Historical Writing Resources
One of the most important skills to develop as a student and especially in history is writing. Writing is a tool that you will use your entire life. Writing about history is not very different from the other types of writing you're probably used to. Sometimes when writing about history, we may use different terms or names for parts of your essay, this page is here to help you make sense of all of this to take the stress out of writing.
Videos and Lessons for Extra Help
The website will help assist you strengthen your writing.
8 Commandments of Good Historical Writing
If you're anything like me, you want to know what is expected of you. In fact, human beings usually function better when they have some basic rules to follow (guess why we have laws). This is the same in writing essays, below you will find eight rules that should ALWAYS be followed when constructing a good historical essay.
(To be fair, I did not come up with these ideas on my own. They have been adapted from Theron F. Schalbach's Ten Commandments of good historical writing which can be found here.)
I. Thou shalt begin with an outline to buildeth thy entire paper around central ideas.
- Plan your work using an outline so that your entire paper is built around a historical claim/thesis statement.
II. Thou shalt avoid self-conscious discussion of thy intended purposes, thy strategy, thy sources, and thy research methodology.
- Don't talk about yourself, your opinion, or anything that you did when writing your essay. Make sure that when you are writing you avoid phrases like I think, i feel, i believe, in my opinion, my paper, etc.)
III. Thou mayest covet other writers' ideas but thou shalt not steal them.
- You can write about things or ideas that someone else came up with (that can be evidence), but you must give the author credit by citing their work in your essay.
IV. Thou shalt strive for clarity above cuteness; thou shalt not use jargon when common language will serve, nor a large word when a small one will serve, nor two words when one will serve.
- Don't use complicated language when it is not necessary. You want to make sure that the reader clearly understands what you are trying to say. Good historical writing focuses more on what your writing is about than how big your vocabulary is.
V. Remember thy paragraph to keep it a significant unity; thou shalt not write a paragraph about multiple ideas, and neither shalt thou write a paragraph that fails to develop a topical idea.
- Make sure you have a topic sentence for each paragraph. Ensure you only discuss the appropriate topic for that paragraph.
VI. Thou shalt write as if thy reader is intelligent but totally uninformed on any subject: hence, thou shalt identify all persons, organizations, etc., and shalt in every way try to make thy paper a self-sufficient unit.
- Always assume the reader is smart but doesn't know anything about the subject you are writing about, don't write your paper knowing that your teacher is the one who will be reading it. be sure to identify all people, places, and organizations in your writing. Your paper should be a self-sufficient unit on your topic.
VII. Thou shalt use quotations sparingly and judiciously, only for color and clarity; if thou must quote, quotations should not break the flow of thine own language and logic, and thy text should make clear whom thou art quoting.
- Limit the use of direct quotes in your writing. Paraphrase when appropriate and always cite your sources (direct quote or paraphrase).
VIII. Thou shalt write consistently in past tense, and in other ways keep the reader firmly anchored in time.
- Make sure you are writing in the past tense when writing about history(because it happened in the past, duh.) The reader should never forget they are reading about past events when reading your essay.
(To be fair, I did not come up with these ideas on my own. They have been adapted from Theron F. Schalbach's Ten Commandments of good historical writing which can be found here.)
I. Thou shalt begin with an outline to buildeth thy entire paper around central ideas.
- Plan your work using an outline so that your entire paper is built around a historical claim/thesis statement.
II. Thou shalt avoid self-conscious discussion of thy intended purposes, thy strategy, thy sources, and thy research methodology.
- Don't talk about yourself, your opinion, or anything that you did when writing your essay. Make sure that when you are writing you avoid phrases like I think, i feel, i believe, in my opinion, my paper, etc.)
III. Thou mayest covet other writers' ideas but thou shalt not steal them.
- You can write about things or ideas that someone else came up with (that can be evidence), but you must give the author credit by citing their work in your essay.
IV. Thou shalt strive for clarity above cuteness; thou shalt not use jargon when common language will serve, nor a large word when a small one will serve, nor two words when one will serve.
- Don't use complicated language when it is not necessary. You want to make sure that the reader clearly understands what you are trying to say. Good historical writing focuses more on what your writing is about than how big your vocabulary is.
V. Remember thy paragraph to keep it a significant unity; thou shalt not write a paragraph about multiple ideas, and neither shalt thou write a paragraph that fails to develop a topical idea.
- Make sure you have a topic sentence for each paragraph. Ensure you only discuss the appropriate topic for that paragraph.
VI. Thou shalt write as if thy reader is intelligent but totally uninformed on any subject: hence, thou shalt identify all persons, organizations, etc., and shalt in every way try to make thy paper a self-sufficient unit.
- Always assume the reader is smart but doesn't know anything about the subject you are writing about, don't write your paper knowing that your teacher is the one who will be reading it. be sure to identify all people, places, and organizations in your writing. Your paper should be a self-sufficient unit on your topic.
VII. Thou shalt use quotations sparingly and judiciously, only for color and clarity; if thou must quote, quotations should not break the flow of thine own language and logic, and thy text should make clear whom thou art quoting.
- Limit the use of direct quotes in your writing. Paraphrase when appropriate and always cite your sources (direct quote or paraphrase).
VIII. Thou shalt write consistently in past tense, and in other ways keep the reader firmly anchored in time.
- Make sure you are writing in the past tense when writing about history(because it happened in the past, duh.) The reader should never forget they are reading about past events when reading your essay.
I Followed the Rules, What Should My Essay Look Like?
So you read and understand the Eight Commandments, but your still a little confused about what your essay should look like. Have no fear, the following will outline what your five paragraph historical essay should look like. This is also the grading rubric that will be used along with the commandments when I grade your essays this year.
Introductory Paragraph:
Body Paragraphs "Concrete Details/Evidence":
Body Paragraphs "Commentary":
Concluding Paragraph:
Historical Thought and Vocabulary:
Introductory Paragraph:
- Include historical context to anchor the reader in time and place (Commandment #8)
- Introduce the topics (strong claims that support the thesis) covered in each body paragraph
- End with a thesis statement that clearly addresses the central historical question/essential question
Body Paragraphs "Concrete Details/Evidence":
- Organize paragraph around one strong historical claim (main idea) (Commandment #5)
- Support claims with organized and relevant evidence from the documents and outside learning (what you read... not what you think) (Commandment #9)
- Explain document evidence clearly AND weigh its importance and validity
- Use proper citation format and required number of documents (see DBQ instructions)
Body Paragraphs "Commentary":
- Provide sound reasoning/explanations for how the evidence supports your strong claims (This shows that...)
- Commentary is your thoughts not just more evidence (what you think... not what you read) (Commandment #9)
Concluding Paragraph:
- Restate thesis
- Summarize arguments in support of thesis
- Include sentence that gives the essay a finished feel
Historical Thought and Vocabulary:
- Show exceptional thought/understanding through the entire essay
- Write for an intelligent, but uninformed reader (Commandment #6)
- Use relevant historical vocabulary throughout essay (Commandment #4)