National History Day Historical Paper Social Studies Department At Your Service
Table of Contents Sections Page Number Introduction: the Historical Paper 1 Requirements for Writing a Historical Paper 2 Research: Where and How 7 Organizing Your Ideas 11 Final Checklist and Tips 22
I n t r o d u c t i o n! You want to write a historical paper! You like history, and you are interested learning more about a person, an event, a topic, a movement, or even an idea or philosophy. This booklet is designed to help you, the student, to understand the requirements for writing and submitting a historical paper. You will also find information on where to look for research, and how to use your research to your maximum advantage. This booklet will help you organize your ideas, and structure your paper to express your own conclusions. A Final Checklist is provided for your convenience to ensure you have fulfilled all paper requirements.! Your teacher should work closely with you during each phase of the process. It is imperative that you start your research early and begin drafting your big ideas. A history paper is not a statement about your opinion, or what you think is important about history. A historical paper is well researched with facts; however, you interpret those facts to support your conclusion. This is a process with many steps.! This is not an overnight assignment. Writing a historical paper will take many hours and days of hard work. You get out what you put into your historical paper. By choosing to write a historical paper, you are on the path of becoming a scholar and a historian. Enjoy the time you spend finding new resources, reading new material, and writing as you bring all these ideas together to explain what you see in history. Writing about history is about vision. While you have an assigned theme to address in your historical paper, you provide the vision, the research, and the conclusions. You will guide the reader to your point of view. You invite all who read your paper to see history as you do! Work Hard and Write Well! 1
Requirements R! This section is important for you to read and understand what is required. Failure to satisfy these requirements may result in point deduction(s) or disqualification. You don t want to write a fine paper and forget to include citations in your paragraphs! Reading this section does not replace having to read the Contest rules. See the National History Day: Contest Rule Book for more information. Rules Rule 1 Description READ THE NATIONAL HISTORY DAY RULE FOR ALL CATEGORIES, and INDIVIDUAL CATEGORY RULES (A. Paper) Rule 2 Your historical paper MUST relate CLEARLY to the annual theme Rule 3 Your historical paper must explain why your topic is historically significant Rule 4 Rule 5 Rule 6 Your historical paper must be your own work, not someone s else. It must be well researched. Using someone else s work means disqualification. You are responsible for researching and writing your paper. A teacher may help you and give you advice, but the ideas and conclusions of the paper are your ideas alone. Your historical paper must have: a Title page, and Annotated Bibliography, appropriate font, line spacing, margin sizes. Discuss in further details later on. Rule 7 Must separate your Bibliography into Primary and Secondary sources. Rule 8 Rule 9 Must use Turabian, or MLA to style your citations in your bibliography and within your historical paper, called in-text citations. NO PLAGIARISM (No Cheating, No copying from the Internet or Others) Give credit by citing where you found the information you are using. Rule 10 Register either online, or use paper entry form (see NHD: Contest Rule Book) 2
Requirements: Title Page! Your historical paper requires a title page as the first page. It must include a title of your paper, your name, the contest division, and the category that you are participating. The title page should look plain. Example 1 Contest Division: Middle School students are Junior Division!! High School students are Senior Division Category: your category is Historical Paper Do NOT include the following items on your title page: Graphics Pictures Image Borders School Name Grade level Example 2 Follow Paper Preparation Procedures, next page, for your title page as well. These procedures address font size, margin space, line space, overall paper length (word count), page numbers, sections and paper type. Your title page will not have a page number. Page numbers begin after title page. 3
Requirements: Paper Preparation! Paper Preparation Procedures are very important yet simple for you to follow; however, many students lose points or become disqualified because they do not follow these easy requirements. Paper Preparation Procedures Paper must be typed, printed or hand written on 8.5 x 11-inch. Paper must have 1-inch margins on all sides Paper must be double spaced (line spacing) Paper must have writing on only one side (do not print double sided) Paper must be written in 12-point or 10-point font size It is recommended that the paper be written in either Arial, or Times News Roman It is strongly recommended you type and print out your paper, than write it by hand. If you hand write your paper, then you must use black ink. Your paper must be at least 1,500 words, but no more than 2,500 words. (Using Arial, that is about 290 words per page in size 12 font; about 8.5 pages for max length, or a little over five pages for minimum length. That is about 390 words per page in size 10 font; about 6 1/3 pages for max length, or slightly under four pages for minimum length.) Word limit does not apply to annotated bibliography, captions, or appendix material Paper must be stapled in the TOP, LEFT-HAND Corner No cover or binder is allowed No illustration(s) within the written historical paper Paper may use an appendix, but must limit what is included, such as photographs, graphs, maps, charts. No other additional items. Provide FOUR copies of your paper when you submit your historical paper. Refer to NHD: Contest Rules Book 4
Requirements: Annotated Bibliography An annotated bibliography is required. It is a list of your resources that you used for research. You must select which citation style format to use. You may choose MLA or Turabian style. Depending on the citation style format you have chosen, you will list your resources according to the type of resource. You must separate your primary and secondary resources. Once you have done so, you will include a brief summary about each resource in your bibliography. This summary will explain why you have selected that particular resource for your research, and how it supports your paper s findings. When writing your annotated descriptions, ask yourself: Is this resource biased? Is this resource objective? How can you use this resource? How does this resource increase your historical perspective about the topic you are addressing? How does this resource provide the context about the topic you are addressing? Example Garrow, David J. Protest at Selma: Martin Luther King and the Voting Rights Act of 1965.! New Haven: Yale University Press, 1978. Garrow describes how the strategy of protest employed by Martin Luther King, Jr., and SCLC at Selma influenced the emergence of the Voting Rights Act of 1965. He contends that the choice of Selma as a site for civil rights protests and the specific tactics that SCLC adopted in Selma were part of a plan to force the introduction and passage of national voting rights legislation. The foremost consideration in this campaign was the need to elicit "unprovoked white violence aimed at peaceful and unresisting civil rights demonstrators." Garrow argues that at Selma "a strategy that bordered on nonviolent provocation supplanted the earlier belief in nonviolent persuasion." SCLC correctly assumed that police violence would generate national media coverage and this, in turn, would stimulate reactions "throughout the country, and especially Washington," leading to pressure for federal voting rights legislation. (Example from: http://library.ucf.edu/reference/guides/annotatedbibliographies.asp) Cited Resource Description (Summary) of Resource Microsoft WORD Helps! You can use WORD to create your bibliography and insert your internal citations. Below is a YouTube video explaining how to use WORD s reference section: Just type in the following URL into the address bar of your web browser. REMEMBER YOU MUST SEPARATE PRIMARY FROM SECONDARY RESOURCES! http://www.youtube.com/watch? v=b5uq0cyd93a or, http://office.microsoft.com/en-us/word-help/ create-a-bibliography-ha010067492.aspx 5
Requirements: Citations You must cite your resources within the body of your historical paper when you use them to support your ideas. You have the choice to use end-notes, foot-notes, or internal citations. This booklet recommends internal citations, and will discuss it below. If you decide to use end-notes or foot-notes, please ask your teacher for guidance. You need to acquire a reference manual for either Turabian or MLA. Using an MLA or Turabian manual will explain how to create your bibliography and cite your sources in your text. Examples below do NOT cover all sources that you may cite. The format used to cite a book is different than citing a website. Refer to your chosen manual and ask your teacher for help when citing. Cite every fact you use in your text. It is far better to over cite, than to under cite. Turabian As cited in your Annotated Bibliography Morey, Peter, and Amina Yaqin. 2011. Framing Muslims: Stereotyping and Representation after 9/11. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press. As cited in your the body of your historical paper (include last name of the author(s), year published, and page number) (Morey and Yaqin 2011, 52) Last Name Year, Pg Number Internal Turabian Citation Example Stereotypes have developed over time in history. Unfortunately, these stereotypes have portrayed Muslims and their culture in a negative image, often representing them as a singular culture (Morey and Yaqin 2011, 52). Illustrative example only. MLA As cited in your Annotated Bibliography Morey, Peter, and Amina Yaqin. 2011. Framing Muslims: Stereotyping and Representation after 9/11. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press. As cited in your the body of your historical paper (include last name of the author(s), and page number) (Morey and Yaqin 52) Last Name Pg Number Internal MLA Citation Example Stereotypes have developed over time in history. Unfortunately, this stereotypes have portrayed Muslims and their culture in a negative image, often representing them as a monolithic culture (Morey and Yaqin 52). Illustrative example only. 6
Researching: Where Three Places to Research Information Library the Internet Databases Starting Point Using a history textbook is a good place to start for finding basic information. Search Terms Develop search terms to help you locate specific information about your topic. Ask a librarian or your teacher to help you with possible search terms Conduct search using all three places above Library and Internet Starting Points Your librarian will help you locate books using the Library. When using the Internet for research, be sure check the validity of the website before using it. Generally, websites that end with.edu or.gov are creditable sources. These are websites belonging to a university/college or government agency, such as UT, or the Library of Congress. Piece Information Together When researching you may not find a book or article that is specifically about your topic. This is okay. You can use parts of it as facts to support your conclusions. Read for main idea; understand how this information relates to your topic, and most importantly, to the yearly THEME! When researching, have both your web browser open and a word processor. When you find a website that you want to use, then copy & paste the web address into your word processor. Write a brief description about the website and why it is useful. Include all the citation information that you will need for your bibliography too! Databases Starting Point Check with your librarian about accessing online databases such as ESBCO. The advantage using a database comes from accessing better quality documents, and the ability to print documents directly or save onto a flash drive. Not all databases are specialized in the same field, some are dedicated to science, law, arts, social science, and history. 7
Researching: How Begin your research by creating search terms. These search terms must relate to your topic and theme. In order to maximize your search results, you will need to start your search broadly with general search terms, then select Advanced Search to narrow your results into a manageable list. You can use Advanced Search for databases too. Let s use an example from Google.com. 1. Being with Google 2. Next: type in broad search terms 4. Narrow Search results by eliminating specific words, using an exact phrase, or select which type of website you want, such as.edu and.gov 3. Then: click gear icon Look at the far top right hand corner and click on the gear icon. Select Advanced research You can narrow your search for specifics and limit the number of hits or results that appear. If your search gets nothing, than broaden your search terms more. 8
Researching: How As you conduct research on your essay topic, you may come across sources that are not completely accurate. Keep the following in mind: Is the author or publication biased? A biased source lacks objectivity and displays a slanted point of view. An author s viewpoint can be influenced by many factors, such as politics, gender, and ethnic background. Publications can be similarly influenced. Here are questions to help you determine the extent to which bias may affect the accuracy of your source: Why was this source created? Is it meant to inform, entertain, or persuade? Do the author and publisher have a reputation for accuracy? Do the author or publisher provide a bibliography of sources? Does the source include all relevant facts? Does the source include statements of opinion? Does the source use questionable claims as supporting evidence? Does the source use loaded language to try to provoke an emotional response? Does the source make broad generalizations that cannot be supported by evidence? Does the source acknowledge other points of view? Academic databases generally produce more accurate results, than a internet search engine (like Bing or Google) or a website. Be cautious when using resources from websites that do not end with.edu or.gov. Databases have advanced search options where you can run a search for only Peer Reviewed articles--these have been check for accuracy and bias. 9
Researching: How Make notes on the information get from your research. For websites and databases, print out the full text article or information. The boxes below contain essential information you will need to take down and refer to later as you organize your historical paper. Feel free to copy this page, or write this template onto index cards and fill them out. Title: Author(s): Publisher and copyright date: Pages used: Internet address: Is it a primary or a secondary source? (Circle One): YES NO What information does this source provide about my topic? Title: Author(s): Publisher and copyright date: Pages used: Internet address: Is it a primary or a secondary source? (Circle One): YES NO What information does this source provide about my topic? 10
Organizing Your Paper: Pre-Write Prewriting: Planning Your Paper Before you draft your paper, you need to plan how you will arrange your main ideas and evidence. A graphic organizer will help you organize your ideas, resources, evidence (support), but you still have to decide in what order to present your ideas so that your paper will be persuasive and competitive. Consider the main points you want to make. Ask yourself these questions: How are my main ideas related? Present them in a logical order that makes the relationship clear. Does the reader have to understand one idea in order to understand another? If so, present the most fundamental idea first. Do my main ideas differ in importance or weight? If so, consider presenting your main ideas in order from most important to least, or vice versa. Either way is effective. Are my ideas obvious, or are they obscure and hard to understand? Consider presenting first the main idea (argument) that is easiest for the reader to grasp. Then draw the reader into more difficult ideas. Do I have a paragraph for each main idea or argument? Once you have decided on a plan, use the Graphic Organizer to map out exactly what you are going to say in each paragraph. The graphic organizer is a tool to help you write clearly and coherently at the drafting stage. This booklet has a few graphic organizers to assist you in planning and drafting your historical paper. Remember to research, plan, and use graphic organizers to organize your ideas, THEN you write. Courtesy of TCI 11
Organizing Your Paper: Process Developing a Thesis Statement The thesis is the main point of your paper. It reflects your opinion or analysis of a topic or issue. It is expressed in a thesis statement, which is usually, though not always, a single sentence. In your historical paper, your purpose is to convince the reader to agree with your thesis. To develop a thesis, consider your topic carefully: what do you think about it, and why? You might need to do some research, since forming an opinion on an issue or topic requires that you know something about it. DO NOT forget to relate your thesis to the annual theme. Throughout your paper, you must demonstrate how your ideas explain and support your conclusions about your topic, AND clearly relate to the annual theme. Your thesis statement should clearly state the position you plan to support. Here are some suggestions to help you develop a thesis statement: If given a question as an paper assignment, use your answer as the thesis statement. Take some preliminary notes on the paper topic before developing your thesis statement. Avoid stating a fact as a thesis. Your thesis should be a position that is open to debate and worth discussing. Avoid making an all-or-nothing or exaggerated claim that is difficult to support. Use qualifying words such as almost, often, rarely, usually, or most. Use this checklist when writing your thesis statement: Does my thesis statement clearly communicate the main point I want to make about the topic? Is my thesis statement a claim that deserves discussion? Will I be able to prove, defend, or explain my thesis statement? Courtesy of TCI 12
Organizing Your Paper: Process Writing the Introduction The introduction, or opening paragraph, prepares your reader to read your paper. It hooks the reader s interest, draws the reader into the issue or topic you plan to discuss, and presents your thesis statement. The introduction is your chance to get the reader s attention. The way you do this depends on your purpose for writing. For a persuasive paper or editorial, consider these possibilities: a quotation from an expert an anecdote or real-life example a striking statistic an intriguing question a statement of opinion an interesting or controversial fact Use this checklist when writing your introduction: Does my introduction create interest in the topic of my paper? Does my introduction summarize the arguments I plan to make? Does my introduction contain a clear statement of my thesis? Courtesy of TCI 13
Organizing Your Paper: Process Writing Body Paragraphs The body of the paper is where you provide arguments and evidence to support your thesis. Each body paragraph develops a single argument and provides solid evidence to support it. A fiveparagraph paper has three body paragraphs. The key elements of a body paragraph are the topic sentence and supporting details. These details can take two forms: evidence, such as statistics, examples, or quotations that prove your argument; and explanation, in which you emphasize the importance of the evidence and show how it supports your argument. Use this checklist when writing the body of your paper: Does each body paragraph include a topic sentence and supporting details? Does each body paragraph focus on one argument? Does each argument support the thesis statement? Do the details clearly support the main ideas? Is each body paragraph organized so that the reader understands the main idea? Courtesy of TCI 14
Organizing Your Paper: Process Writing a Topic Sentence The topic sentence states the main idea of a paragraph. A good topic sentence is clear and helps the reader follow your argument. The topic sentence is usually the first sentence of a paragraph. This signals to the reader what you are about to argue or show. Sometimes you want the reader to draw a conclusion from the evidence. Then it makes sense to present supporting details first and the topic sentence later. Here is how this might work: Use this checklist when writing your topic sentences: Does my topic sentence communicate the main idea of the paragraph? Does my topic sentence help the reader follow my argument? Does my topic sentence avoid being too general or too narrow in its focus? WHEN WRITING YOUR MAIN IDEA BE SPECIFIC AND BE COMPLETE! Courtesy of TCI 15
Organizing Your Paper: Process Using Evidence to Support Your Paragraph s Main Idea In your historical paper, you will have to support your topic sentence with evidence from your research. You cannot merely state your opinion or your thoughts without research. When you state your evidence you have the following ways to do so: Direct quote Paraphrase This information is from a resource which MUST BE CITED INTERNALLY using MLA or Turabian. Please refer to the appropriate manual on style citation. Even if you put the text from the resource into your own word, you still must cite the resource always. Generally, you will provide two types of evidence in a regular paragraph, and a small paragraph should only have one piece of evidence. Evidence should come from different points of view, from primary and secondary resources, from different authors, and from a view to provide perspective and historical context. Of course, the evidence you choose should clearly relate to your topic as well as the annual theme. Do not rely on just one or two resources as most of your evidence in your paper. When Evaluating the Usefulness of Your Evidence (and resources), look for the following: Is the information relevant? How closely is the information related to the topic (& annual theme) of my paper? Does the information help me prove or defend my argument? Is the information complete, with nothing important left out? Is the evidence accurate? Is the information fact or opinion? If it is fact, can I verify it elsewhere? If it is fact, does it contradict anything else I have read? If it is opinion, is it supported with facts? If it is opinion, is it an authoritative, or expert, opinion? Courtesy of TCI 16
Organizing Your Paper: Process Explanation In a persuasive paper, explanation is where you drive your point home. Explanation shows how the evidence supports your point, which may not be obvious to the reader. Imagine a reader saying So what? to the evidence you have presented. Explanations are your answer. Sometimes it is effective to acknowledge an opposing viewpoint in order to show why you make the stronger case. It shows that you are considering other views, which is a mark of objectivity. Use this checklist when writing your explanation: Do I show how the evidence supports my thesis statement? Do I acknowledge other viewpoints and explain why I make the stronger case? Courtesy of TCI 17
Organizing Your Paper: Process Writing the Conclusion The last paragraph of your paper is the conclusion. Here you should summarize your main arguments, restate your thesis, and leave your reader feeling you have pulled everything together in a convincing way. To be effective, a conclusion must do more than simply summarize and restate. It should also contain something new a fresh idea or connection, an additional piece of information, some striking language to keep readers engaged to the very end. Here are some other ideas for crafting an effective conclusion: End with a question that will keep readers thinking. Acknowledge an opposing viewpoint and argue against it convincingly. End with a call for action. End with a striking quotation. End with a relevant anecdote. Use this checklist when writing your conclusion: Did I restate my thesis? Did I summarize my main arguments? Did I include a fresh or thought-provoking idea? Did I pull everything together in a convincing way? Courtesy of TCI 18
Organizing Your Paper: Planning Theme: Topic: Thesis Statement: Main Idea: Source: Main Idea: Source: Main Idea: Source: Main Idea: Source: Main Idea: Source: Main Idea: Source: Each main idea box will be its own separate paragraph. Source is for listing where you found evidence to support your main idea. You may not use all of these boxes to create your paper; however, the space is provided if needed. Main Idea: Source: 19
Organizing Your Paper: Planning Introduction Paragraph Hook: Context: Introduce topic as it relates to theme: Thesis Statement: Paragraph Number Topic Sentence: Paragraph Number Topic Sentence: Paragraph Number Topic Sentence: Courtesy of TCI (Adapted) 20
Organizing Your Paper: Planning Paragraph Number Topic Sentence: Paragraph Number Topic Sentence: Paragraph Number Topic Sentence: Conclusion Paragraph Topic Sentence: Courtesy of TCI (Adapted) 21
Checklist and Tips 22
Checklist: Historical Paper Please detach this page to use as your Historical Paper Checklist. When you think you are done, use this list to make sure you are complete and ready for submission! If anything is checked NO, then go back and correct it before submitting. Organization and Supporting Evidence Items No Yes Does your historical paper have a thesis statement in the introduction AND conclusion? Does research support your thesis? Does your paper have a topic sentence for each paragraph? Do ALL of your topic sentences support your thesis statement? Does your paper have supporting main ideas as separate paragraphs? Does each paragraph have evidence from research? Do you provide an explanation for each piece of evidence? Does your conclusion summarize all your main points AND restate your thesis? Editing and Revising Did someone read and make suggestions to your historical paper? Did you proof-read and make suggestions for grammatical errors? Did you proof-read and make suggestions for historical accuracy? Did you rewrite your historical paper for corrections? (Often we rewrite our papers many times) Paper Requirements Does your historical paper have an Annotated Bibliography? (Description for each resource) Are primary and secondary resources separated in your Annotated Bibliography? Is each piece of evidence (research) used have an in-text or internal citation? Does your historical paper have page numbers? Does your historical paper have one inch margins? Does your historical paper have a title page with Title, student name, division and category? Is your historical paper double spaced with text only on one side? Is your historical paper in 12-point or 10-point font size? Submission Did you or your teacher register your historical paper entry to National History Dar Fair? Have you printed FOUR final copies of your historical paper? 23
Tips: Judging Criteria Make copies of this form and use it for peer and teacher review. The criteria within this form is how you are evaluated. Pay attention to HISTORICAL CONTEXT, BALANCED RESEARCH, and RELATION to THEME. Judging Criteria Evaluation Comments (Judging criteria are explained in the Rule Book) Strengths Areas for Improvement Historical Quality (60%) Entry is Historically Accurate Shows analysis and Interpretation Places topic in historical context Shows wide research Uses available primary sources Research is balanced Relation to Theme (20%) Clearly relates topic to theme Demonstrates significance of topic in history and draws conclusions Clarity of Presentation (20%) Paper is original, clear, appropriate, organized and well-presented Text is clear, grammatical, and spelling is correct;entry is neatly prepared Rules Compliance Yes No Maintains length requirement (1500-2500 words) Includes annotated bibliography Other 24
Materials compiled and organized by: Jason Rochester, Lead Instructional Coach Compliments of The Social Studies Department At Your Service 406 Barrera Street San Antonio, TX 78210 Phone: 210-554-2630 Fax: 210-224-6448