African Slave Trade (in Africa)
Guidelines for the Term Paper:
Objective: You will be provided with a primary source from the Professor, and write a paper explaining the context of the source, utilizing at least 2-3 academic secondary sources. Why is the person you are writing about important? What is the person doing that is important? Are they advocating political, economic, cultural, social, or military change? Is your source actively influencing events in history? Is it observing people and events from afar? What might they discuss about historical events that are important?
This is not a book report- it is a paper that analyzes your topic in order to explain both its importance and historical context. Make sure that you choose secondary sources that help you flesh out their arguments, rather than tell me why Person A is “awesome”, or Person B is “evil.” Also, do not explain to me why the book is “great” or “boring.” You will write a 1,500-word paper (5-6 pages or longer) for this assignment, including footnotes and a bibliography. Please keep track of your word count!
This is to showcase how well you can critically understand history, read texts, and analyze sources to determine what is important about its historical context. It is important for you to conduct research in order to find proper sources and utilize them effectively. You are also looking to write a narrative, and build up a thesis statement and defend it in your paper.
The ability to make a cohesive argument is important for writing history. It is not enough to merely write, for instance, that Gandhi is important because we know that he is; you must show how he came to lead the Indian Independence movements with his non-violent protests, and how successful it was in creating India.
Basic Formatting Guidelines: The paper has to be 5-7 pages with a 1,500-word limit. That is a limit that you MUST attempt to reach. A 1,300-word paper is not acceptable. A 2,500-word paper is also not acceptable. However, if you have 1,999 words (or 2,020 words), don’t worry! I am not the kind of history professor that wants their students’ papers to be exactly 2,000 words and marks their papers a full letter grade for having only 1,999 words. But if your paper is 250 words over the limit, you will want to cut it down. Or, conversely, if your paper is 100 words short, you will want to find ways to add more detail and narrative focus to the paper. Writing history papers is an exercise in brevity, rather than babbling for the sake of it. I can type “All work and no play makes Jack a dull boy” over and over again on my keyboard, but that just means I like The Shining and Jack Nicholson. It doesn’t showcase the effectiveness of my writing abilities.
The paper will be in Times New Roman, Size 12 Font, with Double-Spaced Paragraphs, and regular black ink (I don’t want pink or blue ink; that just tells me you ran out of black ink at the last second, and is a sign of laziness and/or sloppiness).
You must also include a word count on the front page of your paper.
Thesis Statement: When you write an academic paper, it must present an argument to the reader. Typically, the thesis statement is in the first or second paragraph. That argument lets you structure the rest of the paper around defending and expanding upon it.
Primary Sources: The main source for your paper is the Primary Source. It could be an autobiography, a personal retelling of a historical event, a person’s collected letters and written documents, or a work of political (or technical) writing. The professor will assign you a primary source for the paper.
Secondary Sources: These are any source that is not attributed to a specific person who was writing it at the time that event or topic was occurring. It also refers to anyone writing an analysis of a political topic or book that predated them. Encyclopedias and dictionaries are NOT secondary sources (they are considered tertiary sources). Here are some good examples of secondary sources:
WW2:
Max Hastings, Armageddon: The Battle for Germany, 1944-1945, (New York: A. A. Knopf, 2004).
Japanese History
Herbert P. Bix, Hirohito and the Making of Modern Japan, (New York: Harper Collins, 2000).
Political Theory/John Stuart Mill
K.C. O’Rourke, John Stuart Mill and Freedom of Expression: The Genesis of a Theory, (London: Routledge, 2001).
Searching for Sources: You should look at the University of Dayton library, the University’s Inter-Library Loan resource, the Public Library system, Scholarly online sources (like JSTOR), online free books, and bookstores/internet storefronts (like Amazon) in your search. Don’t forget to ask the librarians (especially liaison librarians) for help if you need it! That’s what they’re around for. If you have any question about your sources, please contact the Professor to make sure that everything is in good order.
Also, the books that I have listed for the 1st paper topics all have their original publisher’s info on them. This is because many of them are published over and over again. Any edition of the books listed is fine, as long as it is not an “abridged” version. If you have any questions about the publication or edition of the book, feel free to contact the Professor.
What NOT to do:
1. This is not a book report. You are to critically analyze a work of history to understand its historical value and context.
2. The objective of this assignment is not to tell me if the work you choose is right or wrong. Writing a paper on how “imperialism sucks”, while discussing David Livingstone’s trips through Africa misses the point.
3. Remember to write a narrative and make sure that your paper has a thesis statement. I have seen many papers that discuss a topic, but never present a concise argument.
4. Make sure that your narrative is NOT emotional. I have seen many papers that merely state “slavery is bad!” or “The Holocaust was evil!” or “I like Ike!” Papers that don’t get beyond an emotional response to the topic at hand, hurts the writer’s because they are spending too much time debating a topic as a value judgment rather than understanding the topic’s historical context. Separate your emotions from your writing as best you can.
5. Do not write your paper as though you are speaking aloud. Beware passive voice. This is a good guideline against it: http://owl.english.purdue.edu/owl/resource/539/3/.
6. There is nothing worse than receiving a paper that is not stapled. The class is a professional setting- and it demands professionalism out of all of us. Papers that are not stapled are a sign of sloppy and rushed work.
7. Topics from the 17th Century to the 19th Century are what the 1st paper will cover. If you think your topic straddles the 19th to 20th Century line, ask the Professor if it is okay to choose it. Do not assume that I will accept it. Please do not use topics that are in the 20th or 21st Century; that is what the 2nd paper will be about. So, for the 2nd paper, do not write a paper on President Ronald Regan or the Soviet General Secretary, Josef Stalin.
8. Do not use internet sources that are not scholarly sources. Wikipedia is not a scholarly source. JSTOR and Google Scholar are scholarly sources, and I will only accept sources from them. Please do not use random websites as your sources, even if it is a university/history website. Use them with care. Ask the Professor if the sources are acceptable.
9. Please don’t space your paragraphs out and try to hide multiple paragraph spacing beyond double spaces in your paper. Also, don’t drag out your name/date/class/title out too far and “pretend” that you have 6 pages with it. I have seen these kinds of tricks to make your paper look longer than it really is.
10. You will be required to submit your paper to the turnitin.com; it is an anti-plagiarism tool that is available on Isidore. I have the 1st Paper listed under assignments, and you will upload a copy of the paper to turnitin through that device.
What TO do:
1. Make sure that you footnote your paper properly. Please use the Chicago Manual of Style or MLA (Modern Language Association) for proper citation format. The same goes for the Bibliography. The library should have a copy of the Chicago Manual of Style and the MLA in reference. Ask the librarians and the writing center for help with it. There are also citation devices like Refworks and Zotero that can help you with formatting. This is a good starting point for understanding the way MLA works: (http://owl.english.purdue.edu/owl/resource/747/01/) and this also shows the Chicago Manual of Style works: (http://www.chicagomanualofstyle.org/tools_citationguide.html). Your paper should have at least 3-6 citations in it. The more you cite (properly) the better off you are. Err on the side of caution!
2. Make sure that you finish with enough time to look over your paper. You might want to have roommates or friends look over your paper to make edits and corrections. Take advantage of the writing center on campus, as well.
3. If you have an outline or a rough draft, feel free to send it to the Professor for review, comments, and corrections, up to a week and a half before the paper is due.
4. Find a topic that you like. Don’t settle for something that you don’t really enjoy working on. Think of the topic list as a general list to choose from, rather than a strict guideline. If you have a primary source that you think can work, ask the professor.
5. Don’t forget to have fun!
6. Below, on the 5th page, is an example of a cover page.
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