How to Write History Essays
History essays explore historical events, time periods, people or cultural trends. These essays help students understand history on a deeper level and create a process by which students can learn about things and people that were before unfamiliar. A well-written essay is one that has been carefully planned and thought out.
Other People Are Reading
Instructions
-
-
1
Make sure you understand what the instructor is looking for in your history essay. Jot down a list of three or four topics that you are interested in writing about. Choose either a topic that you already know something about or a topic you would like to know more about. Avoid topics that you have expert knowledge in, allowing you to learn something new. Have interest in the topic you choose to ensure your essay will be more appealing to you and your readers.
-
2
Do initial research for your topic. Make sure that research material is available on your topic. Take 30 minutes to brainstorm. Brainstorming is when you write down everything you can think that is connected to a topic--write without thinking and analyzing. Review your initial research and brainstorming, then create a rough outline for your essay. Research your topic some more and adjust your outline as needed. Choose what kind of essay you will write. Chronological order essays trace your argument in the order events happened. Analytical essays analyze certain aspects of a topic. Cause and effect essays examine the effects of certain events and look at the causes. Compare and contrast essays take two events, people or things and make comparisons and contrasts between the two.
-
-
3
The introduction to your essay should tell the reader what the essay's purpose is. The thesis, a statement that concisely explains what your point is, should be contained in the introduction. Make sure the tone of your introduction is authoritative. Shape all the sentences in your introduction so they connect to the thesis. The thesis can be positioned anywhere in your introduction, although it is often easier to have it in the first sentence of the essay.
-
4
The body of your essay will detail the argument that you have proposed in your introduction. Similar ideas should be grouped together in your essay. Make sure your thoughts and ideas flow from one paragraph to another. Group related ideas together and get rid of ideas that do not help your arguments. Keep your strongest point for last. Be concise and clear in your arguments.
-
5
End your essay with a short summary or conclusion. No ideas should be introduced here that were not mentioned in the introduction and body. Briefly summarize the main points and discuss what has been discovered in the history essay. Check to see that your conclusion is one that can logically be drawn from the points you have argued in the paper.
-
1
