Writing on History seems to be easy. However, as soon as you open a Word document and face an empty sheet, you come to understanding that this is more challenging than you have thought. There is a set of requirements to follow and skills to obtain in order not to face issues with a History essay.
Points to Consider
Here are a few tips on how to deal with your essay assignment on a historical event.
- Choose the Topic You Like
If you do not have a certain topic, you may get confused because of the freedom to choose. You should understand that yesterday is already a history, so unless you have the certain century limitation, choose some events having happened not long ago. Yesterday`s eve will be inappropriate just because scientists have not managed to react on it yet, so you will not be able to read some supportive materials.
- Include Three Components
A good essay on a historical event contains the following three meaningful elements: the fact itself (what, where and when happened), the reaction of the reliable scientists on it (analyzing of the event, detailed or/and surface, from reliable scientific works), and your personal opinion (the result of your own research and your conclusions).
- Choose Good Sources
A history repeats itself, so if you are writing about some relatively modern event, this does not mean that classic sources written before will not be suitable. There are works which set the theoretical basis of History and discuss some common principles on how the things are going on. So, using them for writing your particular essay will still be a good idea, and this will not make it out-of-dated. Be careful using the web sources, and make sure you avoid any Wikis and Pedias not to involve some fake information into your essay.
- Do Not Be Afraid to Think
As we have mentioned earlier, the essay will require you to express your personal attitude. So, think over the event. To direct your thoughts properly, put the event into causes and effects chain, compare it with the other events of the kind, try to predict what will happen next. You do not need to have some supernatural skills, just use your logic.
- Define the Type of Writing
Mostly, you will need to write an explanatory essay on such a topic. In some cases it will also be required to complete your paper in an argumentative manner, or at least add some elements of argumentation to it. In case you are to write a narrative essay, it is necessary to involve your fantasy and imagination to provide a good setting and trustworthy narration. Narration will be suitable also if you were a witness of a certain event you write about. It is important to understand the type of writing your professor expects you to follow not to do something completely wrong.
- Remember about Common Things
An essay about a historical event is still an academic essay, so it will be wrong to disregard the basic academic writing demands. The referencing should be proper and all the citations need to be marked according to the paper citation style requirement. You are responsible not to copy and paste any of materials from other sources pretending that they are yours. There should not be any grammar mistakes, misspelled words, too long sentences.
If you pay attention to the given details, your essay on a historical event will be graded the way you like it.