How to Write a History Paper

How to Write a History Paper

For the majority of students, that issue is always sudden. They don’t know how to write a good history paper, so they start asking colleagues and professional writers for guides and recommendations. We’ve got something to tell them. If you are one of those college, high school, or university students who are lost and frustrated with an assignment, this article will be useful for you.

Good news first: writing a history research paper is easier than it seems. All you need to do is to know the definition, structure, and process. You should not expect yourself to complete that assignment genuinely through inspiration in a few hours. That’s impossible for any person on their own. However, if you know which steps you’ve got to do before, during, and after your history paper is written, things become much simpler.

So, here below you can find:

  • an explanation showing you what a history paper is;
  • a guide displaying how to organize, start, compose, and finish the paper successfully;
  • a couple of tips on history topics;
  • some other recommendations to help you get the highest grade possible.

Keep in mind that the guide was composed and published by professional writers who have over five years of experience in writing academic assignments for students. And here is one more thing for you to be aware of: if you feel you need help with your history research assignment, essay, or anything, pros can help. Just contact them immediately to receive consultation and assistance.

Now, let’s proceed with the guide. We’ll begin with the very basics. To know how to get the highest grade for your history paper, you surely need to know what that assignment actually is. So, that will be our entry point this time.

What is a History Paper?

A history research paper is an assignment showing your in-depth study of a historical process, event, or person. Any work of that type has some historical question at its core. It is crucial for a student to ask an interesting question if they want to craft a paper worth the highest grade.

How to Write a Historical Analysis: Short Explanation

Moreover, your history paper should show your defined position towards the chosen topic. You don’t just observe things referring to the past. You should use those observations to come up with a lesson crafted. That means you analyze the past with the use of existing primary reference materials and evidence you found there.

Still, a good history paper is not a restatement or a copy of the sources that are already crafted and printed. A paper deserving attention offers an original contribution to the available historical knowledge.

How to Start a History Paper: Topic & Outline

Okay, now you know what your current academic assignment is. How should you start it? It’s less challenging than you think.

First of all, you’ve got to pick your topic (if your professor gave you that freedom of choice, of course). Luckily, the current state of historical knowledge and topical research processes makes the range of potential themes just endless. History can concentrate on politics, social life, or civilizational development as a whole. You may want to discuss a particular armed conflict or peaceful protest, study a person who played a significant role in this or that historical process, or go in for a broader retrospective and study, for instance, the evolution of Christianity throughout the two millenniums. It’s your call.

As it was mentioned above, a history paper is not worth a thing without a clearly visible, defined position you’ve got regarding the chosen topic. If you have even the smallest essay writing experience, you surely know what a thesis statement is. It works for history papers, too. Before you start crafting your assignment, you need to know its core idea to build your future research and argumentation around.

Find more recommendations on topics and history research paper outlines below.

Topic Tips

Again, if you have the opportunity to pick a history paper topic on your own, it should correlate with your interests or hobbies. If you just thought you’d got nothing to offer, you are wrong. Why? Because everything has a history behind it.

If you like playing the guitar, your research can focus on the history and development of string musical instruments, for instance. In case you like playing computer games, you can go in to study the evolution of that industry in general, or show the path of a particular game genre. Maybe, soccer, basketball, football, or any other sport is your passion. All of them have their history, too.

Why is it smart to connect your history study with something you like? It’s because that’s the perfect way to boost the final quality of your assignment without the additional effort for sure. When researching the past of things, events, or persons you like and feel connected to, you will find it much more exciting to go deeper into the chosen topic. Additionally, it will be simpler to organize the process and find references for you in that case because you’ve most probably got a certain level of expertise in the theme that you like.  

Outline

Here comes the process organization part. After you have the topic defined and you know your core question, statement, or idea, it is time to proceed with an outline. You know why an outline is important, don’t you?

Suppose. Just there is a need to remind you all that, just perceive an outline as a fundament. Any academic assignment should have a well-developed and organized outline because, when made thoroughly, it’s a ready-made action plan. Experienced students and researchers frequently say they perceive an outline as a skeleton to grow the content muscles on. That’s probably the most suitable analogy showing the very point of an outline.

If you want to craft a good outline and then turn it into a top-grade history paper, you should keep an eye on the commonly accepted academic structure here. Fortunately, it is not much different from regular essays. Check the next paragraph to know more.  

How to Write a History Research Paper

After we found out what a history assignment is, you are ready to know more about how to write a historical research paper. Your outline, just as the final draft of your paper, should keep up with the following structure.

By the way, the tips below will suit if you want to know how to write a research paper on a historical person, event, process, or anything. The structure is universal. You only need to fill the points with the appropriate contents.

Intro

When thinking about how to write a history research paper introduction, try to remind yourself of all the essay writing experience you’ve got so far. A good intro contains a brief description of a topic, a hook to keep your professor interested, and a thesis statement or the main question of your study. Try to make your introductory paragraph straightforward enough but avoid including too many details in it. It’s not a place for answers. Make it as short as possible but fill it with meaningful and carefully chosen words.

Body

In turn, the body part of your research paper is that place to answer your core question. To do that correctly and reasonably, just expand the arguments and proofs you’ve got when planning your outline.

Use one body paragraph to present a single argument along with evidence supporting it. That is how you’ll keep the structure. Additionally, don’t forget to keep an eye on the logical connections between paragraphs and make transitions from one argument to the other smooth but clearly visible. That’s how you avoid possible confusion and boost the overall readability of your paper.

Conclusion

The most common mistake students make when writing a conclusion is an attempt to add something they never mentioned in the paper previously there. They think it will strengthen their position and make their assignment look better. However, adding new information to the concluding paragraph shows nothing but their low academic qualification.

The concluding paragraph’s importance is hard to overestimate, but it’s only a summary. Here, you should not provide readers with new data, arguments, or anything they couldn’t see in the body. This paragraph just ties the arguments and evidence together to forge a final strong logical chain that would answer the core question or restate the thesis from the intro. That’s it. Nothing more is required from you here.

History Research Paper Format

Most frequently, professors require students to use APA or MLA formatting guides to shape their papers, citations, references, and bibliographies. The Chicago style is less popular but also used by some schools. Still, everything depends on your professor here.

Don’t be too lazy to check the guidelines for your history papers attentively. That is the way to save yourself from a significant part of additional work later. And don’t be too shy to ask the professor about formatting requirements directly in case their guidelines do not specify that point.

It is a good strategical choice. With all those simple steps, you demonstrate your caring attitude towards the subject, your papers, and your academic performance to the professor. They respect students who care about their knowledge without additional stimulation required. Of course, that attitude alone can’t bring you the highest grade for a history research paper, but it surely can add some points to your image and reputation that will play for you overall.   

Afterword

Crafting a good history paper may be challenging, as it requires a lot of preparation and research to be done. However, if you choose the topic that is interesting to you, come up with a good question or thesis statement, and then keep up with the required structure and formatting, your chance to get a high grade for that assignment becomes much higher.

However, it is not always possible for students to complete all papers on their own flawlessly and on time. In case an illness, tiredness, family issue, or any other emergency got you caught, know that there is a way to solve the situation without sacrificing your academic performance. Professional writers are always available online and ready to assist you with any assignment.

Good luck, and don’t let anything spoil your grades!