This series of short guides is intended to give students quick introductions to both general writing mechanics and the application of those practices in history writing specifically. These handouts, while not exhaustive, will help students approach basic topics like appropriate comma usage and paragraph structure as well as more expert concepts like crafting research proposals and writing primary source analyses. These guides can also serve as helpful tools for conversations with instructors, TAs, and writing tutors, as students can use them to focus on improving particular components of their academic writing. If you have any questions or recommendations for other guides that could be useful, feel free to contact or stop by The History Lab.
Helpful Writing Guides
- Thesis Statements (pdf)
- Introductions (pdf)
- Titles (pdf)
- Topic Sentences (pdf)
- Paragraphs (pdf)
- Conclusions (pdf)
Writing Tools
- Citation Basics (pdf)
- Adding Footnotes (pdf)
- Passive Voice (pdf)
- Quotations and Paraphrasing (pdf)
- Comma Usage (pdf)
Genres
Historical Methods
- Historical Context (pdf)
- Primary Source Analysis (pdf)
- Primary Source Analysis – Reading Historically (pdf)