Individual History of a Civilization Research Paper 1. Choosing a topic: Choose an individual from the list below.
Even though you cannot use your textbook or encyclopedias as sources in writing your paper, they are a good place to get started.
- Doing Research: Start with very general books such as a history of a civilization, people, region or country a period of history, or the history of a subject (e.g. science, art, a religion). Try to learn as much as you can about the individual, his/her country and century appropriate to your topic.
Use a variety of sources (books, articles, internet, etc.). Try to use a PRIMARY SOURCE if possible.
This is something written by someone who lived during the time you are writing about ñ an eyewitness account, something written by one of the historical characters in your paper, or a history written at the time. You are not limited to the Trident Tech library (Learning Resource Center).
Try the libraries at the College of Charleston and The Citadel, as well as the public library downtown (on Calhoun Street with free parking for one hour). Our libraryís interlibrary loan program is also very good about getting books quickly.
- Finding the Thesis: You need a PURPOSE to guide your research and organize your paper. Your Thesis will be fairly straightforward. Your paper is to analyze the importance and significance of the individual you choose as your topic.
All courses approved for the general education core curriculum help students develop critical thinking and/or communication skills.
HIS 104 develops the critical thinking core competency. Critical Thinking is the ability to evaluate concepts and information and draw clear, logical conclusions based on evidence.
Critical Thinking Assessment: All students will demonstrate the critical thinking competency in the Research paper.
IMPORTANT: I do not want you to write just description or a biography of a person. History is not just what happened, but why and how it happened, and the significance. How did things change? Why did they stay the same? Choose your topic, do your research, then develop your own position, argument or opinion and use your research to support your position.
- Citation of Sources: YOU MUST USE CITATIONS to tell your reader the source of all the facts and opinions in your paper that you get from your research. You must have a citation for all the information from your research material, EVEN IF IT IS NOT A DIRECT QUOTATION. It is not necessary to use a direct quotation for the information you use in your paper from your research sources, but you must give a citation even if you do not quote from your sources. Avoid overusing direct quotations. It is usually better to put the material in your own words along with a citation of its source.
Individual History of a Civilization Research Paper Other Important Instructions for Citations:
Citations are one of the most difficult parts of doing a good research paper. If you have not written a college research paper before, you may need help from me, or the Writing Center (in the Learning Center in building 920, room 211).
- Do not put all your citations at the end of a paragraph but put them immediately after the sentence or sentences containing the information from that source. Do not break up a sentence with a citation.
- Anything that is considered ìcommon knowledgeî does not need to be cited. (For example: ìColumbus sailed to the New World in 1492.î No citation needed. BUT ìOn 13 January 1493 Columbus made his last stop in the New World. He landed on the Samana Peninsula where he met the hostile Ciguayos who presented him with his only violent resistance during his first voyage to the Americasî (Dunn and Kelly, pp. 333-334). Note both (a) since the sentence contains specific knowledge it needs to be cited, and (b) the citation comes at the end of the sentence, after the closing of the parenthetic, and before the period to end the sentence.
- Avoid using direct quotations too much. It is usually better to put the information in your own words as long as you include a citation of its source. Quotations over four lines should be indented without quotations marks.
I prefer that you NOT mention the source of the citation in the sentence itself but put it after the sentence.
It is not necessary to mention your sources in the text of your paper. I do not want a paper about historians or histories, but about history.
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