Extended Essay in History
Initial tips from Þorsteinn and
Guðmundur
The Research Question
• Is it suitable?
– Can it be asked and answered?
– Is it worthwhile to answer?
• Dangerous research questions:
– Those that are too wide.
– Those that are “obivous.”
– Those that you can not answer due to lack of sources
available to you.
– Those that are too narrow.
– Those that are subjective.
– Those that are purely hypothetical (pseudo history)
Bad Questions and Topics
• How did the Versailles treaty affect world history?
– too ... ?
• How was Jónas frá Hriflu dressed at his funeral?
– too ... ?
• Who was Adolf Hitler and what was he like?
– too ... ?
• Why was Joseph Stalin so cruel?
– too ... ?
• Would Germany have gone to war without Hitler?
– too ... ?
• Governmental phone taps in 1990s Iceland: extent and
purpose.
– too ... ?
Forms of Research
• Don’t restrict yourself to a narrative!
– This is perhaps the most common problem with
history essays
– The point of a research essay is not simply to tell a
story – regardless of whether it has a happy ending or
not.
• Comparitive essay
– Compare and contrast examples A and B with regards
to question X.
• Bibliographical essay
– What has the historiagraphical development been like
in a certain narrow topic.
Two Actual Questions
• How was the Holy Roman a continuation
of the Roman Empire?
– Problems with definitions (“what’s a ‘Roman’
Empire”) and sources (nobody has claimed
this directly since the 19th century).
• How did the Western Icelanders manage
to create a distinctly Icelandic colony in
Canada?
– Problems of defintions – what does it mean to
be ‘distinctly Icelandic’.
Two more
• How important was Diocletian in the history of
Rome?
– This one isn’t half bad ... if rephrased and answered
well.
– E.g. “Did Diocletian’s rule save the Roman Empire?”
• How important was the role of the Orthodox
Church in the creation of Moscow Russia?
– This one is actually quite good.
Quotations and citations
• When refering the reader to your sources
it is customary in history to use footnotes
– Ixnay on the racketbay!
• Direct quotations:
– Placed in quotation marks.
– Used to ‘spice up’ the text
• Citations:
– Used much more than quotations.
– Save up valuable space
Working habits and tips
• Keep your sources at a distance
– Talk to your sources – don’t let them dictate to you
– Remember that they are not absolute truths – you should
evaluate them not let them control you
• Photocopy the title page of every book you borrow from
the library
– This will save you valuable time later on – you will need the full
title, place and date of publication later on.
• Start building the bibliography right away
– Time saving!
• Once you quote someone put in a reference right away
– This way you won’t have to look for the source later on
– And remember ... use footnotes!