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History 1110 – Spring 2020
Essay #2 Prompts
Essay 2: 20%. Due Thursday, April 16, on Canvas.
In 1200-1500 words, answer one of the following prompts:
1) Compare and contrast the understandings of gender and the family found in the works
of Flora Tristan and Karl Marx/Friedrich Engels. (Week 7)
2) What was the relationship between economic, geopolitical, and cultural (including
religious or racial) factors in the arguments for imperialism? (Week 10 readings)
3) Compare and contrast at least two texts from week 11 (Bertha von Suttner, Friedrich
von Bernhardi, Jean de Bloch, and F.T. Martinetti). Based on your analysis of these
readings, why did advocates of both war and peace at the turn of the twentieth century
sense that their respective visions of the future were necessary or inevitable? What
factors or features of their era did they point to as evidence?
4) Based on your reading of Jakob Walter (Week 6) and Eric Maria Remarque (Week
12), what were the most important similarities and/or differences between soldiers’
experiences in the Napoleonic wars and World War I a century later?
5) In what ways did Vladimir Lenin, Benito Mussolini, and Adolf Hitler have similar or
different understandings of “the state?” (Week 13)
6) Judging by these sources, what were the main factors that allowed the Nazis to commit
mass murder on this scale? (Week 14)
Keep in mind: your essay should draw only from the assigned texts, not from any outside
reading.
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Writing Guide
Format
1200-1500 words (including footnotes/endnotes; approximately 4-5 pages). 12-point font (Times
New Roman, Sylfaen, Cambria, Garamond, Georgia are acceptable fonts), double-spaced, 1”
margins.
Content
Your essay must be analytical and interpretive, rather than merely descriptive. This means that
you are not simply summarizing the readings, but making an argument about them. Your central
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argument, or thesis, is the particular insight you are providing based on a close reading and
original analysis of the texts. Put another way, the thesis is the “case” you are making for a
deeper understanding of the readings. It is not an opinion, but an interpretation rooted in direct
evidence that supports your case.
The prompts above are comparative, which means that your thesis needs to identity a connection
between the readings you are analyzing, providing a conceptual framework for understanding
them in relation to each other and within their historical context. A thesis must also be something
that is arguable. Simply noting that the texts contain similarities or differences does not
constitute a strong thesis. Neither does providing a list of observations:: “Author 1 discussed x,
y, and z in her account of the French Revolution, while Author 2 only mentioned x and y.” While
this statement identifies some potential points of comparison, it does not shed new light on the
readings, clarify the relationship between them, or offer an interpretation of what that
relationship reveals. Keep in mind, your audience for this paper is someone who already has
already read these texts. Your job is to convey to the reader a deeper understanding of what they
have read, using sufficient evidence to convince them of your interpretation.
For further guidance on developing a thesis, see:
https://writingcenter.fas.harvard.edu/pages/developing-thesis.
Introduction
Your introductory paragraph should lay out the scope and stakes of the paper, and convey your
argument as quickly as possible. A common mistake is to begin papers with too much
background information, or an overly broad “universal opening”: “Throughout history, war has
plagued humanity.” Instead, set the context for the documents you will be analyzing
immediately, and avoid providing background information unless it is essential. Your
introduction should “hook” the reader, revealing what they will learn but also convincing them
that this insight is significant (and that they will want to keep reading as you convince them of
your point in the remainder of the paper).
Body Paragraphs
If your thesis is the overall case you are making, the body paragraphs require you to gather,
order, and analyze evidence to support that case. Paragraphs are the most important unit of
“thinking” in historical, scholarly writing. Each body paragraph needs one central idea or theme
that develops your overall argument, and there should be a logical progression to your
paragraphs throughout so that one point follows or flows from the next.
Each body paragraph should contain the following:
1) A “topic sentence” at the beginning of the paragraph. Topic sentences convey the one
theme or subject that the subsequent paragraph will explore. They should also relate in some way
back to your paper’s overall thesis, and serve as a bridge between the previous body paragraph.
2) Sufficient evidence drawn from the sources. The discipline of history is obsessed with
evidence. It is not enough to state that something was so; historians want to be shown that it was
so. Good historical arguments are rooted in—or stick close to—the texts or other sources under
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examination. By the way, do not ignore important counterexamples, or distort evidence to fit a
flimsy or predetermined viewpoint.
Citing evidence from the texts means either paraphrasing an idea or concept from a source, or
including a direct quotation from the source. Both uses of evidence require a citation (see the
note below on plagiarism). When incorporating quotations—which are especially useful in
history papers for showing attitudes or ways of thinking from the time period in question—you
should use short, evocative excerpts, and avoid long quotations that take up more than three
lines. Do not use block quotes at all in a paper of this length. Finally, weave quotations into your
writing, rather than inserting them awkwardly between two other sentences. (See #3 below for
example).
3) Interpretation explaining the relevance/significance of this evidence. When you cite
evidence, especially as a quotation, you must explain clearly for the reader how this piece of
evidence supports your argument.
Example: Awkward insertion of a quotation, that is also too long and lacks analysis:
Bernhard von Bülow agreed with this broader point. “Gentlemen, for a nation that will
soon number sixty million, a nation that inhabits the center of Europe and is sending its
economic feelers out in all directions, the means have not yet been devised to win the
struggle for survival in this world without a strong navy and army… In the coming
century the German people will be either a hammer or an anvil.” Such rhetoric was
common in militaristic circles in imperial Germany.
Effective use of paraphrasing and evocative quotations, woven into the writing
around it and analyzed thoroughly:
Bernhard von Bülow agreed that Germany’s “struggle for survival in this world” required
“a strong navy and army.” The combination of Germany’s growing population, central
position within Europe, and economic expansion through imperialism together meant that
“[i]n the coming century, the German people will be either a hammer or an anvil.”¹ In
predicting that the fate of the German nation itself depended on enhanced military might,
von Bülow also adopted the Social Darwinist rhetoric common in imperial Germany’s
military circles and between European powers at the turn of the twentieth century.
1. Bernhard von Bülow, On Germany’s “Place in the Sun (1897),” German History in
Documents and Images (http://germanhistorydocs.ghidc.org/sub_document.cfm?document_id=783), 12.
4) The next body paragraph should begin with another topic sentence that bridges or provides a
logical transition between paragraphs.
Whichever prompt you choose, I recommend analyzing the texts together in your body
paragraphs around central themes, highlighting points of connection, underlying agreement,
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divergence around common issues, or some other relationship you discern between the texts.
This is usually a more effective approach, conceptually and rhetorically, than switching back and
forth between the texts in question (Author A / B / A / B), or discussing multiple texts separately
(A / B / C).
Conclusion
The conclusion should return to the overall insight of the paper and the point you have just
proven. But it may also reflect more broadly on the historical implications that your analysis
suggests. This might mean further reflection on the historical context that produced these
documents, a brief look forward to an event that transpired in the wake of these readings, or even
historical echoes of your paper’s themes in the present.
Citations and plagiarism
Any direct quotation must be cited. Using someone else’s ideas, interpretations, or analysis but
paraphrasing them also requires a reference to the source. You may use in-text citation,
footnotes, or endnotes. Chicago, MLA, or other common citation styles are accepted. I will
report plagiarists to the Office of Student Conduct and give them a failing grade. Come talk to
me if you are worried about plagiarizing, and consult the information here.
catalog.usu.edu/content.php?catoid=12&navoid=3140.
General Guidelines
– Your essay should draw only from the assigned texts, not from any outside reading!
– Include a word count.
– Proofread your essay before you submit it. Grammar and punctuation are part of the grading
criteria (as is style). If I comment on a first draft of your paper, I will focus primarily on
conceptual issues like your argument, the structure of your paper, and potential questions or
themes you will need to address further for the final draft. It is still up to you, however, to ensure
that your paper is grammatically sound upon final submission.
– Avoid quotes more than a few lines long, and do not use block quotes anywhere in your paper.
Focus instead on using short but evocative quotes that help capture the essence of your argument.
Alternately, paraphrase ideas and weave these into your analysis. Quotes or other forms of
evidence should not be left to simply “speak for themselves.” You must explain the significance
of the evidence you cite and how it demonstrates your overarching argument.
– Use the past tense when writing about the past.
– Avoid contractions in your essay.
– Use the active rather than the passive voice. The passive voice occurs when a writer combines a
form of “to be” with a past participle, turning the subject of the sentence into the object. A lack
of active verbs in your writing obscures clear prose and historical action. Passive: “The English
peasantry were forced off the land by the enclosure of common plots.” Make the verbs active and
clarify causality: “Parliamentary acts enclosed common plots and forced English peasants off the
land.”