You are required to submit a research paper or a historiographical essay on any topic related to the themes of this course that interests you. If you choose to write a research paper, you must identify and draw on primary sources, in addition to secondary works. All papers must be accompanied by notes and a bibliography, citing all sources of information used in the paper.
The paper should be 4-5 pages long, double spaced, and should include footnotes and a bibliography (not part of the 4-5 pages). You should also use a minimum of 1 primary source scholarly article and 2 primary source books. I encourage you to utilize online sources (see below), but be sure to document the website address in all cases, and put any direct quotes in quotation marks. If you don’t, I will catch you. The penalty for serious misuse of sources is an F on the paper and an F for your participation grade.
Resources: You can look for journal articles in JSTOR and Academic Universe or search for books by clicking the “all CUNY libraries”section when on the online library catalog. It is best to drop the article when searching for a specific title (Ex. “The Great Lady” and search for “Great Lady” instead). Wikipedia is not a reliable source.
Note: A historiographical essay is one which summarizes and analyzes the arguments and interpretations of writers on a given topic. A research paper is an expanded essay that presents your own interpretation or evaluation or argument. When you write an essay, you use everything that you personally know and have thought about a subject. When you write a research paper you build upon what you know about the subject and make a deliberate attempt to find out what experts know.You are required to submit a research paper or a historiographical essay on any topic related to the themes of this course that interests you. If you choose to write a research paper, you must identify and draw on primary sources, in addition to secondary works. All papers must be accompanied by notes and a bibliography, citing all sources of information used in the paper.
