My topic for this is: The Voting Rights Act of 1965
5-4 Historical Analysis Essay Progress Check 1
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Rubric Name: HIS 200 Historical Analysis Essay Progress Check 1 Rubric
This table lists criteria and criteria group name in the first column. The first row lists level names and includes scores if the rubric uses a numeric scoring method.
Criteria
Proficient
Needs Improvement
Not Evident
50 points
Provides brief overview of historical event
37.5 points
Provides brief overview of historical event, but with gaps in detail or clarity
0 points
Does not provide brief overview of historical event
/ 50
30 points
Develops clear, specific, and arguable thesis statement that states claim about historical event, based on research question
22.5 points
Develops thesis statement that states claim about historical event, but thesis statement is not based on research question or lacks clarity or specificity or is not arguable
0 points
Does not develop thesis statement that states claim about historical event
/ 30
20 points
Submission has no major errors related to citations, grammar, spelling, syntax, or organization
15 points
Submission has major errors related to citations, grammar, spelling, syntax, or organization that negatively impact readability and articulation of main ideas
0 points
Submission has critical errors related to citations, grammar, spelling, syntax, or organization that prevent understanding of ideas
/ 20
Rubric Total Score
Overall Score
Overall Score
Proficient76 points minimum
Instructors should not modify this row (it will automate from the scores above). This score represents the average evaluation across all rubric criteria.
Instructors should not modify this row (it will automate from the scores above). This score represents the average evaluation across all rubric criteria.
Needs Improvement1 point minimum
Instructors should not modify this row (it will automate from the scores above). This score represents the average evaluation across all rubric criteria.
Instructors should not modify this row (it will automate from the scores above). This score represents the average evaluation across all rubric criteria.
Not Evident0 points minimum
Instructors should not modify this row (it will automate from the scores above). This score represents the average evaluation across all rubric criteria.
Instructors should not modify this row (it will automate from the scores above). This score represents the average evaluation across all rubric criteria.
If you tried to start writing your essay without any preparation, you would probably get discouraged and give up. Up until this point, you have been learning about the different pieces that go into your essay. These steps have been broken down to make the essay seem less daunting.
Now that you have completed your writing plan, you have the framework for your essay in place. At this point, you will need to start drafting the actual content of your essay. This learning block will explain the various parts of the essay, as well as the best way to approach each one. You will be given the chance to practice drafting parts of an essay before you start on your own.
Learning Objectives
In this learning block, you will:
- Define the different parts of a historical analysis essay
- Draft the introduction of your historical analysis essay
- Revise a thesis statement for your historical analysis essay
Introduction of the Paper
From your writing plan, you have a solid topic, research question, thesis statements, and sources outlined. Before you begin drafting your actual historical analysis essay, let’s review the different components of an essay, starting with the first paragraph.
Introductory Paragraph
An essay should begin with an introduction paragraph. The introduction presents the audience with a general overview and background of your topic, a short summary of the evidence that will be presented to support your argument, and your thesis statement, which outlines the argument of your essay.
One important function of an introduction paragraph is to engage the audience and draw the reader in. So, you should introduce the topic you will be writing on in the most interesting and appealing way possible. The introduction also allows you to set the tone of the paper and catch the reader’s attention. A brief outline of what information, claims, and evidence you will touch on in your essay will let your audience know what they can expect.
After introducing the general topic of your essay, you should go on to provide an overview of how the rest of the paper will proceed. This brief overview of the structure of the essay should show the audience how the subsequent sections of the essay are supposed to relate to one another.
It is important that introduction paragraph be as clear as possible, so it is usually a good idea to reread and revise an introduction paragraph once the rest of a paper has been written. Sometimes during the writing of a paper, an author might change how he or she chooses to present or defend his or her position. When this happens, the introduction paragraph must be revised to reflect those changes.
In the introduction, you should also introduce your thesis statement, which can be the last sentence or two of the paragraph. This one or two sentence version of your argument should not come out of nowhere. Your introduction should lay the groundwork for your thesis.
Essay Progress Check 1
As you learned in Theme: Communicating Historical Ideas, the thesis statement is the backbone of your essay, and it outlines your argument for readers. In your thesis statement, you should briefly state your argument about a topic and describe how you plan to prove that argument. A thesis statement should be succinct and specific. It will appear as the last sentence of your introductory paragraph.
By now, you should have received feedback from your instructor about your preliminary ideas for your thesis statement that you submitted in Theme: Communicating Historical Ideas, Learning Block 3-4 and as part of your writing plan in Theme: Communicating Historical Ideas, Learning Block 4-4. Go back and review your thesis statement now.
Consider the feedback from your instructor and any research you have done since submitting your writing plan. How can you revise your thesis to reflect this new information? As a starting point, ask yourself these questions:
- Is my thesis statement too broad? Or is it too specific?
- Is it clear what the topic of my essay is from my thesis statement?
- Does my thesis outline my argument?
- Does my thesis describe how I will prove my argument?
try revising your thesis. Your changes can be as little as rearranging a few words to clarify your argument or as involved as restructuring your argument entirely. If you decide not to revise your thesis right now, explain why and include your original thesis statement. Remember, as you begin to write your essay, your thesis might change again.
By now you should have enough evidence compiled from your research in order to begin writing your historical analysis essay. You will begin working on the essay piece by piece.
Draft an introduction for your historical event analysis. Keep in mind the necessary parts of an introduction: an explanation of the topic and argument, an overview of evidence, and your thesis statement. If you have revised your thesis statement, make sure to include the most recent version.
Body and Conclusion of the Paper
The introduction to your paper is exactly that, an introduction. Your argument, evidence, and the meat of your essay all come into play in the body of the paper, and the conclusion wraps up what you have argued.
Click on the tabs below to learn more about each part of the body of your essay. And remember that the SNHU Writing Center is also available if you need additional help with this, or any other, part of your essay.
- Structure
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It is necessary to organize your paper in a way that makes sense for your argument. Often your thesis can influence the structure of how you present your examples.
- Flow
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In the body of your paper, you should move from the general (your thesis) to specific (examples and evidence). You should support any general statements you make about your topic with detailed examples.
- Paragraphs
-
Each of the paragraphs in the body of your essay should be at least 4 sentences. The first sentence of each paragraph is the topic sentence.
- Topic Sentences
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The topic sentence tells your reader what that paragraph is about. It should relate back to the thesis. Your topic sentences also allow you to break down your argument into more specific pieces.
- Support
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You will support your topic sentence with evidence and analysis. The information you find in your primary and secondary sources will not stand on its own, which is why you might provide an explanation of how each source supports your thesis. You will learn more about incorporating historical evidence in Theme: Analyzing History, Learning Block 7.
- Argument
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Scholarly arguments rely on facts, and you should attempt to convince your audience of the validity of your thesis through reason, not emotion.
- Transitions
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The ideas in your paper should flow smoothly. Connect your ideas with transitional phrases. The final sentence of each paragraph should sum up what was said, as well as guide the reader to the next piece of the argument.
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The body should make up the bulk of your paper. This is where you argue your thesis and elaborate on the outline you presented in your introduction. Your introduction and thesis statement should give you an idea of how the paper will be organized, such as which pieces of your claim you will argue first.
Body Paragraphs
The thesis statement presented in the introduction paragraph is the main idea of the entire paper, and each subsequent paragraph should work towards supporting that thesis statement. The majority of an essay is made up of supporting paragraphs that serve this purpose.
Each supporting paragraph should begin with a topic sentence, contain supporting sentences that back up the main idea presented in the topic sentence, and end with a summary sentence that reiterates that main idea.
Each of the topic sentences in your supporting paragraphs should relate back to your thesis statement. You should also dedicate at least one supporting paragraph to addressing counterarguments. Identify reasons someone might object to your argument, and respond to that objection using evidence you gathered during your research.
When constructing your supporting paragraphs, keep in mind the P.I.E. method. The following graphic reviews the P.I.E. method.
- Point: Clearly state the point you will be making. This point should be clearly related to your overall argument and thesis.
- Information: Provide information or evidence that supports that point. This is also where you will cite your sources, using quotations, paraphrases, or summaries.
- Explanation: Clarify why the information supports your thesis. You should not assume your audience will understand and make the connection on its own.
Conclusion Paragraph
Your conclusion is the final paragraph, and this is where you pull your argument together. You should reflect on your thesis statement, and the topic sentence of your conclusion should be a specific rewording of your thesis. In your conclusion, you can also state what the argument means within the context of the study of history. This is an opportunity to remind your readers of the most important points you made in your paper, reiterate your thesis statement, and briefly mention the arguments you used to support it.
You shouldn’t introduce new arguments or positions in the conclusion paragraph, because you won’t have time or space to support any new material. The only time you should make an exception to this is if your instructor specifically asks you to do something different.
Even though the primary purpose of a conclusion paragraph is to review material you’ve already presented earlier in the essay, it is important not to simply repeat yourself. You should try to restate your thesis in a new, fresh, and interesting way. Otherwise, you might lose your audience’s interest in the last few sentences of your essay.
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Tips for Writing a History Paper
Historical writing has certain conventions that you should pay attention to as you begin to draft your historical analysis essay. Although historians might disagree about how they evaluate the past, in general, you can expect that they will follow certain “writing rules.” Of course, in this class and in every course, you should confirm what writing style and format your instructor prefers for your assignment.
When writing a history paper, it is important to write in the past tense when speaking about historical events, since they happened in the past. Your entire paper will not be in past tense, however. Avoid generalizations and be specific as possible. Phrases like “some people believe…” have no place in historical writing. Always maintain a formal, academic voice, and never use first person (“I, me, we, us,” etc.) or second person (“you”).
When studying the past, it is easy to project our own present day values onto events that happened before us. Try not to relate all historical events back to the present, and do not jumble the order of chronological events with anachronisms. Provide context for events, information, and evidence that you present in your writing. Most importantly, proofread your work!
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- Write in the past tense
- Avoid generalizations
- Provide context
- Use a formal, academic voice
- Respect the past
- Avoid anachronisms
- Proofread!
Your submission should look something like the following document—the thesis and introduction to an essay on the integration of African Americans into the movie industry:
Jane Doe
HIS 200: Applied History
Southern New Hampshire University
May 8, 2016
Revised Thesis
Introduction
Proofread your document, checking for typos and missing words. After making any last-minute tweaks. Refer to the Historical Analysis Essay Progress Check 1 Guidelines and Rubric document located in Theme Three under 5-4 Historical Analysis Essay Progress Check 1 to ensure that your work meets all the submission requirements and grading criteria .
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