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How to structure a History essay

Hibz123

Hi. What is the general structure used in writing a successful History essay? Thanks :smile:

Reply 1

Bezzler

1

It depends entirely on the essay and what level you're at. Obviously there's an introduction, a main bit and a conclusion. The introduction should be 6-10 lines long and the conclusion no more than 2-3 sentences. The main bit, try to link your arguments rather than just picking them at random. If you've got a for/against (to what extent do you agree with the argument that/how valid is the argument that?) an argument thing, then it's usually best to do one, then the other (I'd always finish with the one I agree with, so set up a counter-argument then knock it down). If it's a " to what extent was this factor was most important" question, then always start with the factor in the question.

Reply 2

midnightmushrooms

1

What essay are you doing?

Reply 3

roosel4

15

Hibz123

Hi. What is the general structure used in writing a successful History essay? Thanks :smile:

Originally Posted by Economist1

"Examiners want to see a 'sustained evaluative argument.' This means making your argument clear from the introduction. One way to do this is the 'ADQ' model: for each paragraph, start by directly answering the topic, in the main bulk of the paragraph, give data and evidence to support your points, and in the last sentence, relate the arguments directly back to the question. This should help you to focus on analysis and evaluation, whilst hopefully avoiding narrative answers.

Also, despite the fact that AS History essays to not have to be the most stylistically sophisticated ones, it can't hurt to show off extra knowledge by dropping in a quote or talking about the historiography of interpretations.

My only other bit of advice is, write fast from the start, because you'll almost certainly be writing until the last minute. Choose a pen where the ink flows smoothly on the page."

By answering the question, I mean relating back to the essay title, not just giving a narrative. Of course, you would have to paraphrase the question each time, since I agree, it would be a very boring essay otherwise.

So for your example, you could have:

...The effectiveness of widespread public demonstrations - most significantly, the Montgomery Bus Boycott - is itself testament to the successes of Martin Luther King Jr. as an influential leader...

His status as the charismatic figurehead of the civil rights movement was further enhanced by...

Besides this, his inspirational qualities were further manifested by...

Despite these successes in orchestrating popular support, the extent to which King's rhetoric served to influence national sentiment has been reasessed by revisionist historians such as [enter names of historians]; in particular, with regards to the relative successes of his campaigns both north and south of the Mason-Dixie line...

...and so on.

Reply 4

Hibz123

OP

midnightmushrooms

What essay are you doing?

My essay question is:

"Why did so many immigrants come to America in the late 19th and early 20th century?"

Reply 5

crazyspacemonkey

11

There are varying ways to structure your answer based on the type of question. Very generally you want an introduction, three or four points, then a conclusion. What question have you been asked?

Reply 6

Yekim_8

13

I'm not sure if you need it for Uni or School but when I done history at school we always structured it so that you had your introduction where you stated your intent and breifly how you were going to be explaining this while saying that you would consider other reasons. For example if the question was Was the loss of the war in japan the main reason for the february revelution? then I would make my first paragraph about the reasons why it could be considered the most important e.g many lives lost, wrong decision. Then in the next paragraphs you would consider other events which led up to the revelution and detail why they were important e.g tsar's incompetence, mistreated peasants. Then you would briefly round it off just saying if you did think it was the most important and recap your points as to why.

If this is for uni then this post is pretty worthless and I know you might not have done the russian topic but hopefully understand the format anyway :biggrin:

Edit: just realised your question is on america so you would take up the same format except make the reason you think why people emigrated to america the first paragraph (bar intro) and then detail the other reasons in the following paragraphs before rounding it up by saying all the factors played a part but I think this was the main reason why people emigrated.

Reply 7

adamrules247

20

Start with an intro. Outlining what you are going to talk about, the most important thing is to address the question.

Then you do the main body, do at least 6 paragraphs, first argue your point of view (if it's that sort of question), then argue the other sides point of view (if it's that sort of question).

The round it all off in a nice conclusion

Reply 8

UCAS123

I remember it was these dodgy words like...

COP

DEA

But here are some links:

http://www.ukessays.com/how-to-write/write-history-essay.php

"When I was doing A-level history one invaluable piece of help we were given was to structure each paragraph using the PEAL technique - Point, Evidence, Analysis and then Link to the next paragraph.

You should also try to discuss your evidence with its PESC ramifications - Political, Economic, Social and Cultural impact.

If all your points are clearly explained and backed up with evidence and linked together it shouldn't be a problem."

Reply 9

geminibubblegum

12

you need a BURGERwith lots of PEE in it (Point, Evidence, Explanation)
(bun- intro, salad-point, cheese- evidence, meat- explanation, then salad etc. for the next paragraph. the conclusion is the bottom bun)
Intro, Para 1 (PEE), para 2(PEE) etc. till you're out of points and then a conclusion. if you're generally unsure of structuring essays this is probably the best way to start

Reply 10

DominF

2

Format it so it looks like a snake. That's always cool.

Reply 11

Hibz123

OP

How about the 24 mark question? How do I distinguish between writing out relevent or irrelevant information? Any tips in general would help :smile:

Reply 12

username202682

17

Hmmm, this is a similar question to this thread

Longer question plans should be no more than 5 mins. You are looking to hit four main points for the question; two points for the argument and two points contrasting with the argument, in order to come to one conclusive answer.
Also, i think absolute knowledge isn't as important is brilliant structure. You are not expected to know it all.
You should be looking to spend around 45-50 mins on both questions.

Reply 13

Hibz123

OP

Stricof

Hmmm, this is a similar question to this thread

Longer question plans should be no more than 5 mins. You are looking to hit four main points for the question; two points for the argument and two points contrasting with the argument, in order to come to one conclusive answer.
Also, i think absolute knowledge isn't as important is brilliant structure. You are not expected to know it all.
You should be looking to spend around 45-50 mins on both questions.

Thank you

Reply 14

thompsonbassman

2

Basically, always make sure you do this but things will change depending on the essay.

Begin with an introduction, contextualising your answer and introducing the historical debate etc.

Either do paragraphs by factors such as religious, social, economic etc if that is the nature of your answer or you could do it in other ways, this main bulk of an essay really depends on the content.

Make sure you always include some historical opinions from AS level onwards, at GCSE this isn't important. Also, make explicit links between factors to show synopticity in your answer.

The key thing is to sustain a judgement throughout and show historical skills such as critical thinking, the ability to analyse sources etc.

A conclusion should tie things together and not really introducing anything new if you can help, add any snappy sentences you might have here to round things off :smile:

Good luck!!

Reply 15

Hibz123

OP

Here is an example for a 24 mark question:

How important was Theodore Roosevelt in the development of Progressivism in the years 190-1920?

How would I come about structuring the answer in a good way and to write down the main relevant points?

How to structure a History essay

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