History 2500/01

Historical Research and Writing

Dr. Edmund F. Wehrle

Spring 2006

 
“[A] ny fool can make history, but it takes a genius to write it.”
Oscar Wilde

“[History is] the most difficult of all the sciences.”
Fustel de Coulanges

“What distinguishes the historian from the collector of historical facts is generalization.”
E. H. Carr


The Instructor:

Dr. Edmund F. Wehrle 

2576 Coleman Hall

581-6372

efwehrle@eiu.edu

            Office hours:, MWF 11-12 and by appointment


Course Theme: This course will introduce history majors to the skills and methods employed by historians in the practice of their trade. We will begin (Part 1) with a brief introduction to historiography and methodology. From there the class will focus closely on developing writing and research skills (Part II).The culmination of our work (Part III) shall be an indepth research paper prepared by each student. Corresponding to the expertise of the instructor, students will write papers relating to some aspect of contemporary U.S. political or diplomatic history.


Readings: The instructor has assigned several books to guide us in our exploration of the historian’s craft. Additional reading—mostly in the form of short articles—will be assigned throughout the semester to supplement the readings (these readings will be available through the library’s electronic reserve system). 


Assigned books (available at textbook rental): 

Richard Lanham, Revising Prose
Richard Marius and Melvin Page, A Short Guide to Writing about History
Kate Turabian, A Manual for Writers of Term Papers
John Lewis Gaddis, The Landscape of History


Class Meetings:

January 9     Course Introduction

Part I:What is History Anyway?


January 11     Is History a Science?
    Gaddis, Chapters 1-2

January 13     What kind of Science is History?
    Gaddis, Chapters 1-3

January 18     History and (or verses) the Social Sciences
    Gaddis, Chapters 4-5; Katznelson article on Great Society

January 20     More on History and the Social Sciences
    Assignment 1 Due

January 23     The Perplexities of Causation
    Costigliola article and Gaddis, Chapter 6

January 25     Judging our Subjects
    Gaddis, Chapters 7 & 8

January 27     Judging our Subjects (cont.)
    Gaddis, Chapters 7 & 8

January 30     The Historiography of Contemporary American History
    Brinkley, “Writing the History of Contemporary America”
    Assignment 2 Due


Part II: Historical Research and Writing: The Basics

Feb 1      Examples of writing styles and approaches
    Readings: Romano article and Marius, Chapter 1

Feb 3      Examples of writing styles and approaches (continued)

Feb 6      The Anatomy of One Research Project

Feb 8      Choosing a Topic
    Marius, 72-100

Feb 10     Meetings with Dr. Wehrle regarding topics
    Assignment 3 Due: The Research Design (first draft due)

Feb 13     Meetings with Dr. Wehrle regarding topics

Feb 15     Meetings with Dr. Wehrle regarding topics

Feb 20     Introduction to Library Research (class will meet at south entrance of Booth Library)

Feb 22     Introduction to Library Research

Feb 24     Introduction to Library Research

Feb 27     Modes of Historical Writing
        Marius, Chapter 3

March 1     Grammar and Revising Prose 101
        Read Lanham, Appendix; Turabian, chapters 2-5; Marius, Chapter 8

Assignment 4 Due: Paragraph (topic to be provided) to be revised by fellow students

March 3     Grammar and Revising Prose 101
        Lanham, Chapter 1; Sam Merrill Handout
        Revise paragraph by fellow students

March 6     Progress Reports: What are our problems so far?

March 8     The Introductory Paragraph/Thesis Statement
        Lanham, Chapters 2-3

March 10     Clear Writing
        Lanham, Chapters 4 and 6
        Assignment 5: Bibliography due

March 13-17 Research and Writing Week (Spring Break)

March 20     Analyzing Primary Sources: Documents

March 22     Analyzing Primary Sources: Oral Histories

        Assignment 6: Oral History analysis
 
March 24     Analyzing Sources: The problem of the internet
        Lanham, Chapter 5

March 27     Taking Notes

March 29     Citing Sources
        Turabian, Chapter 8 & 12; Marius, Chapter 6

March 31     Marius' Sample Research Paper
            Marius, Chapter 5
            Assignment 7 Due: Citations Review

Part 3: Writing your research papers

 April 3     Bartender! Another Draft
Marius, Chapter 2

April 5      Progress Reports: What are our problems so far?
            Assignment 8 Due: Complete Bibliography 

April 7      Research, No Class—see me with any problems

April 10     Research, No Class—see me with any problems

April 12     Research, No Class—see me with any problems

April 14     Research, No Class—see me with any problems

April 17     Research, No Class—see me with any problems

April 19     Rough Drafts Due (Assignment 9)

April 21     Research, No Class—see me with any problems

April 24     Research, No Class—see me with any problems

April 26     Research Papers Due (Assignment 10)—Post Mortems 

April 28      More Post Mortems


Assignments: Assignments are as follows (further explanation will be offered in class):

Assignment 1: Based on your reading of Gaddis (especially chapters 4-5), write a short paper (2 pages) on the difference between history      and the social sciences. Due January 20.

Assignment 2: Based on your reading of the Brinkley article, identify a particular problem facing historians of contemporary America. How might historians address this dilemma? Due January 30.

Assignment 3: Research design. Submit a short explanation of the topic you have chosen for your research paper. Due February 10.

Assignment 4: A paragraph (topic will be announced) to be edited by a fellow student. Due March 1.

Assignment 5: Bibliography. Prepare a bibliography of roughly 12 works relating to the topic you’ve chosen for your research paper (use Turabian, Chapter 9 as a guide to formatting your bibliography). Include a one-page assessment of the strengths and weaknesses of the sources. Due March 10.

Assignment 6:You will be assigned an oral history from the online collection at the Lyndon Johnson Library (the instructor will try to match your research topic with a related oral source—but this won’t always be possible). Read the interview and write a brief paper on what you see as the major revelations (if any) in the interview and any bias it might reflect. Due March 22.

Assignment 7: Students will be assigned several pages from an article and will check the author’s citations (as best as possible). Students will submit a brief report on their findings. Due March 31.

Assignment 8: Prepare a complete bibliography for your paper—including sources you have not yet received. Make sure the bibliography fully conforms to Turabian style. Due April 5.

Assignment 9: The rough draft. Due April 19.

Assignment 10: Final research paper.Due April 26.


• In addition to a hard copy, students will be required to submit an electronic version of their rough drafts and final research paper.Papers can be turned in as email attachments, on 3.5 or zip discs, or on CD-rom. MSWord or WordPerfect are the preferred format. Papers will then be submitted for a Trunitin review.

• Assignments must be handed directly to the instructor on the proper due date. Do not email papers, put them in the instructor’s box, or slip them under his door—unless given explicit instructions to do so. 


Grading:

Assignment 1        10%

Assignment 2        10%

Assignment 3        5%

Assignment 4        (included in participation grade)

Assignment 5        5%

Assignment 6        10%

Assignment 7        10%

Assignment 8        5%

Assignment 9        (to be graded with research paper)

Assignment 10        40%

Participation            5%

• The instructor reserves the right to modify the syllabus as the semester progresses as he thinks it necessary. If you have a documented disability, please let me know by the end of the first week of classes so I can make appropriate arrangements.