Historical Essay Writing

What best describes the importance of reflecting before writing an essay?

• This will afford you the time to think of and jot down some quick notes on the thesis you want to establish, the evidence you plan to marshal to support your thesis, and the organizational structure that will best allow you to present your essay's argument.

• This will allow you to analyze the importance of varying your sentence structure, varying your sentence length, varying your verb choice (avoid the passive voice and over-reliance on "to be" verb constructions), and to develop smooth transitions between logically organized paragraphs.

• This will ensure that each body paragraph should include a topic or summary sentence and appropriate transitions between paragraphs. Throughout the body of the paper, be sure to give enough context to introduce each source you discuss, and thoroughly address the documents you have been assigned.

• Since evidence does not stand alone; it does not speak for itself. Rather, it requires explication. It requires, as well, that you connect it to your thesis. Remember that you bring evidence in support of your thesis and evidence that's evidence that does not serve that purpose should be excluded.

What best describes why it is imperative to develop a clear, analytically rigorous thesis statement in response to the question?

• Your thesis substantiates or supports an essay's main idea; while it unifies the content of a paragraph and directs the order of the sentences; and it advises the reader of the subject to be discussed and how the paragraph will discuss it.

• Your thesis wraps up your writing by summarizing the main idea for your readers, which brings your writing to a smooth close and creates a well-written piece of work.

• Your thesis is the analytic heart and soul of your essay and should be clearly laid out in your essay's introductory paragraph because it establishes the argument / interpretation you propose to advance / defend over the course of your essay.

• Your thesis fully develops and provides supporting details in the form of personal examples, statistics, and/or quotes from an expert.

Which of the following is the best thesis for the question: How and why did Anne Hutchinson pose a threat to the established structures of power and authority in Puritan Massachusetts?

• The leaders of Anne Hutchinson's community not only felt uneasy about Anne Hutchinson's role as a public figure, but were further threatened by her belief that individuals could communicate directly with God.

• Anne Hutchinson posed a threat to the power and authority of the Puritan leadership because she was a woman, a popular preacher, and because of her religious convictions.

• While many Puritan leaders were uneasy about the involvement of women outside the traditional female sphere, Anne Hutchinson’s preaching that every individual had the ability to communicate directly with God posed a threat to the ecclesiastical hierarchy in Massachusetts, which based its power and authority on its role as mediator between God and the congregation.

• Anne Hutchinson posed a threat to the established structures of power and authority in Puritan Massachusetts.

What supports the best benefit of marshaling and explicating historical evidence with historical details?

• Evidence allows you to inform the reader that you know and understand historical information and data from a variety of sources.

• Evidence does not stand alone nor does it speak for itself. Rather, it requires a demonstration of analyzing and developing an idea or principle in detail as well establishing a connection to your thesis.

• Evidence demonstrates that you have a superficial knowledge and understanding of how history reflects the occurrences of a society at any given point in time.

• Evidence affords you the opportunity to demonstrate that you understand the general idea of the prompt, while allowing you to establish generic references that support the thesis.

Which of the following best rationalizes the use of an outline for your essay?

• The development of an organizational structure provides the reader with something to examine to make sure that you planned out your essay.

• The development of an organizational structure will best

  allow you to support your thesis by assisting you in creating logical transitions for your essay.

• The development of an organizational structure does not assist in the support your thesis and will inhibit logical transitions for your essay.

• Even though the development of an organizational structure will will create support for your thesis, it takes up too much time and limits your ability to write an effective essay in a timely manner.

Why should you write with an academic audience in mind?

• Your primary audience are your classmates and perhaps your teacher. You classmates may be knowledgeable about history, but not necessarily a specialist in the documents you are analyzing.

• Your primary audience is someone who understands very little in mind, therefore the paper must explain that you are knowledgeable about history.

• Anybody could read this paper, therefore you must ensure that they know only the basic historical concepts associated with the paper.

• Your primary audience is your teacher and perhaps your classmates. You teacher is knowledgeable about history, but not necessarily a specialist in the documents you are analyzing.

In a Document Based Essay, which of the following best explains how to use the evidence in your paper?

• Evidence to support your paper comes from the documents and should be used to assist your argument. Therefore, analysis of how the documents support your argument is essential.

• Since, various documents are provided for your paper, the paper should specifically focus on writing about the evidence. You must write a lengthy description or summary of documents.

• The evidence provided is there for you to have a better understanding of the prompt. Therefore, you do not have analyze the documents.

• Since, all of the documents are historical in nature, there is no need to use any documents because they discuss what happened in the past and that has no value to us anymore.

Which of the following descriptive sets best addresses the conclusion?

• Summarize, Explain, and Satisfy the Introduction.

• Simply Summarize, Ask further Questions and Make Vague Comments.

• Summarize, Explain, and Make Vague Comments.

• Summarize, Introduce Forgotten Material, and Satisfy the Introduction.

Choose all of the following that supports writing in a formal and academic voice.

• Avoid passive voice as much as possible.

• Use “I” sparingly, and only when referencing your own ideas.

• Use only the first names of people referred to in the paper.

• Avoid “you,” as it is not formal enough–and it can be somewhat confusing.

Which of the following formatting and citation style is most appropriate for history?

• APA (American Psychological Association)

• AMA (American Medical Association)

• Chicago Manual of Style/Turabian

• MLA (Modern Language Association)