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Guidelines for Writing Good Papers

History 101.002 - Kille
History of the United States to 1865

The papers are conceived as essays in rigorous argumentation. This means that you must imagine a reader who is not sympathetically disposed to your point of view, and try to convince him or her by:

  • the force of your logic (soundness of reasoning);
  • the pertinence and detail of the evidence you give; and
  • the excellence of your prose.

From these criteria you can draw certain practical conclusions. Avoid the temptation to lapse into mere assertions of personal preference of opinion. If you find yourself writing phrases like "I feel," "In my opinion," "I like to think," and so on, cross them out, and ask yourself why you feel that way. In other words, what reasons can you find to justify your feelings? Omit all references to your personal life. By the same token, you should avoid mere expressions of enthusiasm which have no intellectual content, such as "Baroque painting is very beautiful!" or "Versailles is a magnificent palace!"

Make sure that your thesis does not merely state the obvious, or merely repeat the same point made in lecture. Make sure you answer every part of the question.

In an argumentative essay, do not waste time and words on biographical detail or plot summary. Do not tell the reader when the author was born, etc., or give a plot summary. These are substitutes for thought. You want to support your argument with external evidence, whether quoted or paraphrased; but you should be highly selective in the use of quotations. Zero in on the exact line or sentence or phrase, or even the exact word, that supports your argument. The longer the quotation, the longer your commentary on it must be; and in a short paper you must make every sentence count.

No paper of merit can be written perfectly the first time. Good papers must be reread and rewritten before being submitted. Reread your first draft critically, asking yourself if it meets the standards described above. Wherever it does not, wherever you spot padding, or a weak logical link, or sloppy construction, change it. Preparing the paper is thus a process of refinement and improvement with respect to both content and form. Your final version will probably bear only a slight resemblance to your first draft, so great will be the improvements you have made by reading it critically, and rewriting it in a stronger, more convincing form. Errors of grammar and spelling will be the first things you catch and eliminate; there should be no mechanical errors in the final version.

It goes without saying that the paper must be entirely your own work. Copying the words or ideas of another without due acknowledgment is absolutely forbidden. On the other hand, the

UNR Writing Center (EJCH 206 -- ph. 784-6030) will gladly give you advice on how to improve your paper.