Brunelle, History 300B, "Historical Writing"
Syllabus
General Grammar and Style Sheet for Student Papers
Guidelines for Content in Research Papers
History 300B, "Historical Writing"
Revised February 20, 2007
Instructor: Dr. Gayle K. Brunelle
Section code: 5 13948
MW 4-5:15 in H 125
Office Hours: MW, 2:30-4:00
Email: gbrunelle@fullerton.edu
Website: http://faculty.fullerton.edu/gbrunelle
Telephone: (714)278-7045
Fax: (714)278-2101
History 300B Learning Goals
Course Description: Research, writing and library usage (including computer-assisted bibliographic searches) as related to history. This course meets the classroom portion of the upper-division writing requirement for history majors. Please note: This means that all students must earn a "C" or above in this course, or else they will be required to repeat it.
Historical Knowledge: Students should leave History 300B with an improved grasp of historical research methods and information seeking behaviors as well as of the standard conventions of historical writing. Specifically, students should have improved knowledge of
Historical Reasoning: Students should leave History 300B with an improved grasp of how to put together an argumentative essay that synthesizes evidence from both primary and secondary sources. Specifically, students should have improved their ability to
Communication: Because History 300B meets the University’s upper-division writing requirement, the improvement of student writing skills is of paramount importance in this course. In order to enable this, History 300B provides students with multiple writing assignments that can be revised. In addition to general improvement in writing competency, students leaving History 300B should also be able to demonstrate at least an adequate ability to write an argumentative historical research paper in which they
Required Readings:
Recommended
Assessment:
In order to achieve the learning goals discussed above, students will be required to turn in writing assignments almost every week of the semester. At the end of the semester, students will be required to turn in everything they have done during the semester whether it is already graded or not in a single portfolio, so that I can also assess progress in writing and research skills over the course of the semester. Since oral communication is also a vital part of the training of a historian, students will be required to be present in class, and to participate regularly in class discussions. Students who miss more than two classes before census will be dropped from the class. Students who miss more than three classes during the semester will lose one grade from their final grade for each class missed.
I will hand out guidelines for the research papers during the first week or two of class. Your research papers will be 12-15 pages plus endnotes, or 15-18 pages plus footnotes, and factored into your grades for the research papers also will be successful completion of the drafts, which you will hand in when you submit the final versions of your papers. Please note that your papers must be a minimum of 12 full pages plus endnotes or 15 full pages plus footnotes. Points will be deducted for short papers! You will be expected to base your papers on a primary source, and to use at least five journal articles (found in academic journals!) as secondary sources along with books or other materials. I will give you a list of approved topics from which you may choose, and I must approve it as well as your primary source and preliminary bibliography. The class topic will be on "Violence." The papers will be due on Wednesday, May 16, before 5 pm! Papers may be handed in directly to me in my office (H-710E) or brought to the History Office on the 8th floor of the Humanities Building and put in my box. Do not email papers to me!
Please note that due to the small but significant minority of students who plagiarize, either the first or final draft of your paper must be handed in via Turnitin.com. Students will find a Powerpoint presentation on how to use Turnitin at:
http://fdc.fullerton.edu/technology/turnitin/default.htm. I will also discuss Turnitin the first day of class. The class ID number is 1610983. The password is "Password." Rather than wait to be caught plagiarizing, deliberately or inadvertently, I strongly urge you to submit your drafts and review your reports on them yourselves. If your papers contain more than 24% material from other sources (i.e., yellow or above on your report), even if cited correctly, this constitutes too many quotes or otherwise "borrowed" material, and the paper should be revised to reduce this. If you have quoted from sources and not cited them, you must cite them in the revised version. If I catch you "borrowing" too many quotes from legitimate sources, I will require you to rewrite your paper in your own words. Failure to do so will result in an "F" for the paper. If I find that you’ve purchased the paper from an "essay mill," I will drop you from the course and report you for academic dishonesty.In order to improve precision and reward grades that more closely reflect the quality of students work, and in accordance with new university policies, I will be grading using a plus/minus scale as follows:
97-100 = A+
93-96 = A
90-92 = A-
87-89 = B+
83-86 = B
80-82 = B-
77-79 = C+
73-76 = C
70-72 = C-
67-69 = D+
63-66 = D
60-62 = D-
59 or below = F
Class Schedule: Please Note: All writing assignments will be due on Wednesday during class. All assignments must be handed in during class, or placed in my box in the History Department Office, H-815F. Do not email papers or leave them under my office door. Please note also that late papers will not be accepted unless prior arrangements have been made with me.
Attendance Policy: This is not an independent study class! Students who miss more than two classes before census will be dropped from the class. Students who miss more than three classes during the semester will lose one grade from their final grade for each class missed.
Part I: Basic reading comprehension, grammar, style, and critical thinking skills. Weeks 1-4.
Week 1/ Jan. 22, 24: Introduction. Discussion of the purpose and goals of the class. To write well, first of all students must read well. I will hand out an excerpt from a historical text, and students will write in class a brief analysis of it.
Week 2/Jan. 29, 31: Grammar and why it’s important for history majors. Let’s make sure we say what we mean, and why it is that we may not know as much about grammar as we think we do. In this class students will be required to hand in a draft (4-5 pages) of their essay on the text I handed out last week. This, including the drafts of it, will constitute writing assignment 1. We will do in-class editing of the draft, and the final draft of this paper will be due next week.
Week 3/Feb. 5, 7: Style and self editing. Once we know how to say what we mean, let’s work on saying it well so that others will read it. We will also discuss how to read and edit one’s own and others’ work. In this class students will bring in a revised draft of the essays they’ve been working on for the past few weeks. They will exchange papers and edit each other’s work using Strunk and White as a guide. Reading Assignment: Strunk and White, The Elements of Style; also Marius, A Short Guide to Writing about History, chs. 6-7. By this class students will also be expected to sign up for one of the research paper topics from the list I will distribute on the first day of class. In addition, I will hand out various review articles. Students will be required to read and analyze one of them, and prepare a review (5-6 pages) in which they identify and discuss its thesis, argument supporting that thesis, and evidence supporting the argument. This, including drafts, will constitute writing assignment 2.
Week 4/ Feb. 12, 14: Critical Thinking, or how to say something that means something, or make an argument that makes sense. I will also bring to class some examples of historical arguments for students to discuss and assess. Your drafts of assignment 2 will be due during this class and we will do peer editing!
Part II: Research
Week 5/Feb. 21: Feb. 19 is Presidents’ Day – No Class!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Class Topic: The Library as the Historian’s Laboratory. We will meet at Pollack Library for a bibliographic tour of the library on Feb. 21.
Week 6/Feb. 26, 28: Students will do peer-editing of writing assignment 2 in class this week. These drafts will then be revised, with a final version due next week. Also, the final version of the review article paper will be due this week during class.
Week 7/March 5, 7:
A preliminary list of sources for your papers are due Wednesday, as well as the final version of Assignment 2.
Class Topic: Research. How to organize research and use documents. Also, how to work with primary sources. I will hand out several primary sources in class and we will discuss how to analyze various types of primary sources. Students will be required to hand in a draft of short paper (4-5 pages) analyzing the primary source they intend to use in their paper. How will you make sense of it? What do you think it means, and what historical questions does it raise for you? This paper will constitute writing assignment 3; we will do peer editing of the papers in class.
Week 8/March 12, 14: Research, Again. I will hand back drafts of writing assignment three.
Electronic searching and the internet. What’s useful, and what’s not, and why not. Also, taking notes and writing drafts. Reading Assignment: Marius, A Short Guide to Writing About History, chapter 5.
Week 9/March 19, 21: Back to arguments. How to turn all that data into a thesis. During class students will be expected to discuss possible thesis statements and arguments for their papers. Next week students will be required to hand in a paper (4-5 pages), based on that discussion, in which they offer a thesis statement, and discuss how they arrived at that thesis and how their evidence seems to support it so far. This paper will constitute writing assignment 4. The final draft of writing assignment four will be due in class today.
Please note: Spring Break is March 26-April 1: No class!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Part III: Organizing your thoughts and writing.
Week April 2, 4: Reading Assignment: Thesis statement paper draft (writing assignment 4) due this week. In class we will discuss how to translate the thesis statement into an argument structuring your paper. We will peer edit the drafts in class. Next week students will be required to bring a draft of an outline to class.
Week 11/April 9, 11: Outlines and citation: Who needs one (everyone) and why? We will discuss paper structure, outlines, and citing materials. Students will bring a draft of their outline, which we discuss in class. I will also hand back the drafts of the thesis statements. Reading Assignment: Turabian, A Manual for Writers (you don’t have to read it, but have in class for consultation). Next week students will be required to hand a revised version of their outline. The revised outlines will constitute writing assignment 5.
Week 12/April 16, 18: Individual Consultations with instructor. This will be your week to catch your breath and catch up on your assignments. I will meet with you individually to discuss your progress – students will sign up for appointments between 2:30 and 7 pm. (About 15 minutes per student). Revised thesis statements and outlines due!
Week 13/ April 23, 25: Individual meetings with the instructor. This will provide you with another opportunity to discuss your progress with me during class period.
Week 14/ April 30, May 2: Paper drafts due! Please note: all research papers must be submitted in draft form and revised. Drafts with my editing and comments must be handed in with the final versions of your papers, or you will lose ten points from the grade for the paper. Our topic this week will be revising. Students will exchange papers and edit each other’s work. We will discuss guidelines for editing, what makes a good editor, and why revising and editing are vital in historical writing. Bring your Turabians and your Strunk and White books!
Week 15/ May 7, 9: Paper drafts returned and discussed in class.
Week 16/ May 16. Final versions of your research papers (Writing Assignment 7) plus your portfolios of all the work you have done during the semester will be due in my office no later than 5 p. m.