Guidelines for Writing your Essay
Please use the following guidelines for writing your essays:
1. Essays should be typed in 12-point font. Please use a simple, clean font such as
Times New Roman or Palatino. Use 1″ inch margins on all sides. Refer to the
individual assignment directions (in the Dropbox tool) to determine the
minimum length for each essay. The length may vary for each assignment.
2. Essays are to be written following the rules of correct grammar and spelling,
both of which will be taken into consideration in the evaluation of the essay. Be
sure to proofread your essays as grammar and spell checks typically do not
catch words used in incorrect contexts.
3. Essays must be original and analytical and must be careful to include wellthought-out responses to the questions posed in the assignment. Make sure to
address ALL parts of the question.
§ Introduction which does ALL of the following: states the
purpose of the essay; frames the era by providing pertinent dates
for the subject; provides a solid historical background moving
from general statements about the subject to increasingly more
specific ones; introduces the author of the document by providing
some specific information important for better understanding why
the author wrote what he or she did.
§ A thesis which specifically explains how the primary and/or
secondary sources (as directed by the instructor) reflects the issues
and developments of the historical period when it was produced.
§ A body of evidence, this is the main part of your essay and it is
where you defend your thesis by referring to several major aspects
of the primary and/or secondary sources, explaining how they
reflect the concerns and issues of author in the context of the
period when it was written. You rely on direct analysis of the
primary and/or secondary source material to back up your
assertions.
§ A conclusive summary that briefly reiterates your main points,
but more important, suggests how the primary and/or secondary
source points to later historical developments. How might it be a
bridge to a later time in Greek history–do not just jump to the
present and make a superficial remark about how everyone was
better.
4. You must cite your sources in text and provide a complete bibliography at the
end. REMEMBER: Any information or idea that is not your own MUST BE
CITED.
§ You must give specific examples from the secondary and/or
primary sources used in the development of the paper and must
cite these sources following the MLA style, the University of
Chicago Press’s Chicago Manual of Style or Kate L. Turabian’s A
Manual for Writers of Term Papers, Theses, and Dissertations.
Refer to the online resources Guide to the MLA Style or Turabian
and Chicago Styles Citations. Your instructor will specify the
preferred style. You should use footnotes or endnotes and provide
a full bibliography at the end of your paper.
§ If you use direct quotations, you must not only cite your source,
but must also use quotation marks. Example: Columbus explains
that the weapons of the natives he encountered in the islands of
the Caribbean were unsophisticated, and that their javelin, a
much-used weapon, was “no more than sticks” joined together.
Please include the text and bibliography in one paper–not separate documents.
MUST use 2 secondary sources in addition to the primary-http://www.mesoweb.com/publications/Christenson/PopolVuh.pdf)
the sources must be used in the essay and quoted.
Please READ and follow all instructions carefully.
