First, it is important to know exactly what a research paper in history is. For our purposes, a research project for writing history at this level must aim at more than just a recounting of events. The paper must deal with the meaning of a chosen episode or topic. Hence, you will be putting together an account of some event, or trend, or idea, or theme, but you will also aim to decode or explain the topic you have chosen. Many historians will tell you that the "What" question of a research paper must be accompanied by the question "So What?" What makes your topic important, historically significant?  What does your conclusion lead you to posit? What is the meaning of the "story" or "profile" you have put together.

A research project of any kind is always divided into several stages. The most basic division is easy: research vs. writing. But the sophistication of a real research paper in history at the upper-level makes it necessary for you to break down the project into even more divisions.  And this same sophistication needed to produce such a paper will require you to be extremely intentional with your METHODS of research and writing.

The first stage of your journey will be to select a topic. This is tricky business.  The topic has to be within our course subject matter, naturally. But at this point, you don't know the things we will study, since you haven't had the full course yet! So you have to triangulate, to listen carefully and ask questions when we talk about topics in class and individually, to look over the whole syllabus carefully, and to think about what kinds of sources are out there.

Next, you will produce an extensive Annotated Bibliography.  This will consist of far more than just listing a few sources. For one thing, it will require you to find both primary and secondary materials. We will discuss the meaning of these categories in class. It will also require you to cover the ground for the topic you choose. You must not be satisfied with a primary source and a few secondary articles. You must produce a list of all the writing you can find that touches on your topic. And for the purposes of the assigned bibliography, you have to do with a topic in mind. Complicated?  Yes. Difficult? Yes. But finding out a multiplicity of sources and approaches is crucial. This process will lead you to think about your topic and craft your own examination of it.

Quick note on the preceding: if you can't find primary sources for your topic, you can't write a paper successfully. This means, for this course and most courses, that you are better off to start by finding some fund of primary sources and peruse those to see if they "suggest" a topic that "speaks" to you. Again, we will go over this in class.

The second stage is to write a proposal. This will include a hard and practical decision about exactly what you intend to write about. We are no longer look at "The Battle of the Bulge" or "Queen Elizabeth I." We are looking to define a very specific episode or aspect and explore it thoroughly. So as opposed to the previous two general topics, you will looking for something like "German Covert Measures During the Battle of the Bulge" or "The Tax Policies of Queen Elizabeth I."  Just examples.

The next stage is the drafting of the paper. We will be talking a lot about the specific form of the paper in class. But for now, think hard about how one can keep track of multiple sources, evaluate the primary sources, develop ideas about the topic... and write it all in a coherent, readable form! You must have a good method for this, and we will talk about some useable methods in class.

The final stage is the editing and revision of your first draft. That first draft should "perfect"!  But after you have some time to think about and to read my comments, and perhaps talk to me about it, you will see that you can improve your writing, clarify your ideas, and sharpen the paper a great deal.