which raged from 1914-1918, killed millions of Europeans.” 2. “World War I that raged from 1914-1918 killed millions of Europeans.”

The first sentence has a nonrestrictive relative clause; the dates are included almost as parenthetical information. But something seems amiss with the second sentence. It has a restrictive relative clause that limits the subject (World War I) to the World War I fought between 1914 and 1918, thus implying that there were other wars called World War I, and that we need to distinguish among them. Both sentences are grammatically correct, but the writer of the second sentence appears foolish.  Note carefully the distinction between that (for use in restrictive clauses, with no comma) and which (for use in nonrestrictive clauses, with a comma).

Confusion about who’s doing what.

Remember—history is about what people do, so you need to be vigilant about agency. Proofread your sentences carefully, asking yourself, “Have I said exactly who is doing or thinking what, or have I inadvertently attributed an action or belief to the wrong person or group?” Unfortunately, there are many ways to go wrong here, but faulty punctuation is among the most common. Here’s a sentence about Frantz Fanon, the great critic of European imperialism. Focus on the punctuation and its effect on agency: “Instead of a hierarchy based on class, Fanon suggests the imperialists establish a hierarchy based on race.” As punctuated, the sentence says something absurd: that Fanon is advising the imperialists about the proper kind of hierarchy to establish in the colonies. Surely, the writer meant to say that, in his analysis of imperialism, Fanon distinguishes between two kinds of hierarchy. A comma after suggests fixes the immediate problem. Now look at the revised sentence. It still needs work. Better diction and syntax would sharpen it.  Fanon does not suggest (with connotations of both hinting and advocating); he states outright. What’s more, the comparison of the two kinds of hierarchy gets blurred by too many intervening words. The key point of the sentence is, in effect, “instead of A, we have B.” Clarity demands that B follow A as closely as possible, and that the two elements be grammatically parallel. But between the elements A and B, the writer inserts Fanon (a proper noun), suggests (a verb), imperialists (a noun), and establish (a verb). Try the sentence this way: “Fanon says that the imperialists establish a hierarchy based on race rather than class.” Now the agency is clear: We know what Fanon does, and we know what the imperialists do. Notice that errors and infelicities have a way of clustering. If you find one problem in a sentence, look for others.

Confusion about the objects of prepositions.

Here’s another one of those common problems that does not receive the attention it merits. Discipline your prepositional phrases; make sure you know where they end. Notice the mess in this sentence: “Hitler accused Jewish people of engaging in incest and stating that Vienna was the ‘personification of incest.’” The reader thinks that both engaging and stating are objects of the preposition of. Yet the writer intends only the first to be the object of the preposition. Hitler is accusing the Jews of engaging , but not of stating ; he is the one doing the stating . Rewrite as “Hitler accused the Jews of incest; he stated that Vienna was the ‘personification of incest.’” Note that the wordiness of the original encouraged the syntactical mess. Simplify. It can’t be said too many times: Always pay attention to who’s doing what in your sentences.

Misuse of the comparative.

There are two common problems here. The first might be called the “floating comparative.” You use the comparative, but you don’t say what you are comparing. (“Lincoln was more upset by the dissolution of the union.”) More upset than by what? More upset than who? The other problem, which is more common and takes many forms, is the unintended (and sometimes comical) comparison of unlike elements. Consider these attempts to compare President Clinton to President George H. W. Bush. Often the trouble starts with a possessive:

“President Clinton’s sexual appetite was more voracious than President Bush.”

You mean to compare appetites, but you've forgotten about your possessive, so you absurdly compare an appetite to a man. Rewrite as “more voracious than President Bush’s.” A variation of this problem is the unintended comparison resulting from the omission of a verb:

“President Clinton liked women more than President Bush.”
Re-write as “more than did President Bush.”

A misplaced modifier may also cause comparison trouble: “Unlike the Bush administration, sexual scandal nearly destroyed the Clinton administration.” Rewrite as  “Unlike the Bush administration, the Clinton administration was nearly destroyed by sexual scandal.” Here the passive voice is better than the misplaced modifier, but you could rewrite as “The Bush administration had been free of sexual scandal, which nearly destroyed the Clinton administration.”

Misuse of apostrophe.

Get control of your apostrophes. Use the apostrophe to form singular or plural possessives (Washington’s soldiers; the colonies’ soldiers) or to form contractions (don’t; it’s). Do not use the apostrophe to form plurals. (“The communists [not communists’] defeated the nationalists [not nationalists’] in China.”)

Comma after although.

This is a new error, probably a carryover from the common conversational habit of pausing dramatically after although . ( “Although , coffee consumption rose in eighteenth-century Europe, tea remained far more popular.”) Delete the comma after although . Remember that although is not a synonym for the word however , so you cannot solve the problem in the sentence by putting a period after Europe . A clause beginning with although cannot stand alone as a sentence.

Comma between subject and verb.

This is a strange new error. (“Hitler and Stalin, agreed to a pact in August 1939.”) Delete the comma after Stalin. Finally, two hints: If your word-processing program underlines something and suggests changes, be careful. When it comes to grammar and syntax, your computer is a moron. Not only does it fail to recognize some gross errors, it also falsely identifies some correct passages as errors. Do not cede control of your writing decisions to your computer. Make the suggested changes only if you are positive that they are correct. If you are having trouble with your writing, try simplifying. Write short sentences and read them aloud to test for clarity. Start with the subject and follow it quickly with an active verb. Limit the number of relative clauses, participial phrases, adjectives, adverbs, and prepositional phrases. You will win no prizes for eloquence, but at least you will be clear. Add complexity only when you have learned to handle it.

An historical/an historian.

The consonant “H” is not silent in historical and historian , so the proper form of the indefinite article is “A.”

Avoid the common solecism of using feel as a synonym for think, believe, say, state, assert, contend, argue, conclude, or write. (“Marx felt that the bourgeoisie exploited the proletariat.” “Emmeline Pankhurst felt that British women should be able to vote.”) The use of feel in these sentences demeans the agents by suggesting undisciplined sentiment rather than carefully formulated conviction. Concentrate on what your historical actors said and did; leave their feelings to speculative chapters of their biographies. As for your own feelings, keep them out of your papers. (“I feel that Lincoln should have freed the slaves earlier.”) Your professor will be delighted that the material engages both your head and your heart, but your feelings cannot be graded. If you believe that Lincoln should have acted earlier, then explain, giving cogent historical reasons.

The fact that.

This is a clumsy, unnecessary construction. ( “The fact that Nixon resigned in disgrace damaged the Republican Party.”) Re-word as “Nixon resigned in disgrace, damaging the Republican Party.” Never use the hideous phrase due to the fact that.

In terms of.

This phrase is filler. Get rid of it. (“Bismarck was a success in terms of uniting Germany.) Rewrite as “Bismarck successfully united Germany.”

Attend carefully to the placement of this limiting word. Note, for example, these three sentences:

“The government only interred Japanese Americans during World War II.” “The government interred only Japanese Americans during World War II.” “The government interred Japanese Americans only during World War II.”

The first limits the action to interring (as opposed to, say, killing); the second limits the group interred (i.e., not Italian Americans); the third limits the time of interring (i.e., not during other wars).

Thus and therefore.

More than likely, you have not earned these words and are implying that you have said more than you actually have. Use them sparingly, only when you are concluding a substantial argument with a significant conclusion.

Misuse of instead.

Instead is an adverb, not a conjunction. Consider this sentence: “Charles Beard argued that the framers of the constitution were not idealists, instead they promoted their economic interests.” Revise as “The framers of the constitution, Charles Beard argued, did not uphold ideals; instead , they promoted their economic interests.” Now the instead appears properly as an adverb. (Note also that the two clauses are now parallel—both contain transitive verbs.)

Essentially and basically.

These are usually either filler words (the written equivalent of “uh” or “um”) or weasel words that merely call attention to your vagueness, lack of conviction, or lazy unwillingness to qualify precisely. (“ Essentially , Churchill believed that Nazi Germany presented a grave danger to Britain.”) Delete essentially and basically unless you are writing about essences or bases.

Both share or both agree.

These are redundant. If two people share or agree , they are both involved by definition. (“Stalin and Mao both agreed that capitalism belonged in the dustbin of history.”) Delete both .

This word means one of a kind. It is an absolute. Something cannot be very unique, more unique, or somewhat unique.

Incredible.

In casual conversation incredible often means extraordinary, astonishing, or impressive (“Yesterday’s storm was incredible.”). To avoid confusion in historical prose, you should stick with the original meaning of incredible : not believable. If you write that “William Jennings Bryan gave incredible speeches,” you’re saying that you don’t believe his speeches, or that his audiences didn’t believe them at the time—in other words, that he appeared to be lying or mistaken. You probably mean that he gave great speeches. If you write that “It’s incredible that Japan attacked Pearl Harbor,” you’re calling into question the very existence of a historical event. You probably mean that the Japanese attack was unwise or reckless. English is rich with adjectives. Finding the best one forces you to think about what you really mean.

As a synonym for subject matter, bone of contention, reservation, or almost anything else vaguely associated with what you are discussing, the word issue has lost its meaning through overuse. (“There were many issues involved with Truman’s decision to use the atomic bomb, and some historians have issues with his decision.”) Stop talking about issues and get to the point.

Beware of the word literally . It’s commonly misused, and you almost never need it in historical prose. Literally means actually, factually, exactly, directly, without metaphor. The careful writer would never say, “Roosevelt literally swamped Landon in the election of 1936.” One imagines Roosevelt (in his wheelchair no less!) dumping the hapless Landon off a pier in the Everglades on election night. The swamping was figurative, strictly a figure of speech. The adverb literally may also cause you trouble by falsely generalizing the coverage of your verb. “London was literally destroyed by the blitz.” This suggests that the whole city was destroyed, when, in fact, only parts were destroyed. Rewrite as “The blitz destroyed parts of London.” Now you’ve qualified properly (and gotten rid of the passive).

When you’re tempted to use this word, resist. Like issue , involve tells the reader too little. (“Erasmus was involved in the Renaissance.”) This statement could mean virtually anything. Delete it and discuss specifically what Erasmus said or did.

This is a fine old word with many precise meanings, but as an overused synonym for feature, side, or part, it is usually a sign of insipid prose (“Another aspect of the issues in this area is the fact that...”). Just get directly to the point.

Most good writers frown on the use of this word as a verb.(“Eisenhower’s military background impacted his foreign policy.”) Affected, influenced, or shaped would be better here. Impacted suggests painfully blocked wisdom teeth or feces. Had an impact is better than impacted , but is still awkward because impact implies a collision.

Here is another beloved but vapid word. (“Many factors led to the Reformation.”) Such a sentence usually opens a vague, boring, weaseling paragraph. If you believe (quite reasonably) that the Reformation had many causes, then start evaluating them.

Meaningful.

Overuse has drained the meaning from meaningful . (“Peter the Great took meaningful steps to westernize Russia.”) Just get to the point.

Interesting.

The adjective interesting is vague, overused, and does not earn its keep. (“Burckhardt had an interesting perspective on the Renaissance.”) This sentence is filler. Delete it and explain and analyze his perspective.

The events that transpired.

Your professor will gag on this one. Events take place or happen by definition, so the relative clause is redundant. Furthermore, most good writers do not accept transpire as a synonym for happen. Again, follow the old rule of thumb: Get right to the point, say what happened, and explain its significance. You don’t need any filler about events and transpiring .

The reason is because.

This phrase is awkward and redundant. Replace it with the reason is, or better still, simply delete it and get right to your reason.

For all intensive purposes.

The phrase is for all intents and purposes , and few good writers use it in formal prose anyway.

Take for granite.

This is an illiteracy. The phrase is “ take for granted .”

Should of/could of.

You mean should have or could have .

Center around.

Good writers frown on this phrase because it’s illogical and jarring. Use center on or center in. Attention to a small detail like this indicates that you’re thinking carefully about what you’re saying, so when the big problems confront you, you’ll be disciplined and ready.

Begs the question.

Recently, many people have started to use this phrase to mean raises, invites, or brings up the question. (“Stalin’s purges beg the question of whether he was paranoid.”) Actually, begging the question is the common logical fallacy of assuming your conclusion as part of your argument. (“In the late nineteenth century, many Americans moved to the cities because of urbanization.”) Note that the use of abstractions (e.g., urbanization) encourages begging the question . Understanding this fallacy is central to your education. The formal Latin term, petitio principii, is too fancy to catch on, so you need to preserve the simple English phrase. If something raises a question, just say so.

Historic/historical confusion.

Everything in the past or relating to the past is historical. Resist the media-driven hype that elevates the ordinary to the historic . (“A three-alarm fire last night destroyed the historic site of the first Portuguese-owned dry cleaners in Cleveland.”) Reserve the word historic for the genuinely important events, persons, or objects of the past. The Norman invasion of England in 1066 was indeed historic . Historically , historians have gathered annually for a historical convention; so far, none of the conventions has been historic .

Affect/effect confusion.

The chances are that the verb you want is affect , which means to have an influence on (“The Iranian hostage crisis affected [not effected] the presidential election of 1980”). Effect as a verb means to bring about or cause to exist ( effect change). Effect as a noun means result or consequence (“The effect of the Iranian hostage crisis on the election...”).

While/whereas confusion.

If you’re stressing contrast, the word you want is whereas . While stresses simultaneity. “Hobbes had a dismal view of human nature, whereas [not while] Rousseau believed that man had a natural sense of pity.”

It’s/its confusion.

This is the classic bonehead error. Note that the spell checker won’t help you. And remember— its’ is not a word at all.

Reign/rein confusion.

A queen reigns during her reign. You rein in a horse with reins.

Their/there/they’re confusion.

You do know the difference. Pay attention.

Everyday/every day confusion.

As an adjective, everyday (one word) means routine. If you wish to say that something happened on every successive day, then you need two words, the adjective every and the noun day . Note the difference in these two sentences: “Kant was famous for going on the same constitutional at the same time every day . For Kant, exercise and thinking were everyday activities.”

Refer/allude confusion.

To allude means to refer to indirectly or to hint at. The word you probably want in historical prose is refer , which means to mention or call direct attention to. “In the first sentence of the ‘Gettysburg Address’ Lincoln refers [not alludes ] to the fathers of the nation [he mentions them directly]; he alludes to the ‘Declaration of Independence’ [the document of four score and seven years earlier that comes to the reader’s mind, but that Lincoln doesn’t directly mention].”

Novel/book confusion.

Novel is not a synonym for book. A novel is a long work of fiction in prose. A historical monograph is not a novel —unless the historian is making everything up.

Than/then confusion.

This is an appalling new error. If you are making a comparison, you use the conjunction than . (“President Kennedy’s health was worse than [not then ] the public realized.”)

Lead/led confusion.

The past tense of the verb to lead is led (not lead ). “Sherman led [not lead ] a march to the sea.”

Lose/loose confusion.

The opposite of win is lose , not loose . “Supporters of the Equal Rights Amendment suspected that they would lose [not loose ] the battle to amend the constitution.”

However/but confusion.

However may not substitute for the coordinating conjunction but. (“Mussolini began his career as a socialist, but [not however ] he later abandoned socialism for fascism.”) The word however has many proper uses; however , [note the semicolon and comma] graceful writers use it sparingly.

Cite/site/sight confusion.

You cited a source for your paper; ancient Britons sited Stonehenge on a plain; Columbus’s lookout sighted land.

Conscience/conscious confusion.

When you wake up in the morning you are conscious , though your conscience may bother you if you’ve neglected to write your history paper.

Tenet/tenant confusion.

Your religion, ideology, or worldview all have tenets —propositions you hold or believe in. Tenants rent from landlords.

All are not/not all are confusion.

If you write, “ All the colonists did not want to break with Britain in 1776,” the chances are you really mean, “ Not all the colonists wanted to break with Britain in 1776.” The first sentence is a clumsy way of saying that no colonists wanted to break with Britain (and is clearly false). The second sentence says that some colonists did not want to break with Britain (and is clearly true, though you should go on to be more precise).

Nineteenth-century/nineteenth century confusion.

Historians talk a lot about centuries, so you need to know when to hyphenate them. Follow the standard rule: If you combine two words to form a compound adjective, use a hyphen, unless the first word ends in ly. (“ Nineteenth-century [hyphenated] steamships cut the travel time across the Atlantic.”) Leave out the hyphen if you’re just using the ordinal number to modify the noun century. (“In the nineteenth century [no hyphen] steamships cut the travel time across the Atlantic.”) By the way, while you have centuries in mind, don’t forget that the nineteenth century is the 1800s, not the 1900s. The same rule for hyphenating applies to middle-class and middle class —a group that historians like to talk about.

Bourgeois/bourgeoisie confusion.

Bourgeois is usually an adjective, meaning characteristic of the middle class and its values or habits. Occasionally, bourgeois is a noun, meaning a single member of the middle class. Bourgeoisie is a noun, meaning the middle class collectively. (“Marx believed that the bourgeoisie oppressed the proletariat; he argued that bourgeois values like freedom and individualism were hypocritical.”)

Your professor may ask you to analyze a primary document. Here are some questions you might ask of your document. You will note a common theme—read critically with sensitivity to the context. This list is not a suggested outline for a paper; the wording of the assignment and the nature of the document itself should determine your organization and which of the questions are most relevant. Of course, you can ask these same questions of any document you encounter in your research.

  • What exactly is the document (e.g., diary, king’s decree, opera score, bureaucratic memorandum, parliamentary minutes, newspaper article, peace treaty)?
  • Are you dealing with the original or with a copy? If it is a copy, how remote is it from the original (e.g., photocopy of the original, reformatted version in a book, translation)? How might deviations from the original affect your interpretation?
  • What is the date of the document?
  • Is there any reason to believe that the document is not genuine or not exactly what it appears to be?
  • Who is the author, and what stake does the author have in the matters discussed? If the document is unsigned, what can you infer about the author or authors?
  • What sort of biases or blind spots might the author have? For example, is an educated bureaucrat writing with third-hand knowledge of rural hunger riots?
  • Where, why, and under what circumstances did the author write the document?
  • How might the circumstances (e.g., fear of censorship, the desire to curry favor or evade blame) have influenced the content, style, or tone of the document?
  • Has the document been published? If so, did the author intend it to be published?
  • If the document was not published, how has it been preserved? In a public archive? In a private collection? Can you learn anything from the way it has been preserved? For example, has it been treated as important or as a minor scrap of paper?
  • Does the document have a boilerplate format or style, suggesting that it is a routine sample of a standardized genre, or does it appear out of the ordinary, even unique?
  • Who is the intended audience for the document?
  • What exactly does the document say? Does it imply something different?
  • If the document represents more than one viewpoint, have you carefully distinguished between the author’s viewpoint and those viewpoints the author presents only to criticize or refute?
  • In what ways are you, the historian, reading the document differently than its intended audience would have read it (assuming that future historians were not the intended audience)?
  • What does the document leave out that you might have expected it to discuss?
  • What does the document assume that the reader already knows about the subject (e.g., personal conflicts among the Bolsheviks in 1910, the details of tax farming in eighteenth-century Normandy, secret negotiations to end the Vietnam war)?
  • What additional information might help you better interpret the document?
  • Do you know (or are you able to infer) the effects or influences, if any, of the document?
  • What does the document tell you about the period you are studying?
  • If your document is part of an edited collection, why do you suppose the editor chose it? How might the editing have changed the way you perceive the document? For example, have parts been omitted? Has it been translated? (If so, when, by whom, and in what style?) Has the editor placed the document in a suggestive context among other documents, or in some other way led you to a particular interpretation?

Your professor may ask you to write a book review, probably of a scholarly historical monograph. Here are some questions you might ask of the book. Remember that a good review is critical, but critical does not necessarily mean negative. This list is not meant to be exhaustive, nor is it a suggested outline. Of course, you can ask these same questions of any secondary historical work, even if you’re not writing a review.

  • Who is the author, and what are his or her qualifications? Has the author written other books on the subject?
  • When was the book written, and how does it fit into the scholarly debate on the subject? For example, is Smith writing to refute that idiot Jones; to qualify the work of the competent but unimaginative Johnson; or to add humbly to the evidence presented by the redoubtable Brown’s classic study? Be sure not to confuse the author’s argument with those arguments he or she presents only to criticize later.
  • What is the book’s basic argument? (Getting this right is the foundation of your review.)
  • What is the author’s method? For example, does the author rely strictly on narrative and anecdotes, or is the book analytical in some way?
  • What kinds of evidence does the author use? For example, what is the balance of primary and secondary sources? Has the author done archival work? Is the source base substantial, or does it look thin? Is the author up-to-date in the scholarly literature?
  • How skillfully and imaginatively has the author used the evidence?
  • Does the author actually use all of the material in the bibliography, or is some of it there for display?
  • What sorts of explicit or implicit ideological or methodological assumptions does the author bring to the study? For example, does he or she profess bland objectivity? A Whig view of history? Marxism?
  • How persuasive is the author’s argument?
  • Is the argument new, or is it old wine in new bottles?
  • Is the argument important, with wide-ranging implications, or is it narrow and trivial?
  • Is the book well organized and skillfully written?
  • What is your overall critical assessment of the book?
  • What is the general significance, if any, of the book? (Make sure that you are judging the book that the author actually wrote, not complaining that the author should have written a different book.)

Here are some tips for those long, intimidating term papers or senior theses:

  • Start early. If you don’t, none of these tips will matter. Big trouble is looming if you don’t have a specific topic by the end of the first week. You should be delving into the sources during the second week.
  • Keep in mind all of the dos and don’ts in this booklet.
  • Work closely with your professor to assure that your topic is neither too broad nor too narrow.
  • Set up a schedule with your professor and check his or her policy about reading rough drafts or parts of rough drafts. Then keep your professor informed about what you’re doing. You don’t want any unpleasant surprises. You certainly don’t want to hear, “I haven’t seen you for weeks, and it sounds like you’re way off base. How can you possibly get this done with only two weeks left in the semester?”
  • Make an appointment with Kristin Strohmeyer, the history reference librarian in Burke Library. She will help you to find and use the appropriate catalogs and indexes.
  • Use your imagination in compiling a bibliography. Think of all of the possible key words and subjects that may lead you to material. If you find something really good, check the subjects under which it is cataloged. Comb the notes and bibliographies of books and articles you’ve already found.
  • Much of what you need will not be in our library, so get to know the friendly folks in the Interlibrary Loan department.
  • Start early. This can’t be said too often.
  • Use as many primary sources as you can.
  • Jot down your ideas as they come to you. You may not remember them later.
  • Take careful notes on your reading. Label your notes completely and precisely. Distinguish meticulously and systematically between what you are directly quoting and what you are summarizing in your own words. Unintended plagiarism is still plagiarism. Stay clean as a hound’s tooth. Write down not just the page of the quotation or idea, but also the whole run of pages where the matter is discussed. Reread all of your notes periodically to make sure that you still understand them and are compiling what you will need to write your paper. Err on the side of writing down more than you think you will need. Copious, precise notes won’t come back to haunt you; skimpy, vague notes will. Just accept that there is something anal about good note-taking.
  • If you take notes directly into your computer, they will be easy to index and pull up, but there are a couple of downsides. You will not be able to see all of them simultaneously, as you can note cards laid out on a big table. What you gain in ease of access may come at the price of losing the big picture. Also, if your notes are in your computer, you may be tempted to save time and thought by pasting many of them directly into your paper. Note cards encourage you to rethink and to rework your ideas into a unified whole.
  • Don’t start to write until you have a good outline.
  • Make sure that your paper has a thesis. (See the entry State a clear thesis. )
  • Check and recheck your facts.
  • Footnote properly. (See the entry Cite sources carefully .)
  • Save plenty of time to proofread.
  • Start early.

Top Ten Signs that you may be Writing a Weak History Paper

10. You’re overjoyed to find that you can fill the required pages by widening all margins.

9. You haven’t mentioned any facts or cited any sources for several paragraphs.

8. You find yourself using the phrase “throughout history mankind has...”

7. You just pasted in another 100 words of quotations.

6. You haven’t a clue about the content of your next paragraph.

5. You’re constantly clicking on The Britannica, Webster’s, and Bartlett’s.

4. Your writing tutor sneaks another look at her watch as she reminds you for the third time to clarify your thesis.

3. Your main historical actors are this, it, they, the people, and society, and they are all involved with factors, aspects, impacts, and issues.

2. You just realize that you don’t understand the assignment, but it’s 3:00 A.M, the paper is due at 9:00, and you don’t dare call your professor.

1. You’re relieved that the paper counts for only 20 percent of the course grade.

Final Advice

You guessed it — start early.

Studying History at Hamilton

Students will learn to use interdisciplinary methods from the humanities and social sciences to probe the sources of the past for answers to present questions. They will learn to draw comparisons and connections among diverse societies across a range of historical eras. They will further learn to convey their findings through writing that is clearly structured, precise, and persuasive.

Office / Department Name

Nesbitt-Johnston Writing Center

Contact Name

Jennifer Ambrose

Writing Center Director

Because Hamilton - Help Change Lives

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Most Read in History

Join us in celebrating another year of excellence in history research at Oxford University Press. Our 'Most Read in History’ collection brings together the most read content published in our history portfolio in 2022, offering a free selection of journal articles and book chapters from the year's most popular publications.

This content is free until the 31 March 2023, after that date you may access content via your institutional access. If your institution does not yet have access, please recommend to your librarian .

Browse our collections

Browse our journals, browse our books, browse our handbooks, historical thinking and the democratic mind: an apprenticeship approach to teaching narrative complexity in the history classroom, latin america and the radicalization of u.s. abolition, rethinking nationalism, the privilege of family history, poverty, inequality statistics and knowledge politics under thatcher, the last voyage of the gloucester (1682): the politics of a royal shipwreck*, gendered labour, negritude and the black public sphere, town talk: enhancing the ‘eyes and ears’ of the colonial state in british hong kong, 1950s–1975, fiction and disinformation in early modern europe: an introduction, reply: out of the west — and neither east, nor north, nor south, chiefs and rural health services in south-western nigeria, c. 1920—c. 1950s, wilful blindness: sleeping sickness and onchocerciasis in colonial northern ghana, 1909–1957, from particularism to mass murder: nazi morality, antisemitism, and cognitive dissonance, surviving art from terezín: the satirical drawings of pavel fantl, medicine, religion, and the humanitarian ethos: walter b. cannon, unitarianism, and the care of spanish republican refugees in france, fighting a plague: doctors' stories of challenge and innovation combatting the aids epidemic in 1980s new york city, u.s. foreign policy think tanks and women’s intellectual labor, 1920–1950*, the cold war construction of the amerasian, 1950–1982, who is doctor bauer: rematriating a censored story on internment, wardship, and sexual violence in wartime alaska, 1941 - 1944, searching the shadows: thoughts on the west’s political history an extended field note, marianne en guerre, 1913–1923: the french republic in the era of the great war, la cité de demain: french urbanism in war and reconstruction, 1914–1928, prisoners of the world unite: the internationalism of the 2 june movement from berlin moabit prison, ideal men and dream women: computer matchmaking in twen during the west german sex wave, 1967–1970, ethnic jokes: mocking the working irish woman: winning essay, journal of victorian culture graduate essay prize 2021, soldiership, christianity, and the crimean war: the reception of catherine marsh’s memorials of captain hedley vicars, open secrets: the british ‘migrated archives’, colonial history, and postcolonial history, mapping the notting hill riots: racism and the streets of post-war britain, the other little house: the brothel as a colonial institution on the canadian prairies, 1880–93, white ethnicity in the urban crisis: newark’s italian americans, decolonizing britain: an exchange, women, mobility, and education in twentieth-century england and wales: a new analytical approach, gender and the long-run development process. a survey of the literature, the panopticon of germany’s foreign trade, 1880–1913: new facts on the first globalization, dan pagis’ bilingual poem ‘ein leben’ – an ophthalmologic poetics of german–hebrew eye contact, the foundations of constitutional history, labor in hot climates: the seventeenth century, introduction, defeat and internment: the french army in german hands, conceptualising corruption in office, introduction: towards a political ecology of aridity, builders and organizers, christian and literary rhetorics of the early middle ages: emotion as the property of style, introduction elizabeth’s and caty’s failed escapes: the materials of legal meaning, an exhausted soil, introduction: the bbc’s century, networks of cartographic influence, patronage, and reception, introduction: ‘the ever-memorable battle of waterloo’, caste and partition, the mishnah between jews and christians in early modern europe, introduction: republics and the politics of self-governance, climbing the ladder, 1578–1612, introduction: framing nigerian history in the twenty-first century, introduction: a new global history of drugs, introduction: the history of the history of the jewish diaspora, affiliations.

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Period 7: 1890-1945 (AP US History)

Period 7: 1890-1945.

An increasingly pluralistic United States faced profound domestic and global challenges, debated the proper degree of government activism, and sought to define its international role. Topics may include

Debates over Imperialism

The progressive movement, world war i, innovations in communications and technology in the 1920s, the great depression and the new deal, world war ii, postwar diplomacy.

Image Source : Destitute pea pickers in California. Mother of seven children. Age thirty-two. Nipomo, California , a photograph by Dorothea Lange taken in 1936 when she was working for the Resettlement Administration. (Library of Congress)

Famous black and white depression-era photo showing destitute mother with children

10-17% Exam Weighting

Resources by Period:

  • Period 1: 1491–1607
  • Period 2: 1607–1754
  • Period 3: 1754–1800
  • Period 4: 1800–1848
  • Period 5: 1844–1877
  • Period 6: 1865–1898
  • Period 7: 1890–1945
  • Period 8: 1945–1980
  • Period 9: 1980–Present

Key Concepts

7.1 : Growth expanded opportunity, while economic instability led to new efforts to reform U.S. society and its economic system.

7.2 : Innovations in communications and technology contributed to the growth of mass culture, while significant changes occurred in internal and international migration patterns.

7.3 : Participation in a series of global conflicts propelled the United States into a position of international power while renewing domestic debates over the nation’s proper role in the world.

Illustration about American imperialism.

Empire Builders

By robert w. cherny.

Learn about the reactions to the growth of an American overseas empire.

Illustration of US navy in Cuba.

Our Victorious Fleet in Cuban Waters

Print depicting American naval forces off Cuba during the Spanish-American War

  • Primary Source

Illustration about US involvement in the Philippines.

The War against Spain in the Philippines in 1898

By richard meixel.

Learn about US naval actions in Southeast Asia during the Spanish-American War.

1901 photo of Ha-ta-men Gate.

The US in China

By warren cohen.

Learn about the US support of the Open Door Policy and reaction to the Boxer Rebellion.

Political cartoon showing America being drawn into war.

The Open Door Policy and the Boxer War

Learn about how the Open Door Policy served US economic, cultural, and strategic interests in China.

Political cartoon showing problem of child labor in America.

The Politics of Reform

By julie des jardins.

Learn about the politics of reform during the Progressive era.

Lithograph of women marching in suffrage parade in Washington DC.

Women in American Politics in the Twentieth Century

By sara evans.

Learn about women who advocated full participation in American public and political life during the suffrage movement.

Photo of Teddy Roosevelt giving a speech.

The Square Deal

By kirsten swinth.

Learn about themes of Progressive reform and Teddy Roosevelt's Square Deal.

Photo of Women's Suffrage picket of the White House.

The Progressive Era to the New Era, 1900-1929

By daniel rodgers.

The Progressive Era to the New Era (1900-1929) Timeline and essay explaining the domestic and global challenges facing the US.

Negro Business League response to legal bars to voting in Virginia.

Disfranchisement of African American voters

Negro Business League response to legal bars to voting in Virginia

Yiddish music about the Triangle Shirtwaist fire.

Triangle Shirtwaist Factory fire

Sheet music in Yiddish lamenting the deaths in Triangle Shirtwaist Factory fire

A purple silk banner with gold fringe and the National Association of Colored Women’s Clubs' motto, "Lifting As We Climb" painted in large gold letters.

Women and the Progressive Movement

By miriam cohen.

Learn about the women who sought to address a variety of social problems associated with industrialization

Lithograph depicting women's role promoting prohibition.

The Supreme Court upholds national prohibition

The Supreme Court upholds Prohibition and the Volstead Act

Pamphlet showing how to vote for women's suffrage.

Modern Women Persuading Modern Men

By jonathan soffer .

Learn about the women's struggle for suffrage.

Pamphlet decrying lynching crisis.

Lynching in America

NAACP broadside presenting the shocking statistics regarding lynching in America

World War 1 poster.

World War I poems: “In Flanders Fields” & “The Answer"

Nurse's diary containing McCrae’s poem reflecting upon the horrors of WWI

Photo of troops in World War 1.

by Jennifer D. Keene

Learn about America's role in WWI.

Recruitment poster targeting black enlistment.

Recruiting posters for African American soldiers

Military recruitment of Black troops during World War I

Teddy Roosavelt letter expressing thoughts about the Lusitania.

Theodore Roosevelt on the sinking of the Lusitania

Former president urges US involvement in WWI

Political cartoon showing Roman soldier walking towards horizon with piece of paper on the ground saying "15 Nations Sign Anti-War Treaty"

America's role in the world

By michael neiberg.

Read about American foreign policy between the world wars.

Cabinet secretary statement defending Wilson.

Treaty of Versailles and President Wilson

1919 and 1921.

Former Cabinet secretary's statement that "Woodrow Wilson did not fail"

Pamphlet criticizing use of Espionage and Sedition Acts.

Deportation: Its Meaning and Menace

Pamphlet criticizing the US government for its use of the Espionage and Sedition Acts

Cartoon showing wall labeled "Literacy Test" with family on one side and Uncle Sam on the other

The Dillingham Commission

By robert zeidel.

Learn about the background to the 1917 Literacy Test Act and the 1921 Quota Act.

Photo of Ford Model T car.

The Rise of Consumerism in the 1920s

By michael flamm.

Listen to a discussion about purchasing power, occupation, and identity

Ford advertisement in 1908 newspaper.

Motor City: The Story of Detroit

By thomas sugrue.

Read about the origins of Henry Ford's factory system in Detroit and its legacy.

"Big Business Banishes the Flapper" article from Morning Tulsa Daily World.

The Roaring Twenties

By joshua zeitz.

Examine why the 1920s heralded a dramatic break in American social, economic, and political policies.

"Advice Sheet" for theaters restricting access to Birth of a Nation for African Americans

Birth of a Nation

"Advice Sheet" for theaters restricting access to Birth of a Nation for African Americans

Herbert Hoover signature

The Great Depression

By david kennedy.

Learn about some of the causes and consequences of the Great Depression.

Photo of FDR.

The New Deal

By thomas kessner.

Learn about FDR's New Deal.

Photo of the Silent Protest in 1917.

Jim Crow and the Great Migration

By jonathan scott holloway.

Learn about the reasons behind the Great Migration.

Roosevelt memo to House Speaker.

The Hundred Days and Beyond

By anthony j. badger.

Understand how the New Deal functioned as  a "laboratory for economic learning."

Recruitment poster for Arizona Civilian Conservation Corps

Civilian Conservation Corps poster

Enlistment poster for the CCC, which put young men to work improving parks and creating infrastructure

Photo showing WPA worker receiving a paycheck with sign in background "USA Work Program WPA"

Why the New Deal Matters

By eric rauchway .

Watch a discussion of FDR's New Deal.

Photo of farmers during the Dust Bowl.

Photograph of an abandoned farm in the Dust Bowl

Dorothea Lange photograph depicting the devastation caused by the Dust Bowl

1870s engraving depicing the interior of the New York Clearing House featuring lines of people come to enact financial transactions

The US Banking System

By richard sylla.

Read about the emergence of the banking industry in the United States.

WWII poster showing four soldiers planting the US flag with text saying "Now All Together"

by Kenneth T. Jackson

Learn about US involvement in WWII.

US Citizens Defense Corps logos.

Civilian defense on the home front

Excerpt from The US Citizens Defense Corp handbook explaining the duties and responsibilities of home-front volunteers

Army photo celebrating women's contribution to war effort.

The World War II Home Front

By allan m. winkler.

Learn how activities on the home front supported US efforts during WWII.

Japan's declaration of war.

Japan declares war

Japan's Declaration of War coinciding with the attach on Pearl Harbor

Photo of Japanese storefront for rent.

From Citizen to Enemy

Learn about the internment of Japanese Americans during WWII.

Notice to Japanese to assemble for transport to detention camps.

Japanese internment

Broadside instructing the Japanese "to assemble for transport to detention camps"

Scientists' statement on atomic bomb.

Physicists predict a nuclear arms race

"Preliminary Statement of the Association of Manhattan District Scientists" emphasizing the need to control atomic weaponry

Photo of Potsdam meeting.

Truman and His Doctrine

By elizabeth edwards spalding.

Read about how and why Truman devised a strategy of containment

Harry Truman letter to Dean Acheson.

Harry S. Truman responds to McCarthy

Truman response to McCarthy, characterizing him as "the best asset that the Kremlin can have"

Photograph showing Clement Atlee, Harry Truman, and Joseph Stalin stead outdoors at the Potsdam Conference

The Origins of the Cold War

By john lewis gaddis.

Learn about U.S.-Soviet relations from the nineteenth century through the end of World War II.

American History Timeline: 1890-1945

Image citations.

Listed in order of appearance in the sections above

  • Keppler, Udo J. "His 128th birthday. 'Gee, But This Is an Awful Stretch!'" Puck, June 29, 1904. Library of Congress Prints and Photographs Division.
  • Currier & Ives. Our Victorious Fleets in Cuban Waters. New York, 1898. Chromolithograph. The Gilder Lehrman Institute of American History, GLC03534.
  • Ehrhart, Samuel D. "If They'll Only Be Good." Puck, January 31, 1900. Library of Congress Prints and Photographs Division.
  • Ricalton, James. West from Ha-ta-men Gate along Huge Ancient Wall between Tartar and Chinese Peking, Scene of a Desperate Charge during Siege - China. New York: Underwood & Underwood, 1901. Photograph. Library of Congress Prints and Photographs Division.
  • Keppler, Udo J. "The Tug of War in the Far East." Puck, September 14, 1898. Library of Congress Prints and Photographs Division.
  • Riis, Jacob A. Street Arabs in "sleeping quarters." New York, ca. 1888. Photograph. Library of Congress Prints and Photographs Division.
  • Woman Suffrage Procession, Washington, DC. Official Program. March 3, 1913. Library of Congress Rare Book and Special Collections Division.
  • Underwood & Underwood. "Good Government Is Practically Applying the Principles Which Make a Man a Good Citizen" - President [Theodore] Roosevelt, Waterville, Maine. 1902. Stereoview. The Gilder Lehrman Institute of American History, GLC06449.22.
  • Harris & Ewing. Woman Suffrage Pickets at White House. Washington, DC, 1917. Photograph. Library of Congress Prints and Photographs Division.
  • Jackson, Giles B. Letter to R. C. Burrow, June 22, 1901. The Gilder Lehrman Institute of American History, GLC08907.
  • Rumshisky, Joseph, and Anshel Schorr. "'Mamenu' or The Triangle Victims" (in Yiddish). New York: Hebrew Publishing Co., 1911. The Gilder Lehrman Institute of American History, GLC06225.
  • National Association of Colored Women’s Club. "Lifting As We Climb." Banner, ca. 1924. silk (fiber), wood, paint.
  • Currier & Ives. Woman's Holy War :Grand Charge on the Enemy's Works. New York, 1874. Lithograph. Library of Congress Prints and Photographs Division. 
  • N. Y. State Woman Suffrage Party. How to Vote for Woman Suffrage Amendment, Election Day, November 6th, 1917. Albany, NY, 1917. The Gilder Lehrman Institute of American History, GLC08961.
  • National Association for the Advancement of Colored People. For the Good of America. New York, ca. 1926. The Gilder Lehrman Institute of American History, GLC06197.
  • Chandler, Howard John. The Spirit of America -- Join. American Red Cross, 1919. Color lithograph. Library of Congress Prints and Photographs Division.
  • Come Out! [Volume 1, No. 2 (January 10, 1970)] Newspaper, GLC09872.02
  • Renesch, Edward George. Colored Man Is No Slacker. Chicago, 1918. The Gilder Lehrman Institute of American History, GLC06134.
  • Roosevelt, Theodore. Letter to Oscar King Davis, June 23, 1915. The Gilder Lehrman Institute of American History, GLC08003.
  • Berryman, Clifford Kennedy. 15 Nations Sign Anti-war Treaty. August 27, 1928. Berryman Political Cartoon Collection, 1896-1949; Records of the U.S. Senate, Record Group 46. National Archives.
  • McAdoo, William G. Statement given out by Ex-Secreatry of the Treasury on Woodrow Wilson, March 4, 1921. The Gilder Lehrman Institute of American History, GLC03967.
  • Berkman, Alexander, and Emma Goldman. Deportation, Its Meaning and Menace. New York, 1918. The Gilder Lehrman Institute of American History, GLC06222.
  • Evans, Raymond Oscar. “The Americanese Wall, as Congressman Burnett Would Build It .” Puck, March 25, 1916. Library of Congress Prints and Photographs Division.
  • Unknown photographer. The First Model T Ford. New York, 1908. Photograph. New York Public Library Digital Collections. 
  • Ford Touring Car advertisement. Alma (Mich.) Record, October 1, 1908, p. 4. Chronicling America: Historic American Newspapers. Library of Congress.
  • "Big Business Banishes the Flapper." Morning Tulsa Daily World, July 16, 1922. Chronicling America: Historic American Newspapers. Library of Congress.
  • Edwards, Jack. "Advice Sheet. D. W. Griffith's 'The Birth of a Nation.'" ca. 1915. The Gilder Lehrman Institute of American History, GLC05091.
  • Hoover, Herbert. Letter to Louis L. Emmerson, July 10, 1931. The Gilder Lehrman Institute of American History, GLC03146.
  • Harris & Ewing. President Franklin D. Roosevelt. Washington DC, ca. 1941. Photograph. Library of Congress Prints and Photographs Division.
  • Underwood & Underwood. Silent Protest Parade in New York City against the East St. Louis Riots. New York, 1917. Photograph. Library of Congress Prints and Photographs Division.
  • Roosevelt, Franklin D. Letter to Henry T. Rainey, June 10, 1933. The Gilder Lehrman Institute of American History, GLC07468.
  • Arizona Civilian Conservation Corps. "Great Oaks from Little Acorns." 1938. Recruitment poster. The Gilder Lehrman Institute of American History, GLC06196.262.
  • Unknown photographer. Photograph of Works Progress Administration Worker Receiving Paycheck. January 1939. Photograph. Record Group 594956. WPA Information Division Photographic Index. National Archives.
  • Lange, Dorothea. Dust Bowl Farmers of West Texas in Town. Farm Security Administration/Office of War Information, June 1937. Photograph. Library of Congress Prints and Photographs Division.
  • Pennsylvania. Two shilling and Six-pence note, No. 4665. April 3, 1772. Printed by Hall and Sellers. Signed by Cadwalader Morris, Joseph Swift, and Samuel Hudson. The Gilder Lehrman Institute of American History, GLC01450.226.01.
  • United States. War Division. 7th war loan/now all together. Poster. 1945. The Gilder Lehrman Institute of American History, GLC09520.34.
  • US Office of Civilian Defense. Special Civilian Defense Insignia. 1942. Poster. The Gilder Lehrman Institute of American History, GLC09520.36.
  • Treidler, Adolph, and US Army. Soldiers Without Guns. Washington DC: US Government Printing Office, 1944. Library of Congress Prints and Photographs Division.
  • Hirohito, Emperor of Japan. Declaration of War against the United States and Britain [in Japanese]. December 8, 1941. The Gilder Lehrman Institute of American History, GLC01415.
  • Albers, Clem. Los Angeles, Calif. Apr. 1942. A store for rent in “Little Tokyo” after residents of Japanese ancestry were assigned to War Relocation Authority centers for the duration. Washington DC: War Relocation Authority, April 11, 1942. Photograph. Library of Congress Prints and Photographs Division.
  • DeWitt, J. L. US Army. Instructions to All Persons of Japanese Ancestry.  May 3, 1942. Broadside. The Gilder Lehrman Institute of American History, GLC06360.
  • Kaplan, Irving. "Preliminary Statement of the Association of Manhattan District Scientists." ca. August 1945. The Gilder Lehrman Institute of American History, GLC03152.02.
  • United States. Army. Signal Corps. Winston Churchill, Harry Truman, and Joseph Stalin at Potsdam. ca. July-August 1945. Photograph. The Gilder Lehrman Institute of American History, GLC04457.
  • Truman, Harry S. Letter to Dean Acheson, March 31, 1950. The Gilder Lehrman Institute of American History, GLC00782.22.
  • Clement Attlee, Harry Truman, and Joseph Stalin, seated outdoors at Berlin conference. Germany Potsdam, 1945. Aug. 1. Photograph. https://www.loc.gov/item/96522042/ .

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Computer Science > Computation and Language

Title: should we respect llms a cross-lingual study on the influence of prompt politeness on llm performance.

Abstract: We investigate the impact of politeness levels in prompts on the performance of large language models (LLMs). Polite language in human communications often garners more compliance and effectiveness, while rudeness can cause aversion, impacting response quality. We consider that LLMs mirror human communication traits, suggesting they align with human cultural norms. We assess the impact of politeness in prompts on LLMs across English, Chinese, and Japanese tasks. We observed that impolite prompts often result in poor performance, but overly polite language does not guarantee better outcomes. The best politeness level is different according to the language. This phenomenon suggests that LLMs not only reflect human behavior but are also influenced by language, particularly in different cultural contexts. Our findings highlight the need to factor in politeness for cross-cultural natural language processing and LLM usage.

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Ancient History Research Paper Topics

Academic Writing Service

Embarking on a journey through the labyrinth of ancient history research paper topics , this comprehensive guide has been expertly crafted for students tasked with writing a research paper in history. The page unveils an extensive array of 100 topics, divided into ten distinct categories, thus providing a wealth of options for exploration. To further equip students for their research endeavors, a thorough guide to choosing the perfect ancient history research paper topic is included, accompanied by practical advice on how to compose an impactful research paper on ancient history. Subsequently, the page introduces the iResearchNet’s professional writing services, offering students the opportunity to commission custom ancient history research papers on any topic.

100 Ancient History Research Paper Topics

Ancient history is a vast field of study that reveals the early cultures, civilizations, and events that have shaped our world. Here are ten categories each with ten possible topics that you may consider for your ancient history research paper:

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Ancient Civilizations

  • The rise and fall of the Sumerian civilization.
  • Egypt under the Pharaohs: A study of the Old Kingdom.
  • The Indus Valley Civilization: Art, culture, and trade.
  • The social hierarchy in the Ancient Mayan civilization.
  • The technological advancements of the Ancient Chinese civilization.
  • The political system of Ancient Athens.
  • Roman Republic vs Roman Empire: A comparative study.
  • The agricultural practices of the Ancient Aztecs.
  • The role of the Oracle in the Ancient Greek civilization.
  • The fall of Carthage: An analysis of the Punic Wars.

Significant Figures in Ancient History

  • Alexander the Great: His conquests and legacy.
  • Cleopatra: Her influence in Egypt and Rome.
  • Socrates: His philosophy and influence on future generations.
  • Julius Caesar: His rise to power and assassination.
  • Hannibal Barca: His strategies and role in the Punic Wars.
  • Ashoka the Great: His reign and conversion to Buddhism.
  • Tutankhamun: His reign and the significance of his tomb.
  • Pericles and the Golden Age of Athens.
  • Confucius: His teachings and impact on Chinese society.
  • Queen Boudica and her rebellion against the Romans.

Ancient Warfare and Conflicts

  • The causes and effects of the Peloponnesian War.
  • Military strategies in the Roman Empire.
  • The role of chariots in Ancient Egyptian warfare.
  • An examination of the Trojan War: Myth and history.
  • The Battle of Marathon: A turning point in the Persian Wars.
  • Hannibal’s tactics in the Battle of Cannae.
  • The Hunnic invasions and their impact on Eurasia.
  • The Siege of Masada: A study of Jewish resistance to Roman rule.
  • Spartacus and the Slave Revolt.
  • The significance of the Battle of Actium in the shift from Roman Republic to Roman Empire.

Religion and Mythology in Ancient Cultures

  • The role of Greek gods and goddesses in ancient Greek society.
  • The cult of Osiris in ancient Egypt.
  • The impact of Zoroastrianism on the Persian Empire.
  • The religious practices in the ancient Mayan civilization.
  • The pantheon of the Roman gods and their Greek counterparts.
  • Buddhism in ancient India: Its inception and impact.
  • The mythology of the Norse gods.
  • Monotheism in ancient civilizations: The case of Aten in ancient Egypt.
  • The ancient Celtic rituals and druids.
  • The role of sacrifice in Aztec religion.

Ancient Cultural Practices and Beliefs

  • Death and afterlife beliefs in ancient Egypt.
  • The philosophy and teachings of Stoicism in ancient Greece.
  • Slavery in ancient Rome: A societal perspective.
  • The significance of the Olympic Games in ancient Greece.
  • The role of women in Sparta versus Athens.
  • The caste system in ancient India and its impact on society.
  • The practice of human sacrifice in ancient cultures.
  • The concept of democracy in ancient Athens.
  • The importance of the Nile River in the lives of ancient Egyptians.
  • The role of the Colosseum in Roman society.

Ancient Art and Architecture

  • The architectural marvel of the Egyptian pyramids.
  • The cultural significance of Mayan glyphs.
  • The symbolism in ancient Greek pottery.
  • The evolution of Roman architecture: From the Colosseum to the Pantheon.
  • Buddhist stupas and sculptures in ancient India.
  • The significance of the Sphinx and its mysteries.
  • The stylistic features of ancient Chinese calligraphy.
  • The construction techniques and purposes of Stonehenge.
  • The portrayal of myths and legends in ancient Greek sculpture.
  • The function of hieroglyphics in ancient Egyptian society.

Ancient Scientific and Technological Innovations

  • The astronomical knowledge of the ancient Mayans.
  • The ancient Roman aqueducts and their impact on society.
  • The development of mathematics in ancient Egypt.
  • The ancient Chinese inventions that shaped the world: Paper, compass, gunpowder, and printing.
  • The construction techniques of the Great Wall of China.
  • Ancient Greek contributions to medicine: The Hippocratic Oath.
  • The development of the Julian and later Gregorian calendar.
  • The engineering marvels of ancient Roman roads.
  • Ancient Indian contributions to mathematics: Zero, decimal system, and geometry.
  • The technology behind the Nazca Lines.

Trade and Commerce in the Ancient World

  • The role of the Silk Road in cultural exchange.
  • The impact of the spice trade in ancient India.
  • The trade relations between ancient Egypt and the Near East.
  • The significance of the Phoenicians in maritime trade.
  • The Roman trade with China: Silk and spices.
  • The economic significance of the agricultural surplus in Mesopotamia.
  • The role of coinage in the Persian Empire.
  • The wine trade in the ancient Mediterranean.
  • The ancient Incas: Trade without a currency system.
  • The marketplaces in ancient Rome: A study of the Forum.

Legal Systems and Governance in Ancient Cultures

  • The Code of Hammurabi: An analysis of Babylonian law.
  • The political system of the Roman Republic.
  • The governance and bureaucracy of ancient Egypt.
  • The legal and political institutions of ancient Athens.
  • The Mauryan administration under Emperor Ashoka.
  • The Roman law: Principles and influence on modern legal systems.
  • The role of the Senate in the Roman Empire.
  • The feudal system in ancient China.
  • The role of Spartan law in maintaining a military society.
  • The judicial practices in the ancient Inca civilization.

Health and Medicine in the Ancient World

  • The practice of medicine in ancient Egypt.
  • Ancient Greek understandings of disease and healing.
  • The role of Ayurveda in ancient Indian medicine.
  • Roman public health systems: Aqueducts, baths, and sanitation.
  • The use of herbs and acupuncture in ancient Chinese medicine.
  • The medical treatments and surgical techniques in the Hippocratic Corpus.
  • The role of the Asclepeion in ancient Greek medicine.
  • The understanding of the human body in ancient Egypt.
  • Mental health and neurology in ancient cultures.
  • The significance of the Edwin Smith Papyrus in the study of ancient medicine.

This diverse list of ancient history research paper topics provides a launchpad for you to explore the fascinating epochs, individuals, and events that have formed the foundation of our current civilizations. Choose a subject that you find engaging and let the past inspire and guide your research journey.

Ancient History: Scope and Range of Research Paper Topics

History, by definition, is the study of the past. The narrative of mankind’s journey from the cradle of civilization to modern society is not just a collection of dates, events, and personalities. It is a vast, intricate tapestry that interweaves the collective experiences, cultures, and achievements of human civilizations. Among the various eras and aspects of human history, the study of ancient history stands out due to its profundity and influence on the course of humanity. This section will guide you through the landscape of ancient history and the diverse range of ancient history research paper topics it offers.

To begin with, let’s understand what ‘ancient history’ encapsulates. Typically, it refers to the period from the earliest recorded human history to the fall of the Western Roman Empire in 476 AD. Ancient history spans across numerous civilizations and continents, providing a rich soil for research that encompasses social, cultural, political, technological, and personal facets of past societies.

The study of ancient history takes you on a journey across thousands of years, from the Neolithic Revolution when humans transitioned from a nomadic lifestyle to settled farming, to the rise of city-states, and eventually to the formation of vast empires. This wide temporal frame and the spectrum of social and cultural evolution it contains are a treasure trove of potential ancient history research paper topics.

Within this broad timeline, civilizations such as the Sumerians, Egyptians, Chinese, Indus Valley, Greeks, and Romans laid the foundation stones of our modern world. They pioneered the principles of governance, law, philosophy, mathematics, and science that we still rely upon today. Researching these civilizations’ histories allows us to delve into their society’s fabric, examining their values, their interactions with one another, their struggles, and their triumphs.

For instance, one could study the grandeur of Egyptian Pharaohs, their obsession with afterlife, or their monumental feats of engineering like the Pyramids of Giza. The Greeks offer a wealth of topics from their Pantheon of gods, the philosophy of Socrates, Plato, and Aristotle, their pioneering concept of democracy in Athens, to their legendary wars such as the Trojan War or the Persian Wars. When studying the Romans, one could delve into their vast empire’s administration, the evolution of their republic into an autocracy, their innovative architectural designs, or their sophisticated law system.

Moreover, ancient history is not confined to the Mediterranean and Near East. Civilizations in ancient India, China, Mesoamerica, and Africa offer a variety of unique cultural, philosophical, and historical perspectives. The philosophies of Buddhism and Confucianism, the Mayan and Aztec temples and astronomical knowledge, and the great African kingdoms of Nubia and Aksum contribute to the diverse tapestry of ancient history.

Another rewarding area of study in ancient history is the analysis of significant figures and their influence on their civilizations and future generations. Famous rulers such as Alexander the Great, Julius Caesar, Cleopatra, or Emperor Qin Shi Huang left indelible marks on history. Their lives, their leadership styles, their achievements, and their failures offer fascinating insights into human nature and the nature of power.

Ancient warfare and its strategies, tools, and impact on society and politics is another aspect that provides an array of ancient history research paper topics. The strategies of Hannibal Barca, the construction and use of Egyptian chariots, or the methods of the Roman legions all offer intriguing perspectives on how ancient civilizations waged war.

Religion and mythology formed the backbone of ancient societies, affecting their worldviews, their laws, and their daily lives. Researching ancient religions, the role of gods and goddesses, the creation of myths, and the function of priests and rituals in society can provide illuminating insights into the spiritual lives of ancient people.

Furthermore, the field of ancient history isn’t solely focused on political and cultural topics. The study of ancient economies, trade routes, and commerce provides a grounding in the practical aspects of these civilizations. Topics such as the use of coinage, the trade goods and routes of the Silk Road, or the economic significance of agriculture offer an understanding of the economics of the ancient world.

Finally, there’s an entire world to explore in terms of ancient history’s influence on art, literature, and philosophy. From the epic poems of Homer to the sophisticated drama of ancient Greece, from the hieroglyphics of Egypt to the classical statuary of Rome, ancient history offers a wealth of subjects for artistic and literary analysis.

In conclusion, the scope of ancient history is vast, offering a plethora of research topics ranging from detailed studies of specific civilizations, significant figures, wars, religion, culture, economics, to the art of the ancient world. Each of these aspects offers unique perspectives and opportunities for detailed analysis and research, providing students with the potential to delve into the intricacies of our shared past. No matter the area of interest, ancient history has something for every curious mind, and the lessons we learn from the past invariably shine a light on our present and future.

Choosing Ancient History Research Paper Topics

Choosing the right research paper topic is crucial for a successful and engaging project. In the realm of ancient history, where countless fascinating subjects await exploration, it’s essential to select a topic that aligns with your interests and allows for meaningful research. This section provides expert advice on how to choose ancient history research paper topics that are both compelling and manageable.

  • Understand Your Interests : To begin your research paper journey, take some time to reflect on your personal interests within the realm of ancient history. Consider the civilizations, time periods, events, or figures that captivate your curiosity. By focusing on what intrigues you the most, you’ll be more motivated and invested in your research.
  • Explore Different Time Periods : Ancient history spans thousands of years, encompassing various civilizations and eras. Expand your understanding by exploring different time periods, such as the ancient Near East, ancient Egypt, ancient Greece, and ancient Rome. Each period offers unique historical contexts and research opportunities.
  • Narrow Down Your Topic : Once you’ve identified your general area of interest, narrow down your focus by selecting a specific aspect or theme within ancient history. For example, if you’re fascinated by ancient Egypt, you might choose to explore the role of religion in the construction of pyramids or the influence of pharaohs on political and cultural developments.
  • Consider the Available Sources : Before finalizing your research topic, evaluate the availability and accessibility of relevant sources. Ensure that there is sufficient scholarly literature, primary sources, and archaeological evidence to support your research. This will enable you to delve deep into your chosen topic and present a well-rounded analysis.
  • Consult with Your Instructor or Mentor : Seek guidance from your instructor or mentor who can provide valuable insights and suggestions based on their expertise in ancient history. They can offer recommendations, point you towards reputable sources, and help refine your research question.
  • Engage with Current Debates and Research : Stay up-to-date with the latest scholarship and ongoing debates in ancient history. This will enable you to identify gaps in existing knowledge and contribute to the academic discourse. Consider exploring topics that are currently generating scholarly interest or challenging conventional interpretations.
  • Balance Complexity and Manageability : Strike a balance between selecting a research topic that is intellectually challenging yet manageable within the scope of your research project. Avoid overly broad topics that may be difficult to cover comprehensively. Instead, focus on specific research questions or subtopics that allow for in-depth analysis.
  • Be Mindful of Available Resources : While choosing your research topic, be mindful of the resources available to you. Consider the accessibility of libraries, archives, online databases, and other research materials. It’s essential to ensure that you have access to the necessary resources to conduct thorough research.
  • Consider Multidisciplinary Approaches : Ancient history intersects with various disciplines, such as archaeology, art history, anthropology, and literature. Embrace multidisciplinary approaches by integrating different perspectives and methodologies into your research. This will enrich your analysis and contribute to a more comprehensive understanding of your chosen topic.
  • Stay Passionate and Flexible : Throughout your research journey, it’s important to maintain enthusiasm and adaptability. As you delve deeper into your chosen topic, new discoveries and insights may arise, requiring adjustments to your research direction. Stay open-minded and flexible, allowing your passion for ancient history to guide your exploration.

Choosing the right ancient history research paper topic is a critical step towards a successful academic project. By understanding your interests, exploring different time periods, narrowing down your topic, considering available sources, seeking guidance, engaging with current debates, balancing complexity and manageability, being mindful of resources, embracing multidisciplinary approaches, and staying passionate and flexible, you can select a compelling research topic that will ignite your curiosity and lead to a rewarding research experience.

How to Write an Ancient History Research Paper

Writing an ancient history research paper requires careful planning, thorough research, and effective organization. This section provides a step-by-step guide on how to write an engaging and well-structured research paper on ancient history.

  • Understand the Assignment : Before you begin writing, carefully read and understand the assignment guidelines provided by your instructor. Pay attention to the research question, required length, formatting style, and any specific requirements or restrictions.
  • Conduct In-Depth Research : Start your research by exploring a variety of credible sources, including books, scholarly articles, academic journals, primary sources, and reputable online databases. Take detailed notes, ensuring to record the source information for proper citation later on.
  • Develop a Strong Thesis Statement : Formulate a clear and concise thesis statement that articulates the main argument or focus of your research paper. The thesis statement should be specific, debatable, and supported by evidence from your research.
  • Organize Your Ideas : Create an outline that organizes your ideas and research findings into a logical structure. Divide your paper into sections, including an introduction, body paragraphs, and a conclusion. Each section should focus on a specific aspect of your research topic.
  • Write an Engaging Introduction : Begin your research paper with an engaging introduction that grabs the reader’s attention and provides context for your research. Introduce the topic, provide background information, and present your thesis statement.
  • Support Your Arguments with Evidence : In the body paragraphs, present your arguments and support them with evidence from your research. Use a combination of primary and secondary sources to provide a comprehensive analysis of your topic. Ensure that each paragraph focuses on a single main idea and includes relevant evidence to support it.
  • Analyze and Interpret the Evidence : Go beyond summarizing the information and engage in critical analysis and interpretation of the evidence. Explore the historical context, evaluate different perspectives, and present your own analysis based on the available evidence.
  • Incorporate Citations and References : Throughout your research paper, properly cite all the sources you have used using the required citation style (such as APA, MLA, Chicago, etc.). Include in-text citations for paraphrased or quoted information and provide a comprehensive list of references at the end of your paper.
  • Craft a Strong Conclusion : Summarize your main findings and arguments in the conclusion section. Restate your thesis statement and highlight the significance of your research. Avoid introducing new information in the conclusion and provide a sense of closure to your paper.
  • Revise and Edit : Once you have completed the first draft, take time to revise and edit your research paper. Review the content for clarity, coherence, and logical flow. Check for grammatical and spelling errors, and ensure that your paper adheres to the required formatting style.

Writing an ancient history research paper requires a systematic approach that involves thorough research, effective organization, and critical analysis. By understanding the assignment, conducting in-depth research, developing a strong thesis statement, organizing your ideas, writing an engaging introduction, supporting your arguments with evidence, analyzing and interpreting the evidence, incorporating citations and references, crafting a strong conclusion, and revising and editing your paper, you can produce a well-structured and compelling research paper on ancient history.

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  • Expert Degree-Holding Writers : Our writing team consists of expert writers who hold advanced degrees in history and related fields. They have a deep understanding of ancient history and are equipped with the knowledge and research skills necessary to deliver exceptional research papers.
  • Custom Written Works : We believe in providing customized solutions tailored to your unique requirements. Our writers carefully analyze your instructions and craft research papers from scratch, ensuring originality, authenticity, and adherence to your specific guidelines.
  • In-Depth Research : Research is at the core of every successful research paper. Our writers are skilled researchers who delve into reputable sources, both primary and secondary, to gather relevant and reliable information. They are well-versed in accessing academic databases and libraries to ensure comprehensive and up-to-date research.
  • Custom Formatting : Formatting plays a crucial role in presenting your research paper professionally. Whether your paper requires APA, MLA, Chicago/Turabian, Harvard, or any other formatting style, our writers are proficient in following the specified guidelines to ensure consistency and accuracy.
  • Top Quality : We are committed to delivering top-quality research papers that meet the highest academic standards. Our writers pay attention to detail, maintain a scholarly tone, and use proper grammar and language throughout the paper. We strive for excellence in every aspect of our work.
  • Customized Solutions : We understand that every research paper is unique, and we take a personalized approach to meet your specific needs. Whether you require a comparative analysis, a case study, or an exploration of a particular aspect of ancient history, our writers tailor their approach to fulfill your research objectives.
  • Flexible Pricing : We offer flexible pricing options to accommodate the budget constraints of students. Our pricing structure is transparent, and we provide a detailed breakdown of costs upfront. We believe in fair pricing that reflects the quality of our work and the expertise of our writers.
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  • Timely Delivery : We understand the importance of timely submission. Our writers work diligently to ensure that your research paper is delivered within the agreed-upon deadline. We prioritize punctuality without compromising on the quality of our work.
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  1. PDF A Brief Guide to Writing the History Paper

    the History Paper The Challenges of Writing About (a.k.a., Making) History At first glance, writing about history can seem like an overwhelming task. History's subject matter is immense, encompassing all of human affairs in the recorded past — up until the moment, that is, that you started reading this guide.

  2. How to Write a History Research Paper

    It is at the heart of the writing process. First, lay your first draft aside for a day or so to gain distance from it. After that break, read it over with a critical eye as you would somebody else's paper (well, almost!). You will probably find that your first draft is still quite descriptive, rather than argumentative.

  3. Best History Research Paper Topics

    Writing a history research paper can be a rewarding experience, providing an opportunity to delve into the past and explore the events, ideas, and personalities that have shaped our world. However, crafting a high-quality paper requires more than just an interest in the subject matter. It involves thorough research, analytical thinking, and ...

  4. Journal of American History

    An official journal of the Organization of American Historians. Publishes research on every aspect of American history, including state-of-the-field essays, broadly inclusive book reviews, and reviews of films, museum exhibitions, and Web sites.

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    Writing History Research Papers What does a history paper do? 1. It asks a question: This is both the most obvious and most important part of approaching your research. An historical research paper does not merely recount "what happened," but makes an argument about why something happened the way it did. A history paper

  6. Introduction to Historical Research : Home

    Overview. This guide is an introduction to selected resources available for historical research. It covers both primary sources (such as diaries, letters, newspaper articles, photographs, government documents and first-hand accounts) and secondary materials (such as books and articles written by historians and devoted to the analysis and ...

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    List of Resources on History Writing. Formulating a Research Question. Making the Most of Research Time. Formulating an Argument. General Writing Guidelines. Sources and Evidence. Citations and Notes. Writing a 4-7 page History Paper (David Herzberg, 1992, Wesleyan University) Harvard Writing Center Chicago-Style Citation Quick Guide.

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    A history research paper is grounded in evidence from primary sources. Unlike research papers in other disciplines, a history paper relies on primary source material, meaning materials that were produced during the period your paper addresses. They might be letters, diaries, census data, maps, speeches, treaties-any raw material from a ...

  9. Historical Research

    Classic articles from the recent archives. The new virtual issue from Historical Research shines a light on some of the classic articles from the journal's recent archive. It features some of the most read and most cited articles from the journal's archives and covers a wide range of topics of perennial interest to both historians and to a wider readership.

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    Guide to writing research papers for the History Department at Le Moyne College. Skip to Main Content. Facebook Instagram. Library Account Login Help. Logotype of Noreen Reale Falcone Library ... Judge and Langdon Book Review/Research Paper - Example 2. Sample Title Pages, Outlines, & Citations. citation presentation. HST 302 Paper Example.

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    A. Fourteen Steps to a good historical research paper. In A Short Guide to Writing About History Richard Marius outlines fourteen steps that every student should follow in writing a historical research paper. 1. Identify your audience. All writing assignments are intended to be read, and the intended audience should always determine what is ...

  12. How to Write a History Research Paper

    1. Background Reading The first step to a history research paper is of course, background reading and research. In the context of a class assignment, "background reading" might simply be course readings or lectures, but for independent work, this step will likely involve some quality time on your own in the library.

  13. Steps for Writing a History Paper

    Once you are satisfied with your argument, move onto the local level. Put it all together: the final draft. After you have finished revising and have created a strong draft, set your paper aside for a few hours or overnight. When you revisit it, go over the checklist in Step 8 one more time.

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    A successful history paper uses the active voice and is clear, concise, organized, and analytical. It tells the reader who, what, when, where, why, and how. 0FF661F3-FFE9-2552-AB0AB1F527B5ACB9. ... but you should use footnotes for any research paper in history. Parenthetical citations are unaesthetic; they scar the text and break the flow of ...

  15. Most Read in History

    Most Read in History. Join us in celebrating another year of excellence in history research at Oxford University Press. Our 'Most Read in History' collection brings together the most read content published in our history portfolio in 2022, offering a free selection of journal articles and book chapters from the year's most popular publications.

  16. PDF Formulating a Research Question

    Kristin Poling, for the Department of History at Harvard, 2008/2009 Writing a History Paper Formulating a Research Question Every research project starts with a question. Your question will allow you to select, evaluate and interpret your sources systematically. The question you start with isn't set in stone, but will almost certainly be

  17. How to do Research on History

    The Oxford Companion to American Military History, edited by Richard Holmes, 1,408 pages (New York: Oxford University Press, 2000) Featuring more than 1,000 entries, this book examines the American military history with factual and extensive essays, written by more than 500 leading scholars, on the major wars and battles, weapons, and leaders.

  18. Interesting American History Research Paper Topics

    In this section, we present a comprehensive list of interesting American history research paper topics, carefully organized into 10 categories. From political milestones to social movements, cultural shifts, and economic transformations, these topics provide a broad spectrum of ideas for conducting in-depth research and analysis.

  19. 300+ Research Paper Questions and Topics for History Class

    How to Write a Research Paper for History Class. One of the most common elements of a history-based course is the dreaded research paper. Generally despised by students due to the tremendous amount of work these assignments require, the research paper has become a staple of modern learning in both high school and college-based settings.

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  21. 140 Good Research Topics for History Papers

    Good research paper topics in history are focused on a narrow, manageable subject that is easily divided into sections. Here are 145 good research paper topics for history in many different eras and time periods, along with suggestions for generating your own unique research topics. All the history research topics in this list are focused ...

  22. What Is A History Paper?

    A history paper--just like a paper in any specific academic discipline--has its own unique traits and guidelines. Several different types of papers may be assigned in a history course, including book reviews, primary source analyses, synthesis essays and research papers. Research papers allow you to do the exciting work of historians, studying material from the past and making

  23. World History Research Paper Topics

    In this comprehensive guide, we explore the fascinating world of world history research paper topics, designed to assist history students in their academic pursuits.Delving into the annals of human civilization, this page offers a diverse array of research paper topics categorized into 10 distinct themes, each presenting a captivating journey through time.

  24. [2402.14531] Should We Respect LLMs? A Cross-Lingual Study on the

    We investigate the impact of politeness levels in prompts on the performance of large language models (LLMs). Polite language in human communications often garners more compliance and effectiveness, while rudeness can cause aversion, impacting response quality. We consider that LLMs mirror human communication traits, suggesting they align with human cultural norms. We assess the impact of ...

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    Films and Essays from NLM: Medicine on Screen. ... Join us on Thursday, February 8 at 2:00 p.m. ET for the 2024 James H. Cassedy Lecture in the History of Medicine. Alice Weinreb, PhD, of the Loyola University Chicago will discuss "Anorexia in the Archives: Documenting the Late Twentieth Century Rise in Eating Disorders." ...

  26. Ancient History Research Paper Topics

    Embarking on a journey through the labyrinth of ancient history research paper topics, this comprehensive guide has been expertly crafted for students tasked with writing a research paper in history.The page unveils an extensive array of 100 topics, divided into ten distinct categories, thus providing a wealth of options for exploration.