Writing and Research Sources
The following sites will provide information (from basic to advanced) on different aspects of the research essay process. Even if you are familiar with writing a research essay for history, a review of some of the sites would be beneficial. At the very least students should visit the sites concerned with the thesis, the overall structure of a research paper, paragraph structure, and the very useful material on paraphrasing, quotations, and plagiarism to review the fundamental aspects of the construction and writing of a research essay in the history discipline.
The site from Bowdoin College on the reading, writing, and researching of history papers is an overall excellent site. For the purposes of this assignment though, some sections from this site are of particular interest:
As well Purdue University has produced an excellent site which take the reader from the beginning to the end of a research paper
At the heart of a good essay is good paragraph structure and students should understand what the structure and function of a paragraph is in order to write an effective research paper. The University of Toronto has a short but informative page on writing coherent paragraphs.
As indicated in the assignment question, the success of the final paper will depend very much on the creation of a thesis. The material on the thesis from Bowdoin College is a good starting point. In creating a thesis you need to do some narrowing of the topic. One method which may help you to define your thesis is by asking questions of yourself and the source material. After formulating the thesis and thesis questions, be certain that it can pass the "So What?" test! If your thesis successfully passes the test (every essay handed in is subjected to the same test) then it is time to begin to structure the essay. An extremely important step in organizing the essay but unfortunately one which many students neglect is the outline. A proper outline before writing well keep the paper focused and organized. It is also important to write more than one draft of the essay. An initial draft will allow you to see if indeed your essay will be logical, organized, and that it successfully builds on the thesis that you have created. Essays that are written from beginning to end in one sitting usually show that, and that in turn is reflected in the final mark. A successful essay will undergo a series of revisions to ensure that the final paper accomplishes what it sets out to do. Finally after the paper is complete, do not neglect the proofreading stage to ensure that all the minor errors are removed before handing in the essay. You want to ensure that you hand in the "cleanest" paper possible, for those minor stylistic and spelling errors detract from all of the other work put into the paper, and their presence will be reflected in the final essay mark. Be certain that you have run through the final checklist before handing in the paper.
An area which causes considerable problems for students writing essays (and for those marking the essays) is determining what are your own words, what are quotations, and what needs to be referenced. Serious problems arise from the failure to understand these concepts and can result in plagiarism, which has serious academic consequences. By carefully reading the following information you should be able to keep your paper honest and free from plagiarism. Purdue University has a very good section on Quoting, Paraphrasing, and Summarizing. Be certain to read these pages completely and carefully. The University of Wisconsin also has a good site on creating a successful paraphrase as well as some samples of successful and unsuccessful paraphrases.