Writing History
Hist 691/791
Professor Miller
Herter 614
545-6791
mmiller@history.umass.edu
Spring 2013
Monday, 1:25-3:55
Herter 640
DESCRIPTION
In this class, students will experiment with the tools for writing history for a popular audience. We will cover
the structure of various types of historical writing, the sorts of research that support a convincing argument,
the audiences writing must attract, and the common writing errors that weaken prose. We are fortunate to
have a number of guest speakers – including 2013 Writer in Residnce Robin D.G. Kelley (for more on that
program, of which this course is part, see http://www.umass.edu/history/about/writerinresidence.html),
History News Network founder Rick Shenkman, digital media editor Cathy Stanton, UMass Press editor Clark
Dougan and others-- who will talk about their own approaches to the craft of writing. During the semester,
students will practice the craft of writing as they spend time with successful writers, develop their own writing
projects, and comment on the projects of classmates.
We will also use the course to practice skills as readers of colleagues’ work. Students will be assigned writing
partners, and you will meet with your partner periodically throughout the semester to review work. We will
use Peter Elbow’s classic Writing with Power to guide this element of the course.
Course meetings: Regular attendance at class meetings should go without saying. The quality of your
participation in weekly class discussions will contribute significantly to your final grade, as will the weekly
writings, though the most important graded work will be the semester-length project.
Readings: You may acquire the books assigned in this course any way you wish. I encourage you to patronize
local booksellers, and know that in most cases used copies can be had cheaply online. Article-length readings
for this course will be available electronically, or will be distributed in class.
Peter Elbow, Writing with Power
Tracy Kidder and Richard Todd, Good Prose: The Art of Nonfiction
Robin D.G. Kelley, Thelonious Monk: The Life and Times of an American Original
Susan Rabiner Thinking Like your Editor
William Zinsser, On Writing Well
**[note also that by week 8, March 11, you’re to have read the title of your choice
from the University of Massachusetts Press)
Writing Assignments:
Short Writing: Each week, you’ll submit (before class, to the Moodle site) a 2-page summary of and
response to the past and current week’s reading.
Seminar-length project: Students will spend the semester perfecting a longer writing project, with
several shorter exercises along the way. The final project can be a book proposal, a historical article
for a popular magazine, a blog or website, or a current affairs article for a popular magazine. Other
projects may be appropriate; please check with me before proceeding to work on them. Students
enrolled in the course as Hist 691 should be working primarily from published sources; students
enrolled in the course as Hist 791 must produce a work of scholarship that is original research
grounded in primary sources.
Academic Honesty: Here is the Graduate School Interim Statement on Academic Honesty:
It is expected that all graduate students will abide by the Graduate Student Honor Code and the Academic
Honesty Policy (available at the Graduate Dean’s Office, the Academic Honesty Office (Ombud’s Office) or
online at http://www.umass.edu/gradschool/handbook/univ_policies_regulations_a.htm). Sanctions for acts of
dishonesty range from receiving a grade of F on the paper/exam/assignment or in the course, loss of funding,
being placed on probation or suspension for a period of time, or being dismissed from the University. All
students have the right of appeal through the Academic Honesty Board.
Plagiarism is a serious offense that will result in a failing grade for this course and may lead to your expulsion
from the university. If you are having trouble in this class let me know. We can address the problem together.
Whatever difficulties you are having will be much easier to fix than the problems that will arise from a charge
of plagiarism.
Statement on Disability: The University of Massachusetts Amherst is committed to providing an equal
educational opportunity for all students. If you have a documented physical, psychological, or learning
disability on file with Disability Services (DS), Learning Disabilities Support Services (LDSS), or Psychological
Disabilities Services (PDS), you may be eligible for reasonable academic accommodations to help you succeed
in this course. If you have a documented disability that requires an accommodation, please notify me within
the first two weeks of the semester so that we may make appropriate arrangements.
Schedule
Jan 28: Week 1: Introduction: How, why, when to write
Assignment:
Please bring in two works of history written for non-academic audiences that you
enjoyed reading. They should each reflect different genres (e.g., narrative nonfiction, historical fiction, newspaper editorial, blog post, magazine article, etc.) Prior
to class, look closely at a couple of your favorite passages in each, and see if you can
uncover the mechanics of how the author went from raw materials to first draft to
finished product. We will discuss what makes these works effective and how they
could be improved.
Feb 4: Week 2:
Reading:
Good Prose
Kidder and Todd, Good Prose: The Art of Nonfiction
Patricia Limerick, “Dancing with Professors” and “A How-To Guide for the Academic
Going Public,” and “Limerick’s Rules of Verbal Etiquette” from Something in the Soil.
(on Moodle Site)
Lexi Lord, “Writing for History Buffs”
http://chronicle.com/article/Writing-for-History-Buffs/132755/
Feb 11: Week 3:
Framing a Book-length Project
Reading:
Susan Rabiner, Thinking Like Your Editor
Book Proposals for various titles; I will provide.
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Feb 19:Week 4 (NOTE: DUE TO HOLIDAY, THIS IS A TUESDAY): Blogging History
GUEST: Cathy Stanton
Reading:
Jack Dougherty and Kristen Nawrotzki, Writing History in the Digital Age
http://writinghistory.trincoll.edu/ [browse]
Stanton, http://historyatthetable.blogspot.com/ and
http://historyonwheels.blogspot.com/
Browse:
“1775, ” by J.L. Bell
Please browse the links at http://blog.historians.org/news/1546/best-historyblogging-tweeting-and-podcasting-winners-of-the-2012-cliopatria-awards
Assignment:
In addition to the 2-page response paper, submit a 2-3pp. pitch of your proposed
final paper topic and your strategy for seeing it through.
Feb 25: Week 5:
Writing short
GUEST: Lexi Lord
Reading:
Articles by Jill Lepore on the New Yorker website
Common-Place (http://www.common-place.org/; browse several issues)
The Ultimate History Project (http://www.ultimatehistoryproject.com/)
Articles by Robin D.G. Kelley (Moodle site)
Assignment:
Instead of the usual 2-page response this week, develop an anatomy of the
successful short article. Map out at least 3 of these short pieces of writing (3 Lepore
pieces or 3 articles from Common-Place or TUHP). What can you discern about their
structure? How long is the Intro and what does it do? The Conclusion? How is the
information delivered?
Writing Partners/Groups formed
March 4: Week 6:
GUEST: Writer-in-Residence Robin D.G. Kelley
Reading:
Thelonious Monk: The Life and Times of an American Original
Class will be based on the questions you bring to it. Keep it lively.
NOTE: You are also expected to be in attendance the following day (Tuesday, March
5th) at 4:00 p.m. when Professor Kelley presents his public lecture in the Cape Cod
Lounge. Please mark your calendar.
March 11: Week 7
More on the booklength project:
GUEST: Clark Dougan, UMass Press
Reading:
Beth Luey, Expanding the American Mind: Books and the Popularization of
Knowledge [selections]
ALSO: Please go to the UMass Press website, and review some of the recent
catalogs at http://www.umass.edu/umpress/booksellers-librarians/catalogs. Please
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gain a sense of recent titles, to help inform your participation in this discussion and
also choose one to read in full before this class meeting.
March 18-26
Spring Break, no class
March 25: Week 8:
Reading:
No Class: meet with writing partners to exchange first drafts of final projects.
Zinsser, On Writing Well; and Elbow, Part IV and Part V
NOTE: no 2-page papers due—instead, focus on exchange of work
April 1: Week 9:
The Magazine World: The editorial & freelancer’s p.o.v.
GUEST: Mel Allen, editor, Yankee Magazine; and Holly Izard, freelance writer
Readings TBA
Assignment: Select 1-2 magazines that publish history content (e.g. American
Heritage, Piecework, Yankee, Early American Life, etc) and write a 2-page response
that contemplates the nature of magazine articles in which historical insight is
shared with popular audiences.
April 8: Week 10:
Browse:
Read:
Writing an Op-Ed
GUEST: Rick Shenkman, editor-in-chief, History News Network
http://hnn.us/
guidelines posted at HNN for submissions:
http://hnn.us/articles/41637.html
guidelines posted at the website of the History News Service:
http://historynewsservice.org/submission-guidelines/
op ed by historian Jonathan Zimmerman:
http://www.newsday.com/opinion/oped/zimmerman-when-candidates-wont-facefacts-1.3133248
op ed on HNN by historian Gil Troy:
http://www.historynewsnetwork.com/articles/122719.html
April 15:
Patriot’s Day Holiday: NO CLASS
April 17: Week 11
Monday classes meet on Wednesday, but we will NOT MEET AS A CLASS THIS
WEEK: instead, writing partners/groups will meet to continue to exchange work.
April 22: Week 12:
Presentation of Projects, Round 1
April 29: Week 13:
LAST CLASS: Presentation of Projects, Round 2, & Final meeting: reflection,
discussion of final projects, plans for future
All final projects due.
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