Research Paper
U.S. History Research Paper
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Schedule
You must keep up with all of the assignments—All Assignments must be typed.Failure to submit any assignment in a timely fashion will also adversely affect your final paper grade.
- By November 13Th, submit the topic and the historiographical issue that you think you want to explore.
- By December 1st, submit the primary source or collection of primary sources that you plan to use in your paper. You should also submit a preliminary bibliography of secondary sources.
- By January 28th, submit a paragraph or two in which you preliminarily describe what’s at stake in terms of the historiography of your topic and how your primary source(s) might help you illuminate your topic. For example, if you have selected the origins of the American Revolution as your topic, you might submit a paragraph that points out that there is a historiographic debate over whether the Revolution was caused by ideological as opposed to social and economic forces and that you plan to use Tom Paine’s Common Sense to help you figure out which was most important. If you select the market revolution as your topic, you might write a paragraph discussing the differing scholarly understandings of the cultural transformation of the rural North using a 1820s map for the Erie Canal as your primary source. In addition, attach a more developed preliminary bibliography (at least two scholarly books and two scholarly articles).
- By Feburary14th, write a paragraph summarizing the substance of the primary source’s contents and the conditions of its production. By conditions of production, I mean include information about who wrote, painted, designed, conducted, directed, or participated in making the source, where and when it was presented, published, produced, and completed . If you use a visual source, like a painting or a cartoon, supply a copy-if possible-with your paragraph (xeroxed from a reproduction in a book, for example). In addition, attach a revised bibliography.
- By March 17th, submit an introductory paragraph including a preliminary thesis and a detailed outline along with the latest bibliography.
- By April 18, Submit a Rough Draft of your paper
- By Friday, May 2nd, submit a paper that is no less than 9-pages, double-spaced in a standard 12-point font. The paper should include a bibliography of sources consulted, even if not directly cited.
- There are no extensions. Late papers will be marked down one full grade each day including weekend days.
You must keep up with all of the assignments—All Assignments must be typed.Failure to submit any assignment in a timely fashion will also adversely affect your final paper grade.
Paper Checklist
Have you used a standard font 12-point font?
- Does the paper provide an introduction that engages the reader, a thesis statement that is clear, and a brief “sense” of how you are going to proceed? [Remember that your introduction can be as long as 3 paragraphs.]
- Consistently ask yourself: “What’s the paper’s thesis? Is it precise? Does it make sense?”
- Does each paragraph support your thesis or discuss counterevidence that might potentially undermine your thesis?
- Have you fully integrated your primary source(s) into your paper?
- Have you used at least 5 different scholarly sources (journal articles and university-press or peer-reviewed scholarly books) (this is the bare minimum—more would be even better) to contextualize your discussion and to engage with a relevant historiographical issue raised by your topic? [Check with me if you are uncertain as to whether the books and articles you have selected meet these criteria.]
- Have you avoided citing websites that are not scholarly in nature and, thus, not verifiable as to the information they put forward—this includes Wikipedia.
- Have you used quotations appropriately?
- Generally do not quote from the scholarly literature but instead put the quotation in your own words.
- Refrain from using large block quotations unless you are going to specifically analyze the passage.
- If you do choose to quote, then identify who it was who wrote or said the words you have chosen to quote in the sentence.
- Does the paper have a conclusion that does more than merely restate the thesis? If not, think about what would make for an appropriate conclusion.
- Have you appropriately cited the sources you used and placed the citations as
Have you used a standard font 12-point font?
- Do you have one-inch margins all around?
- Is your paper double-spaced?
- Have you included page numbers?
- Have you avoided using the passive voice?
- Have you avoided the first person plural—that is “we,” “our,” and “us”?
- Have you found appropriate replacement words for “said” and “felt”?
- Have you written the paper in the correct tense (generally the past tense) and been consistent in your use of tense?
- Have you read your paper aloud and corrected any sentences that were difficult to speak?
- Have you proofread the final draft of your paper at least 4 times?
- Have you stapled your paper?
- Have you included a cover page?
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