History 495: Writing Women’s Lives
Final Paper Guidelines and Assignments
1. The first step in writing your final paper or designing your final project is to define your topic and
locate your sources. These are related goals since you will not be able to pursue a topic for which you
cannot find sufficient source material. Each of you should meet with me to discuss your ideas for the
paper and get individual help. The purpose of this meeting will be to help you to design a prospectus and
bibliography. In this assignment, you should define your topic and focus. For example: My topic is
western women. My focus is western women’s domestic labor. You should also locate your most
important sources. The single most important source is the body of primary (first-hand) historical
material, such as oral histories, diaries, letters, newspaper accounts, etc. In this assignment, you should
identify your principal primary source. For example: My major primary source will be Janet
Lecompte, ed., Emily, the Diary of a Hard-Worked Woman. Finally, your prospectus should
include a tentative bibliography or list of sources (I will be happy to help you get started on this). You
should divide your bibliography into primary and secondary source materials, and you should provide
complete publishing information (author, title, publishing place and house, date) for each source. In this
assignment I will be evaluating the following: choice of topic and clarity of focus; appropriateness of
primary source(s); feasibility of proposed paper/project; and list of secondary sources.
2. The next stage, after completing a satisfactory prospectus and bibliography, is for you to do your
research. You should begin your research immediately after spring break, if not sooner. However, your
next assignments have to do with initial presentations of your research. This will take two forms: oral
and written. The written portion is the rough draft. You should expect to write several drafts, and you
may hand in as many rough drafts as you like prior to the deadline for a rough draft if you want
additional feedback. The required rough draft should not be a first draft! For the rough draft, I will
evaluate: graceful introduction and conclusion; clear thesis statement in introduction; follow-through of
thesis throughout paper via topic sentences and closing sentences for each paragraph; use of primary
sources; and use of secondary sources. I will also alert you to problems such as an overly ambitious
topic, poor grammar or spelling, unclear organization, and inadequate documentation.
3. The oral segment is the class presentation of your research. This consists of a 10-minute discussion
of your major questions (what you wanted to find out), your research process (how you went about
researching the topic), and your conclusions (what you found). The class presentation is an opportunity
for you to share your findings with the group and to get constructive criticism from your classmates.
Thus, while I will evaluate your presentation, this assignment also requires each of you to evaluate your
peers. In both my evaluations and peer evaluations, the primary criteria will be: the material of the
presentation (what does the presenter have to tell us? is s/he well-informed on her/his chosen subject?);
the clarity of the presentation (is the argument clear? is the evidence clearly organized?); and the style of
the presentation (is the speaker prepared? does s/he present the information is a coherent fashion? does
s/he stick to the time allotment for the presentation?).
4. The final assignment is the final paper. In addition to the assigned book on Writing History, I also
recommend that you consult The Chicago Manual of Style and Strunk and White's Elements of Style. An
organizational guide is also attached for your reference. On the final paper, I will evaluate: introduction
and conclusion; thesis statement and follow-through; organization and transitions; use of primary
sources; use of secondary sources; grammar; proofreading; documentation; and writing style. I will
expect all final written assignments to be presented in a professional manner, by which I mean clearly
typed or laser-quality printed on clean paper, stapled or otherwise collected, and complete with your
name and the title of the paper. Pages should be numbered.
Research Paper Structure
Introduction
Generalizations/thesis statement
Brief rehearsal of paper’s main points/contribution
Thesis statement
Historiography
Other scholars’ interpretations
Your contribution
Methodology/Sources
Sources (type, place, time period, etc.)
Nature of sources (potential flaws, usefulness, etc.)
Body of Paper (remaining paragraphs should each follow this formula)
Transition sentence/phrase (when necessary to smooth shift in topic)
Topic sentence (what is the point of the paragraph?)
Evidence (provide exact citations for all material, not just quotes!)
Analysis of evidence (how does it demonstrate the topic sentence)
Connection to thesis (how does the topic sentence relate to the thesis statement)
Conclusion
Restatement of thesis statement
Summary of body of paper
So what? (why should we care?)