Name __________________________
Date ___________________________
Period __________________________
What Is Historical Writing?
"Historical" writing is not exactly the same as writing in other social sciences, in literature, or in the
natural sciences. Though all follow the general thesis and evidence model, historical writing also
depends a great deal on situating evidence and arguments correctly in time and space. Avoid grand
statements about humanity in general, and be careful of theories which fit all cases. Make a point of
using evidence with attention to specificity of time and place, i.e. "context."
Steps in Preparing an Historical Essay
1. UNDERSTAND THE QUESTION BEING ASKED
Pay attention to the question that is being asked - Make sure you are answering that question.
2. PREPARE THE MATERIAL.
Begin reading (or re-reading) your texts or documents - Obviously, you cannot write a good paper if
you haven't done the research.
3. FIRST DRAFT
As you write, pay attention to the following points:
 Organize your ideas on paper before actually writing
 Be attentive to paragraph construction and order. Paragraphs should have strong topic sentences
and be several sentences long. They must include specific facts to support the paragraphs main
idea
 Pay attention to transitions: when you switch to a new argument, let the reader know with a new
topic sentence. Don't make your reader guess where you are going or what you are trying to say;
the purpose of an essay is to communicate and to convince.
 Take time with your conclusion, which should close and summarize your arguments. NOTHING
NEW!
4. DRAFTS AND FINAL DRAFT
Yes these should actually exist! You are generally given more than enough time to do research,
create an outline, a first draft, and a final draft
BASIC STRUCTURE
1. An essay must have an introductory paragraph (with background information) that sets the timeframe
of the essay and a thesis that has the main points of your argument will be. An essay must also have a
conclusion (at least a paragraph in length) that sums up its most important arguments. In short, over
the course of your essay, you must tell readers what you are going to say, say it (with detailed facts),
and then tell them what you have said
2. Paragraphs are the building blocks of an essay. Each paragraph should contain a single general idea
or topic, along with accompanying explanations and evidence relevant to it. Each paragraph,
moreover, has a topic sentence (usually the first sentence) that tells the reader what the paragraph is
about.
3. Do not write one-, two-, or three-sentence paragraphs. Paragraphs have topics, introductory
sentences, evidence, and conclusions.
4. Do not write two- or three-page paragraphs. A paragraph generally explores a single idea, rather than
a dozen.
GRAMMAR
1. Avoid colloquialisms (e.g., cool, kind of, totally, hung up on, OK, sort of, etc.)
2. On the other hand, do not use antiquated or obscure words that you are not sure what these words
mean.
3. Avoid contractions (e.g., don't, can't) in a formal written piece of work
4. When you first discuss an author or historical figure, use first and last name. After this, you are free to
use last name only.
5. Avoid the use of “I” or any of its forms. You want your reader to feel that your point of view about a
particular subject comes from the available evidence, and not from your own personal response. It is
your job as a student to figure out what evidence led to your position on a subject, and then to
explain fully why it led you there.
6. All punctuation marks go inside quotation marks. (Correct: "like this." Incorrect: "like this".)
7. Avoid excessive exclamation points!!!!!
8. Use parallel construction – (staying with the same tense)
9. Either underline or italicize all book titles and foreign words.
MLA Format: In-text Citations

Basic In-Text Citation Rules
o In MLA style, referring to the works of others in your text is done by using what is known as
parenthetical citation. This method involves placing relevant source information in
parentheses after a quote or a paraphrase.
 General Guidelines
o The source information required in a parenthetical citation depends (1.) upon the source
medium (e.g. Print, Web, DVD) and (2.) upon the source’s entry on the Works Cited
(bibliography) page.
o Any source information that you provide in-text must correspond to the source information on
the Works Cited page. More specifically, whatever signal word or phrase you provide to your
readers in the text, must be the first thing that appears on the left-hand margin of the
corresponding entry in the Works Cited List.
In-Text Citations: Author-Page Style
 MLA format follows the author-page method of in-text citation. This means that the author's last
name and the page number(s) from which the quotation or paraphrase is taken must appear in
the text, and a complete reference should appear on your Works Cited page. The author's name
may appear either in the sentence itself or in parentheses following the quotation or paraphrase,
but the page number(s) should always appear in the parentheses, not in the text of your
sentence. For example:
Wordsworth stated that Romantic poetry was marked by a "spontaneous overflow of
powerful feelings" (263).
Romantic poetry is characterized by the "spontaneous overflow of powerful
feelings" (Wordsworth 263).Wordsworth extensively explored the role of emotion in
the creative process (263).

Both citations in the examples above, (263) and (Wordsworth 263), tell readers that the
information in the sentence can be located on page 263 of a work by an author named
Wordsworth. If readers want more information about this source, they can turn to the Works Cited
page, where, under the name of Wordsworth, they would find the following information:
Wordsworth, William. Lyrical Ballads. London: Oxford U.P., 1967. Print.