HIST INTERPRETING THE EUROPEAN PAST

Citations

This assignment is very unique in the fact that students will only use the Primary Source documents and the textbook for any references to historical information. That is all; it’s an extremely controlled paper with no outside information. But how does one write it???

Unlike using MLA or APA, historians conform to a citation guideline called The Chicago Manual of Style, which is all about footnotes/ endnotes. (**For this assignment, you may NOT use parenthetical citations. You must conform to Chicago, and it is my mission to show you how.)

When writing the paper/analysis, students will provide specific information/evidence either in direct quotations or in paraphrasing. When it comes to citing that information from a specific source for the very first time, students MUST INCLUDE:

the author’s name, the document title, the name of the book/text’s editor, name of the book from which the document came, and the page number.

All of that will go into a footnote/endnote. After any one specific item is used/cited for the VERY FIRST TIME, students may then abbreviate said source thereafter. That will include:

author’s last name, the document title, and the page number.

Example footnote/endnote citations for citing the Primary Source documents and contextual history from the textbook, Western Civilization: Ideas, Politics, and Society.

“The origin of Justice is to be found in Law, for Law is a natural force; it is the mind and reason of the intelligent man, the standard by which Justice and Injustice are measured.” As Cicero continues in his advocacy for stoic ideals, he enthusiastically connects the idea of natural and universal law together, positing this idea of a universal commonwealth that applies to every single person.

(*And when continuing in your paper you happen to use Cicero again – as you would any of the other sources, you are now allowed to abbreviate that source within the footnote/endnote.)

Another example:

It is clear that in 1917 the magnitude of the First World War absolutely made the Bolshevik seizure of power in Russia very possible. The old imperial army worked as an institution for the Russian Tsars, which eventually became an easy haven for the Bolshevik Military Committee to establish its political credence amongst Russia’s peasant-soldiers. According to Lenin, “to delay the uprising would be fatal…the seizure of power is the business of the uprising; its political purpose will become clear after the seizure…”

(**Notice on the next page that the numbering for the footnotes didn’t start over back to 1. The numbering continues from 1 to infinity at your paper’s end.)

Example footnote/endnote citations for citing contextual history from the textbook, Western Civilization: Ideas, Politics, and Society and the introductory blurbs in Perry’s Sources.

Example for citing textbook:
The spread of Christianity in the Roman world was a culmination of all things slow and sporadic given the Roman state’s growing suspicion of a new cultist religion. However, it’s faith-based appeal to people helped “the individual… with the problems of alienation and lack of community.”

Example for citing history/introductory blurbs in sources:
“Increasingly afraid of a Communist takeover, industrialists, landowners, government officials, army leaders, professionals, and shopkeepers were attracted to Fascist movements that promised to protect their nations from this threat.”

(***Also a good example of the 3-line rule: direct quotes should be NO MORE than 3-lines.)

For the Bibliography Page, students will list everything involved with this paper/analysis. These entries will consist of:

author’s names, document title, but also publication information: city, publisher, and date.

Every document, the textbook, and into blurbs (whether you had consulted the latter or not). The idea for a Bibliography is that I, the Reader, can go directly to that and see what you had used and where you went to write your paper, so that I could go to those sources.

(*****If you’ve caught on by now, I’ve already typed everything on your Prompts/ Primary Source documents in the proper bibliographic style for the papers. What you, the student, needs to do is essentially plug & chug throughout your writing.

REMEMBER, when it comes to the final word total the title page, citations, and Bibliography DO NOT COUNT.

For further information on the Chicago Manual of Style (format used by historians), please consult this website:http://www.chicagomanualofstyle.org/tools_citationguide.html

How and Where to get started?

*First of all, writing is not easy for anybody; so, take a deep breath. You got this.

Step One: Read through the Primary Source Assignment instructions and all information related to this paper on here and in the syllabus. Read through every set of instructions I have given you that have set up parameters and guidelines – which also includes “How to Write History” up on Blackboard – as to how you can best complete this paper. Memorize the due dates, late policy, and procedure on how to turn in your paper when due. What you SHOULD NOT DO, is look at anything outside of this class: do not look at outside material, internet sites, former history classes, or anything else. This is NOT A RESEARCH PAPER. The purpose is for students to analyze primary source documents and answer the essay prompt based on the directions established by me, the Professor. If students are reading/consulting something outside of the Primary Source documents PDFs or the textbook and do not properly cite it, then the student has committed plagiarism. (I can tell if you chose to half-ass something the night before by not reading the documents and doing the assignment correctly.)

Step Two: Read and reread the Primary Source documents. I strongly recommend printing the documents in order to take notes. I realize ODU has a very poor printing allowance/allotment for all undergraduate students, and that you do not want to expend that allowance. But hand-written notes do help to understand information much better due to muscle memory. Nevertheless, take notes on everything. Dissect each Primary Source document apart to assess what it is the author is saying. **Understand, the blurbs written above the actual documents were written by Marvin Perry, not the historical authors.

Step Three: Reread the Primary Source Assignment instructions, the essay prompt, and the actual documents a few times so that you understand everything that is happening. Reread your notes so all the information makes sense. Doing this will allow you to start forming an outline to compose your written analysis.

Step Four: Organize your notes and even the documents themselves into groups as you begin to write. If you have not started an outline by this stage, do so now. You want your analysis/essay to answer all the questions in the essay prompt. To do this, you will need to organize/categorize/structure how you understand these documents according to any similarities/parallels, disparities, commonalities, or uniqueness to the questions asked in the essay prompt. With that said, to effectively write a well-structured essay, you MUST HAVE A CLEAR THESIS STATEMENT in your introduction. Your thesis statement is your GPS telling me what you will talk about in your essay. Writing a thesis statement does and does not come easy. That is why you must go through the organization process mentioned above.

Step Five: When writing your paper, walk away to take a short break and come back to it. Often, we write obscure things that could have been written much better and to the point. When coming back from breaks, reread what you had written and ask yourself if what you wrote makes sense? Because you, the author, wrote something does not mean everyone reading it will understand. Be clear, be concise, be to the point – do not fall off the topic. Remember, KISS= Keep It Simple Stupid.

Step Six: At this point, read back over your completed draft. Not only reread for clarity, consistency, and that you are focused throughout the paper, but you must also ensure your citations are correct. You must cite information you have used, whether that information came from the historical documents, from the blurbs written by Perry, or from our textbook. And the information that you use in your paper is regardless if you have directly quoted using quotations or if you paraphrased. When in doubt, cite it. Follow ONLY The Chicago Manual of Style guidelines established for this writing assignment.

Step Seven: Once you are satisfied with the final product of your analysis, make sure to upload a copy to SafeAssign on Blackboard under the Assignments. Again, be mindful of the due dates and times the assignments are due. Afterwards, the late policy ensues. DO NOT BE LATE.

Instructions for Uploading to Safe Assign via Blackboard.

1. Go to the “Assignments” section of Blackboard.
2. Click on the Assignment name. (Primary Source Analysis Upload Here)
3. Upload your paper by selecting “Browse My Computer” and attaching the file. Be sure to post your paper as the specific file time – PDF, Word Doc – otherwise Safe Assign will not be able to read it and you will not have successfully uploaded your paper.
4. Please understand that Safe Assign will check your paper for plagiarism, showing me everything.

YOU WILL HAVE QUESTIONS. PLEASE TELL ME. Come see me during office hours or by appointment, and I’ll help you as much as I can. Don’t blow it off saying I’m not here for you. Come talk to me, ask me questions, review things with me.