What are primary and secondary sources?

Primary sources are direct evidence of the past, but they are not always true. Sometimes they are false on purpose. Other times they may leave out crucial information. Sources can be biased and/or contain unstated assumptions. Additionally, secondary sources can often contradict one another. It’s possible for two historians to examine the same sources and interpret them in a different manner. Similarly, historians can attempt to answer the same questions using different sources or by using different methods to gather, evaluate, and interpret evidence. Therefore, all sources must be evaluated to be used.

Criteria of Historical Writing

Before you begin your writing task/project, consult the assignment prompt once again, and make sure that you understand its directions. If you are unclear about the expectations for your essay, ask your teacher for clarification. Professional historians have generally agreed on a number of conventions, or practices, that distinguish history writing from writing in other academic disciplines. As you compose or revise your history paper, consider these guidelines:

• Write in the past tense. Some students have been taught to enliven their prose by writing in the “literary present” tense. Such prose, while acceptable in other disciplines, represents poor historical thinking. Since all historical events (including the composition of primary and secondary sources) took place at some point in the past, write about them in the past tense. 

• Avoid vague generalizations. Historians value specificity, not equivocal phrases like “once upon a time” or “people always say that….”  

• Avoid presentism or anachronisms. Resist the temptation to relate all historical arguments or concerns back to the present. Rather, investigate the past on its own terms. Take care not to jumble the chronological order of events. 

• Treat your historical subject with respect. Aspire to understand, rather than judge, the past. Remember that historical actors were not privy to contemporary values or assumptions and that no historical generation (including our own) is perfect. 

• Paraphrase if you can, quote if you must. Many students rely on quotations as a crutch, missing an opportunity to develop their skills of historical analysis. Instead, quote sparingly. When you do quote, introduce the source and context of every remark for the benefit of an unfamiliar reader. 

• Provide necessary context. Good historical writing involves active commentary and rigorous engagement with the material. As a historian, you are responsible for interrogating sources, interpreting evidence, and reporting your findings about the interplay of text and context. 

• Use MLA citations. Historians generally use footnotes or endnotes (in keeping with the Chicago humanities style) to provide references or supplemental information. Sandwich High School, however, specifically uses MLA format which requires parenthetical citations and a works cited page. Remember that your credibility and integrity as a scholar is at stake. Refer to your English class Style Guides for guidance.

• Write in a formal, academic voice. Avoid using the first or second person (e.g., “I” and “you”), and shy away from passive sentence constructions. Phrases such as “I think” or “in my opinion” are redundant in expository writing. 

• Proofread, proofread, proofread. Your readers will thank you.

Harvard College Writing Center, and Dan Wewers. “A Brief Guide to Writing the History Paper.” Writing Center Brief Guide Series, 2007, writingproject.fas.harvard.edu/files/hwp/files/bg_writing_history.pdf. Accessed 24 Feb. 2017. 

Assessment Questions

Short Answer Questions

DESCRIPTION: Short answer questions (SAQs) require students to hone their historical thinking skills to a target goal. These questions will ask students to provide detailed answers using a scaffold (A, B, C). They can include source documents or historical interpretations.

SAMPLE PROMPTS: 

1. (A) Briefly explain ONE important similarity between the British colonies in the Chesapeake region and the British colonies in New England in the period from 1607 to 1754. 

(B) Briefly explain ONE important difference between the British colonies in the Chesapeake region and the British colonies in New England in the period from 1607 to 1754. 

(C) Briefly explain ONE factor that accounts for the difference that you indicated in (b).

2. (A) Briefly explain why ONE of the following best marks the beginning of industrialization in the United States. 

• The market revolution in the first half of the 1800s 

• The Civil War era in the middle of the 1800s 

• The rise of big business in the second half of the 1800s 

(B) Provide ONE example of an event or development that supports your explanation in (a). 

(C) Provide specific historical evidence that explains why ONE of the other options is less convincing as the possible beginning of industrialization in the United States.

Long Essay Questions

DESCRIPTION: Long essay questions (LEQs) provide students with traditional essay prompts that ask students to assess validity, evaluate positions, interpret sources, analyze events, compare perspectives, etc. Documents are not provided. Students rely on outside information to provide evidence to support their thesis. 

SAMPLE PROMPTS: 

1.       Discuss the development of the railroad business during the last half of the nineteenth century in the United States, and explain how railroad companies manifested the structure and problems of American corporations during that period. (Causation, Interpretation)

2.       Analyze the role played by immigration in transforming the urban social fabric of the United States between 1870 and 1900. (Causation)

Document-based Questions

DESCRIPTION: Prompts for DBQs (document-based questions) are similar to those for LEQs. They ask students to use a select number of primary and secondary sources to support a clear thesis. Outside historical information may also be included.  Students will identify the historic context, purpose, point of view, and intended audience of sources used. 

SAMPLE PROMPTS: 

1.       Using the documents provided, explain the reasons why a new conservatism rose to prominence in the United States between 1960 and 1989.

2.       The 1920’s were a period of tension between new and changing attitudes on the one hand and traditional values and nostalgia on the other. What led to the tension between old and new and in what ways was the tension manifested? 

Things to Avoid

Lack of concrete argument: If your thesis statement is not something that could be disagreed with, it is probably not a real argument (certainly not a strong one). A true thesis is not a statement of fact; rather, it answers a complex question. A strong thesis specifically addresses the “whys,” “hows,” and/or “so whats.” 

• NOT a thesis: Decolonization began in the 1950s. 

• Weak thesis: World War II caused decolonization. 

• Strong thesis: The experience of fighting fascism in World War II stimulated nationalist movements in Africa and Asia to push for independence. 

Lack of evidence: Support all of your points with detailed examples. Don’t simply state that a document proves your point; tell the reader exactly how and why this piece of evidence applies to the argument you are making. 

• Bad example: Marx and Engels said that economic forces were the main drivers of history. 

• Good example: By asserting that the National Assembly “abolished feudal property in favor of bourgeois property,” Marx and Engels reinterpreted the causes and consequences of the French Revolution to emphasize social and economic factors over purely political ones. 

Lack of analysis: Make sure you get beneath the surface of things. Be critical, and keep in mind that critical thinking is sophisticated, but not necessarily negative—critical minds can, in fact, still agree! Do not parrot your sources; rather take the time to deconstruct them, figure out what they are really about, why they say what they do, how they make their case. Always discuss the significance of the points you raise, tell the reader exactly why things are interesting and/or important. 

• Example: The 1917 Corfu Declaration proclaimed that the Serbs, Croats, and Slovenes “constitute[] but one nation.” This notion of uniting disparate groups into a single polity went against the overwhelming current of breaking multinational states apart in the aftermath of the First World War. 

Lack of counter-arguments: The strongest essays take the time to consider what others might argue—or have argued—against their thesis or supporting points. Explain why another author’s interpretation is less compelling, or why a particular primary document should be understood in a different way. This type of analysis comes most naturally when doing comparative work (contrasting two sources), but can serve any type of historical writing. 

Vagueness: Avoid empty generalizations, truisms, or broad unsupported declarations. These are most often found in essay introductions, where students launch into grand, sweeping claims. Statements like these are uninteresting—and often untrue upon deeper reflection. Get as specific as possible in your thesis, your supporting points, and your characterization of your evidence. 

• Tip: If you have a sentence that begins with “Throughout history,” “Since the beginning of time,” “All humans,” or “Everybody knows,” you are most likely committing this fault. 

Unclear actors: Clarify who did what. Use specific nouns where possible. Make sure that your pronouns agree with their grammatical antecedents. Avoid overusing the passive voice, which can give the impression that there are no clear actors or agency. 

• Passive voice: The legislators of the Bolivian Constitution were given instructions on how to frame its content. Active voice: Bolivar instructed the Constitutional Congress how to frame the new constitution. 

Sloppy chronology: Most of your assignments will focus on interpretation over recitation. That is, we care how you think about things, not merely what you know about them. This does not, however, mean that the facts don’t matter. Double-check your dates in particular: you don’t want to waste time building an argument where Idea A caused Event B…if Event B occurred first. 

• Tip: To keep the timeline clear for yourself and your readers, you can give dates in parentheses for events, publications, reigns, lifetimes, etc.: Qin Shi Huang (260-210 BCE), Suleiman I (r. 1520- 1566), Darwin’s On the Origin of the Species (1859), the Algerian War (1954-1962). Another tip: When referring to decades or centuries, do not use apostrophes: 1760s, 1800s. A corollary: spell out numbers smaller than one hundred; “twentieth century,” not “20th.” 

Tangents: Every point in your essay should support your argument; every sentence in your paragraphs should advance the point you are trying to make. Cut out pieces that are irrelevant. Cut anything that doesn’t serve a clear purpose in your essay. If you make a really interesting point, but can’t integrate it into the logical flow of your essay, you should cut that too (but make a note to yourself, in case it’s useful later on!), or figure out how to rework your argument and structure so that it does fit. 

Jargon: Formal writing does not need to be stuffy. As much as you work to clean your writing of the above informality flaws, don’t over-correct so as to become stilted and pretentious. Avoid relying on jargon. In particular, don’t name-drop theories or theorists without good reason. Writing that is over-wrought or overly-complicated usually cloaks weak ideas or sloppy analysis. The most important thing is that you are clear. 

Anachronism/presentism: Be careful not to judge historical actors by contemporary standards or to assume that they knew, understood, or had access to ideas and resources that only existed after their time. In particular, avoid moralizing: cheap condemnation and self-righteous assertions will not take you into productive historical analysis. 

• Example: You won’t get very far by being outraged that most political thinkers of the Enlightenment did not concern themselves with questions about slavery. A better line of inquiry might be to ask what further changes occurred over the course of the eighteenth century to encourage the rise of abolitionism. 

Lack of proofreading: Take the time to read over your work! Correct spelling errors (including the ones that spellcheck won’t catch, like “form” instead of “from”); double-check your grammar (be especially careful with mistakes your instructors have already highlighted in previous assignments); make sure that your argument flows and that your thesis, introduction, and conclusion all reflect the body of your essay; read your essay aloud to catch run-on sentences, awkward constructions, and uneven transitions. 

Informality: In your essays, don’t do not use contractions. Avoid colloquialisms or slang (“Gandhi was groovy!”), popular abbreviations (“FWIW”), and overuse of first-person pronouns (“I, “we”).

Source: Byrnes, Melissa. Guide for Writing in History. Southwestern University, 2016. Web. 19 May 2017.