faculty member emphasizes particular aspects of historical
writing in his or her assignments. The following general
advice applies in most circumstances, but
be sure to pay close attention to the requirements stated
by your professor in the course syllabus or the exam instructions.
This site also contains more specific advice about the types
of writing you may have to do in a history course
Every paper must have a thesis. Your thesis should be stated
clearly at the beginning of your paper so that the reader
is not left to wonder just what argument you are making.
If you cannot say what you want in one or two sentences
your thesis is probably unclear or too broad and your essay
will reflect that lack of precision.
example: Let us say that you are trying to write your paper
about the changing role of women in France at the turn of
the century. You need to begin your paper by telling the
reader what exactly you intend to prove, demonstrate or
illuminate in your paper. One example of how your thesis
could be written in this paper would be: The
Catholic Church in France was the agency most responsible
for preventing French women from achieving greater social
advancement at the turn of the century. This
simple sentence leaves the reader with no doubts about the
main point you intend to make.
thesis statement does not have to be the opening sentence
of your paper (although it can be) but it should appear
somewhere on the first page of the essay. In the paragraph
that contains your thesis you also should mention the sort
of evidence you are going to offer to support your argument
and how your topic fits into a broader context.