Research Paper Assignment
The Assignment:
Your task is to conduct independent research that goes beyond what we do in class. You will learn,
through your own reading, something that adds to, complicates, or even contradicts what we have read or
said in class. Using this independent reading you will write a short paper that makes a clear argument and
then supports it with a few well-chosen details, facts, examples, or events.
The purpose of these papers is to show how all historical arguments and stories are incomplete and
imperfect. There is always more that could be said, and there are almost always reasons to doubt any big
claim. Historians weigh evidence carefully and think about what stories are most important, and why –
and this what you do in these papers. You will learn through your own research, then decide what is most
important to say, and then express it clearly for the reader.
The Format:
Papers should be clearly and correctly written. They need a clear argument or thesis, as well as details
that explain what that argument means or how it works or what it looks like. They should connect to class
content in some way, either building on what we have learned, disagreeing with it, or looking in more
detail into something we studied quickly. Papers should be about 600 words long (about 2 pages).
Papers should:
– Have a clear thesis.
– Support that thesis with evidence, relevant details, or examples.
– Cite sources with footnotes. For example: “W.M. Cavert’s book is unpersuasive and thinly
researched. Even his opening page is full of inaccurate claims.”1 Or: “Cavert’s book is, most
experts agree, the greatest history book written in the twenty-first century. Chapter 6 is especially
brilliant.”2 For examples of how footnotes should look use the course page on the library website,
linked on Canvas under “research papers.”
I ADDED THE SOURCE I HAVE TO USE IN THE FILES. I UPLOADED THE INTRODUCTION AND FIRST HALF THAT YOU CAN USE FOR IT. YOU MUST USE THIS RESOURCE FOR THE BOOK. THE BOOK IS CALLED “A COMPANION TO AMERICAN WOMEN’S HISTORY”, BLACKWELL COMPANIONS, BY NANCY A. HEWITT. MUST USE THIS SOURCE ONLY!!!!!!!
