Step 4:
Write a paper
After research comes production. Historians produce history in numerous forms, from documentaries
to museum exhibits to interactive websites to Twitter threads. Most commonly, however, they write
articles and books. Just so, drawing on your research in both primary and secondary sources, you
should write a paper that explores how your subject helps answer your larger research question. You
will have the opportunity to write a first draft, participate in peer review, and revise your final draft.
Requirements:
Contents: Your paper should include relevant biographical information about your subject.
Remember, however, that you are studying that person for a reason: to learn what his
or her life can teach us about some aspect of American history. Therefore, a historical
argument—not just chronology and biographical details—should drive your paper.
You should devote most of your paper to providing argumentation and evidence
supporting your interpretation—your understanding of the events, how and why they
unfolded as they did, and what they mean. You should also take time to reflect on the
significance of this history, whether for you personally or for some aspect of society
more broadly.
Specifications: The paper should extend from 4 to 5 double-spaced pages in length (please include
page numbers) using 12-point Times New Roman and one-inch margins. Please title
your paper, but there is no need to include a title page.
Research: You should substantively engage the book you reviewed, the primary source you
analyzed, and—to ensure you encounter multiple perspectives—at least two more
reliable primary or secondary sources. While you are welcome (and even encouraged)
to include more sources, you should focus on the quality of your sources and the depth
of your engagement with them rather than mere quantity. Typically, substantive
engagement includes using quotations and specific examples.
Citations: Please cite your sources using footnotes following the Chicago Manual of Style (17th ed.)
and list them in a bibliography at the end of your paper. Your bibliography should
include working links to all your sources. For books, you may link to Payson Library
catalog entries or to the relevant websites on Google Books, Amazon.com, etc.
AI policy: You should not use AI tools to write your paper in its entirety, nor should you let them
steal from you the opportunity to do the hard work of forming your own judgments,
developing the logic of your historical argument, and reflecting on what that history
means. You may, however, use AI tools to help you in those tasks and to refine your
efforts. This means that, as with the previous assignments, you may use these tools to
help with brainstorming, outlining, drafting, and revising. The research, argument, and
claims to significance should still come from you. Please document any use of AI tools,
either in the text or as a note. See here and here for advice about such documentation.
