{"id":2105,"date":"2015-12-08T18:23:38","date_gmt":"2015-12-08T18:23:38","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/blogs.dickinson.edu\/hist-404pinsker\/?page_id=2105"},"modified":"2015-12-10T04:00:30","modified_gmt":"2015-12-10T04:00:30","slug":"narrative-writing","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/blogs.dickinson.edu\/hist-404pinsker\/narrative-writing\/","title":{"rendered":"Narrative Writing"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>Good narrative writing often opens with a small but revealing story. \u00a0Sometimes called a &#8220;narrative vignette,&#8221; these openings typically try to capture a decisive and dramatic moment in the story as way to engage and focus readers. \u00a0Then narrative historians step back, and provide context and analysis to transform storytelling into a powerful platform for historical thinking. \u00a0An outline for a good narrative history paper might look like this <em>(with specific connections to the constitutional narrative in italics)<\/em>:<\/p>\n<p><strong>I. \u00a0Introduction (2-3 pages)<\/strong><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>Narrative vignette<\/li>\n<li>Thesis statement paragraph\u00a0<em>(Here is where you must make sure to connect your smaller narrative to larger narrative of constitutional change)<\/em><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><strong>II. \u00a0Background (5-7 pages)<\/strong><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>Useful context that helps set the stage for the full narrative (<em>Here is where you can rely most heavily on secondary and even reference sources; your most important objective in this section is to be concise)<\/em><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><strong>III. \u00a0Full narrative (5-7 pages)<\/strong><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>Detailed chronological account that uses both primary &amp; secondary sources\u00a0<em>(Here is where you really want to demonstrate the ability to seamlessly integrate a wide variety of sources into an engaging story)<\/em><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><strong>IV. \u00a0Analysis (5-7 pages)<\/strong><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>Thoughtful consideration of significance and consequences\u00a0<em>(Here is where you are most likely to engage in deeper historiographical analysis, situating your narrative in a larger scholarly debate about this particular episode\u00a0of constitutional change)<\/em><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><strong>V. \u00a0Conclusion (2-3 pages)<\/strong><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>Explanation of thesis applied to full details of narrative\u00a0<em>(Make sure to fully explain the significance of this episode in the context of American constitutional history)<\/em><\/li>\n<li>Final narrative details to help return story to opening moment<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>There are many, many other ways, however, to organize a historical narrative. \u00a0Consider the wisdom of <a href=\"http:\/\/historynewsnetwork.org\/article\/161376\" target=\"_blank\">this piece<\/a>, for example, by historian Adam Arenson, who claims that papers should resemble a CSI episode. \u00a0The point is to use historical thinking to engage an audience in a significant story.<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Good narrative writing often opens with a small but revealing story. \u00a0Sometimes called a &#8220;narrative vignette,&#8221; these openings typically try to capture a decisive and dramatic moment in the story as way to engage and focus readers. \u00a0Then narrative historians &hellip; <a href=\"https:\/\/blogs.dickinson.edu\/hist-404pinsker\/narrative-writing\/\">Continue reading <span class=\"meta-nav\">&rarr;<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":373,"featured_media":0,"parent":0,"menu_order":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","template":"","meta":{"footnotes":"","_links_to":"","_links_to_target":""},"class_list":["post-2105","page","type-page","status-publish","hentry"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.dickinson.edu\/hist-404pinsker\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/2105","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.dickinson.edu\/hist-404pinsker\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.dickinson.edu\/hist-404pinsker\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/page"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.dickinson.edu\/hist-404pinsker\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/373"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.dickinson.edu\/hist-404pinsker\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2105"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.dickinson.edu\/hist-404pinsker\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/2105\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.dickinson.edu\/hist-404pinsker\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2105"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}