Writing History Essays

This course equips students from the Division of History with the skills to craft essays about historical works at the undergraduate level. Through a closely linked series of written assignments, students will learn to approach writing more purposefully at all points of the writing process, especially while choosing and developing an argument. Extending upon general principles of essay writing, the course focuses on issues that pertain to the study and analysis of historical texts. Students will be able to write a short research paper based on direct historical sources (primary texts) and critical sources (secondary texts). They will also learn various modes of writing history essays and will be able to distinguish between describing and explaining historical phenomena. They will be encouraged to write according to Chicago style, while writing in their own voice and for their own intellectual fulfillment.