Essaying the Past: How to Read, Write, and Think about History
Contents
Preface to the Second Edition
Preface to the Third Edition
Acknowledgments
Introduction to the Student: Why Would You Look at a Book Like This?
Part I: Thinking and Reading about History
1: History: It's about Time
Living with the Past
Good History Gives You Hope
A Habit in Time
2: What's the Story with History?
Disciplinary Measures: A Profession Takes Shape
Plural Pasts
3: The Sources of History
Primary Sources
Secondary Sources
Sources of Ambiguity
Obscure References, Maine Events
Scarcity and Plenty
4: Good Answers Begin with Good Questions
Good Students Have Answers
Great Ones Have Questions
So, What Do I Ask?
5: Search Engines, Research Ingenuity
Net Gains - and Losses
Stacks of Possibilities
Going by the Book
Notable Discoveries
6: How to Read a Book without Ever Getting to Chapter One
Pressing Matters
Inside Information
Going Back, Going Forward
Topic-Sentence Hopping
Part II: Writing about History
7: Analysis: The Intersection of Reading and Writing
Making Sense
The Choice Factor
Thinking with Your Heart
The Secret Sauce of Credibility
8: Making a Case: An Argument in Three Parts
Reading Your Reader
Writing the Equation
Arguing about Time
9: Defining Introductions
Introducing the Question
Introducing the Thesis (and Motive)
Introducing the Key Term
Introducing the Premise
Watch Your Language: Diction
10: Strong Bodies (I): The Work of Topic Sentences
Inter- and Intra-paragraph Organization
Directing Topic Sentence Traffic: Double Signposts
Clues for the Clueless: Breaking Down the Thesis
Don't Stick with the Facts
11: Strong Bodies (II): Exposition and Evidence.
Too Much of a Good Thing: Using Quotations Selectively
Seeing Is Not Necessarily Believing
Beware of "Negroes" and "Orientals
Lies, Damn Lies, and Statistics
12: Strong Bodies (III): Counterargument and Counterevidence
Two Sides to Every Story - At a Minimum
Don't Condescend
Show, Don't Tell
13: Surprising Conclusions
Motivated Conclusions
Taking the Long View
14: Scaling the Summit: Crystallizing Your Argument
Booster-Rocket Intros
Conclusion Pivots
15: Writing is Rewriting: The Art of Revision
Conversation Counts
The Writer as Hotel Manager
16: Putting It All Together: The Research Essay (A Case Study)
Katie's Bibliography
Conclusion: The Love of History
Appendix A: Writing an Essay: Ten Easy Steps in Review
Appendix B: Essay Varieties: DBQs, Reviews, and Comparison Assignments
Document-Based Questions (DBQs)
Book (or Other) Reviews
Comparison Essays
Appendix C: Let's Give a Hand: Bibliographies and Footnotes
1. Why cite my sources?
2. When and where do I cite sources?
3. How do I format a footnote?
Book
Journal article
Magazine article
Newspaper article
Encyclopedia article
Chapter or essay in an edited anthology
Book review
A book in second or multiple editions
Article on a website
Website
Electronic books
Blogs
Non-print sources (sound and video)
References to the same text after the first citation
Combining references
4. How do I format a bibliography?
Book
Edited anthology
Chapter or essay in an edited anthology
Newspaper/magazine article
More than one source by the same author
5. A final note
Appendix D: Credit Scams: The Dangers of Plagiarism
Five reasons not to cheat on an essay assignment
Appendix E: Web of Lies? Weighing the Internet
What's the Domain?
Who's the Publisher?.
Free or Subscription?
Is it Updated?
Appendix F: A Glossary of Key Terms
Appendix G: More Reading about Writing
Index
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