{"id":378,"date":"2015-10-13T00:13:04","date_gmt":"2015-10-13T00:13:04","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/blogs.dickinson.edu\/hist204-fall15\/?p=378"},"modified":"2015-10-13T00:19:28","modified_gmt":"2015-10-13T00:19:28","slug":"historians-essay-assignment","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blogs.dickinson.edu\/hist204-fall15\/2015\/10\/13\/historians-essay-assignment\/","title":{"rendered":"Historian’s Essay Assignment"},"content":{"rendered":"

Historians Essay Assignment, 204, Fall 2015<\/a>\u00a0(Word format)<\/p>\n

Professor<\/strong>: Christopher J. Bilodeau
\nE-mail<\/strong>: bilodeac@dickinson.edu
\nOffice<\/strong>: 302 Denny Hall
\nOffice Hours<\/strong>: Mondays 2:45-4:00pm,
\nThursdays 2:45-4:30pm, or by appointment
\nOffice Phone<\/strong>: 717 245 1385<\/p>\n

Introduction to Historical Methodology<\/strong>
\nHistory 204, Fall 2015, Wednesdays, 1:30-4:30pm
\n112 Denny \/ Archives Classroom, Waidner-Spahr Library<\/p>\n

Historical Methods Essay, Due October 21<\/strong><\/p>\n

Over the past several weeks, we have read a novel about \u201chistorical detection,\u201d one historian\u2019s take on writing history, short essays in the workbook on the nature of historical research and writing, and an example of historical writing (Gross\u2019 Neighbors<\/em>).\u00a0 All give us ample material to think about the nature of history and the difficulties and pleasures of being an historian, and what remains is to come to our own understanding of what doing history means for each of us.<\/p>\n

What do you think history is, and how to practice it?\u00a0 Which arguments found in these readings resonated with you the most?\u00a0 How might you take those arguments and put them together in such a way that would make for a coherent argument about the nature of history?\u00a0 For example, how would an historian who espoused your version of history respond to each of the following (out\u2011of\u2011context) quotations from Tey\u2019s novel?:<\/p>\n

\u201cA history book?\u00a0.\u00a0.\u00a0.\u00a0What would I be doing with a history book[?]\u201d\u00a0 (p. 34)<\/p>\n

\u201cQuoting?\u00a0 It wasn\u2019t quoting anything. It was just giving facts.\u201d (p. 42)<\/p>\n

\u201cYes. That\u2019s very interesting; very. History as it is made.\u201d (p. 105)<\/p>\n

\u201cOnly historians tell you what they thought. Research workers stick to what they did.\u201d\u00a0 (p. 106)<\/p>\n

So, after our discussions of these readings, and after thinking about responses to these statements, you need to answer this question for your essay.\u00a0 This is a broad and difficult question, so you will need<\/em> to write several drafts to produce a polished essay.<\/p>\n

Based on your reading of Tey, Gaddis, Gross, and the workbook, and your own ideas on the nature of History, write a 1200\u2011word (4\u20116 page) essay on \u201cWhat it means to do<\/em> history.\u201d<\/strong><\/p>\n

A Note on Grading<\/p>\n

Both substance and the presentation count when I evaluate (grade) an essay.\u00a0 The substance consists of the ideas and examples you include in the essay and the accuracy of your understanding of that material.\u00a0 The presentation is the writing.\u00a0 More specifically, I look for a number of things:<\/p>\n

    \n
  1. Clarity of presentation: statement of thesis in introduction, orderly development of thesis in the body of the paper, illustration of main ideas with examples<\/li>\n
  2. Inclusion of a variety of sources<\/li>\n
  3. Accuracy in conveying historians\u2019 ideas<\/li>\n
  4. Clear organization, correct composition of paragraphs, careful editing, and proofreading<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n

    An \u2018A\u2019 paper shows original thought and high achievement in each of the criteria.
    \nA \u2018B\u2019 paper lacks originality but is strong in each of the criteria
    \nA \u2018C\u2019 paper is satisfactory but contains notable deficiencies in one or more of the criteria.<\/p>\n

    Be sure that you write in stages, by breaking a project down into manageable tasks.
    \nYou write the first draft for yourself, to develop your ideas, to see what you can substantiate.<\/p>\n

    You revise with an eye to a reader, so you must give your essay sharpness and clarity.
    \n <\/p>\n

     <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

    Historians Essay Assignment, 204, Fall 2015\u00a0(Word format) Professor: Christopher J. Bilodeau E-mail: bilodeac@dickinson.edu Office: 302 Denny Hall Office Hours: Mondays 2:45-4:00pm, Thursdays 2:45-4:30pm, or by appointment Office Phone: 717 245 1385 Introduction to Historical Methodology History 204, Fall 2015, Wednesdays, 1:30-4:30pm 112 Denny \/ Archives Classroom, Waidner-Spahr Library Historical Methods Essay, Due October 21 Over […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1505,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[119931],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-378","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-historical-methods-essay-assignment","post-preview"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.dickinson.edu\/hist204-fall15\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/378","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.dickinson.edu\/hist204-fall15\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.dickinson.edu\/hist204-fall15\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.dickinson.edu\/hist204-fall15\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1505"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.dickinson.edu\/hist204-fall15\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=378"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.dickinson.edu\/hist204-fall15\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/378\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.dickinson.edu\/hist204-fall15\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=378"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.dickinson.edu\/hist204-fall15\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=378"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.dickinson.edu\/hist204-fall15\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=378"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}