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.Remember, be skeptical of the sources.Understanding the various scholarlyinterpretations will enable the beginning researcher to confidently develop aninterpretation based on the weight of the primary source evidence.W R I T I N G93■Beginning researchers should present their interpretations carefully and in anorganized and logical manner.Make sure that the interpretation is consistentthroughout the paper.Make use of evidence to support the interpretation,while also acknowledging that other interpretations and contradictions in theprimary sources exist.PersuasionModern academic writing must contain a thesis.While persuasion may actuallyform a small part of the paper, it is likely to be the most important part.Persua-sion is the argument and the evidence which supports it.Persuasive writing iseasiest to locate in the introduction, where the thesis is first stated, and in the con-clusion, where the thesis is restated and subsidiary conclusions are presented.Butpersuasion will also appear throughout the paper.Historians interpret evidencethroughout the course of their written arguments to clarify how they use evi-dence.The thesis functions as the framework of a historical essay; the readermust be frequently reminded about the thesis and be shown how the evidencesupports such an assertion.Student Jack Sheehan effectively uses all four forms of historical writing inhis conclusion: narration, description, interpretation, and persuasion.Even though none of the plans were undertaken, London was still rebuiltto a better standard than it had held previously.The roads were nowwider, the houses safer, and the streets cleaner.The social impacts of thefire and fear of what was to happen to the city had driven the people totheir breaking points.The people did not seek a magnificent work forthemselves; instead they sought a functioning economic area that wassafe from any more tragedy.It is this mindset that forced Parliament, theKing, and city officials to rebuild the area in a manner that incorporatedsafety precautions and also speediness.Although fires still struck the cityon a regular basis, no significant damage was done to London until themid-twentieth century.More important than the actual design of Londonas it stands today are the thoughts and ideas that the committee of men inthe latter half of the seventeenth century dreamed of how the city wouldlook.So, whether the city was built according to the ideal plans or not,the seeds of the progressive city planning had been planted, and it wouldnot be long before others noticed, but the dream of an ideal city ofLondon died within a year of the fire.O R G A N I Z A T I O NThe first paragraph discussed earlier in this chapter implies a form of organization byproviding a central core for a paper.Historians generally follow the writing of theirfirst paragraph by creating a roadmap of what should follow.All essays, whether a94C H A P T E R 5scholarly journal article, a critical biography, or a scholarly monograph, containthe same basic elements as the classic five-paragraph essay: an introduction, thebody of the paper, and the conclusion.This might be presented as the argument(introduction), support for the argument with evidence (body), and restating theargument and summarizing subsidiary arguments (conclusion).Often, a historianbegins with a brief outline that can be gradually fleshed out as he or she conductsmore research.But most essays eventually contain the following sections.IntroductionAlthough the first paragraph attempts to elicit the reader’s atten-tion while also introducing the thesis and the main focus of the essay, a goodintroduction should seamlessly continue by offering the reader historical back-ground and context.Some scholars devote a paragraph or more to what selectprevious historians have written on the topic by briefly acknowledging theschools of thought or interpretations.This section often explains how their par-ticular argument complements or challenges the earlier interpretations.One ofthe great difficulties for many beginning researchers is knowing how much mate-rial to include.Since the historical past is a foreign country, it is important to helpthe reader make sense of that different place.The best place to begin is to providehistorical background.The development of this historical background may beorganized in a variety of ways, but often it begins with more general commentsabout the historical time and place, which are followed by information that ismore focused on the event or process described.In a monograph, establishingcontext may take a chapter or more; in a 20-page essay it usually consumes severalpages.The best rule of thumb is to provide enough historical background so thatthe reader can make sense of the event.Jack Sheehan’s 18-page narrative on therebuilding of London after the Great Fire provides an excellent example of howto provide historical background.He begins by telling the reader somethingabout London prior to the fire, and then transitions to the prevalence of fire inthe city [ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]
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.Remember, be skeptical of the sources.Understanding the various scholarlyinterpretations will enable the beginning researcher to confidently develop aninterpretation based on the weight of the primary source evidence.W R I T I N G93■Beginning researchers should present their interpretations carefully and in anorganized and logical manner.Make sure that the interpretation is consistentthroughout the paper.Make use of evidence to support the interpretation,while also acknowledging that other interpretations and contradictions in theprimary sources exist.PersuasionModern academic writing must contain a thesis.While persuasion may actuallyform a small part of the paper, it is likely to be the most important part.Persua-sion is the argument and the evidence which supports it.Persuasive writing iseasiest to locate in the introduction, where the thesis is first stated, and in the con-clusion, where the thesis is restated and subsidiary conclusions are presented.Butpersuasion will also appear throughout the paper.Historians interpret evidencethroughout the course of their written arguments to clarify how they use evi-dence.The thesis functions as the framework of a historical essay; the readermust be frequently reminded about the thesis and be shown how the evidencesupports such an assertion.Student Jack Sheehan effectively uses all four forms of historical writing inhis conclusion: narration, description, interpretation, and persuasion.Even though none of the plans were undertaken, London was still rebuiltto a better standard than it had held previously.The roads were nowwider, the houses safer, and the streets cleaner.The social impacts of thefire and fear of what was to happen to the city had driven the people totheir breaking points.The people did not seek a magnificent work forthemselves; instead they sought a functioning economic area that wassafe from any more tragedy.It is this mindset that forced Parliament, theKing, and city officials to rebuild the area in a manner that incorporatedsafety precautions and also speediness.Although fires still struck the cityon a regular basis, no significant damage was done to London until themid-twentieth century.More important than the actual design of Londonas it stands today are the thoughts and ideas that the committee of men inthe latter half of the seventeenth century dreamed of how the city wouldlook.So, whether the city was built according to the ideal plans or not,the seeds of the progressive city planning had been planted, and it wouldnot be long before others noticed, but the dream of an ideal city ofLondon died within a year of the fire.O R G A N I Z A T I O NThe first paragraph discussed earlier in this chapter implies a form of organization byproviding a central core for a paper.Historians generally follow the writing of theirfirst paragraph by creating a roadmap of what should follow.All essays, whether a94C H A P T E R 5scholarly journal article, a critical biography, or a scholarly monograph, containthe same basic elements as the classic five-paragraph essay: an introduction, thebody of the paper, and the conclusion.This might be presented as the argument(introduction), support for the argument with evidence (body), and restating theargument and summarizing subsidiary arguments (conclusion).Often, a historianbegins with a brief outline that can be gradually fleshed out as he or she conductsmore research.But most essays eventually contain the following sections.IntroductionAlthough the first paragraph attempts to elicit the reader’s atten-tion while also introducing the thesis and the main focus of the essay, a goodintroduction should seamlessly continue by offering the reader historical back-ground and context.Some scholars devote a paragraph or more to what selectprevious historians have written on the topic by briefly acknowledging theschools of thought or interpretations.This section often explains how their par-ticular argument complements or challenges the earlier interpretations.One ofthe great difficulties for many beginning researchers is knowing how much mate-rial to include.Since the historical past is a foreign country, it is important to helpthe reader make sense of that different place.The best place to begin is to providehistorical background.The development of this historical background may beorganized in a variety of ways, but often it begins with more general commentsabout the historical time and place, which are followed by information that ismore focused on the event or process described.In a monograph, establishingcontext may take a chapter or more; in a 20-page essay it usually consumes severalpages.The best rule of thumb is to provide enough historical background so thatthe reader can make sense of the event.Jack Sheehan’s 18-page narrative on therebuilding of London after the Great Fire provides an excellent example of howto provide historical background.He begins by telling the reader somethingabout London prior to the fire, and then transitions to the prevalence of fire inthe city [ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]