Tips on Formal Historical Writing

1
Tips on Formal Historical Writing

• What is Historical Writing?
• What is Formal Writing
• General Grammar Tips

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What is Historical Writing?The Thesis

• History does not simply tell a story
• Historical Writing MUST have a thesis
• A thesis MUST make an argument
• A thesis is not a subject/topic or a statement of
  fact.
• An argument is not a value-based opinion.
• An argument is a statement with which someone
  could reasonably disagree.
• A thesis should seek to answer the question why
  is this important?

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Topic/Statement of FactNot a Thesis

• Honor was important in colonial Latin American
  society.
• This essay will discuss the importance of honor
  in colonial Latin American society.
• Mexico experienced turmoil in the nineteenth
  century because of conflict between Liberals and
  Conservatives.
• This essay will discuss the Conservative
  philosophy in nineteenth-century Mexico.

4
Value-based opinionNot a Thesis

• The honor code in Colonial Latin America was
  unfair.
• Nineteenth-century Mexican Conservatives were
  wrong and can be blamed for near constant
  instability.

5
Historical WritingNarrative versus Analysis

• Historical essays should not be simply narrative
  accounts of what happened.
• From lecture notes or textbook
• Essays should incorporate examples.
• From Journal readings and primary documents
• Essays should include analysis of those examples
  and how they support the overall thesis.

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Historical WritingActive versus Passive

• PASSIVE The town was raided by vandals.
• ACTIVE Vandals raided the town.
• PASSIVE The French were defeated by the English.
• ACTIVE The English defeated the French.

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Historical WritingPassive and to be verbs

• To be verbs is, are, was, were, have been,
  will be, etc.
• To be verbs are linking verbs
• They should be used to link nouns with
  descriptive words
• Dr. Rankin is short
• They should not be used in sentences that want to
  be active.
• NOT It was a challenge INSTEAD It challenged
• NOT He was successful INSTEAD He succeeded
• NOT The authors argument is INSTEAD The
  author argues

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Historical WritingPlain Old Past Tense

• Use past tense verbs
• The president died and eventually his cousin
  replaced him.
• Avoid the historical present
• The president dies and eventually his cousin
  replaces him.
• Avoid the conditional
• Would should only be used in conjunction with
  the word if
• The president died and eventually his cousin
  would replace him.

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Formal WritingWrite in 3rd Person

• 3rd Person He, She, They, It
• Do not use 2nd person
• Your reader was not there
• 2nd person You
• In colonial Latin America, if you were not
  sexually pure, you did not have honor.

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Formal WritingWrite in 3rd Person

• Do not use 1st person
• 1st person I, me, we, us
• 1st person can weaken formal writing
• We can see the colonial honor code in this
  example.
• I think the Mexican Revolution was important
  because

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Formal WritingSpell Out Numbers

• Generally spell out cardinal numbers 1-12.
• Spell out all ordinal numbers
• First, second, third (not 1st, 2nd, 3rd)
• Nineteenth century (not 19th century)
• Exceptions
• Dates
• October 1, 2005 (not October 1st, 2005)
• Serial Numbers
• King Charles V, Figure 3

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Formal WritingClichés, Jargon, Casual Speak

• Clichés
• A blessing in disguise.
• Fall through the cracks.
• The bitter end.
• Jargon
• Key (not an adjective)
• Impact, access, research (not verbs)
• Casual Speak
• Get

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Formal WritingBe Concise

• Never use more words than necessary
• At this very moment Now
• In spite of the fact that Although
• As a result of Because
• In the month of May In May
• During the time that While
• Have need of Need
• Is of the opinion of Believes

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Formal WritingMiscellaneous

• Avoid contractions
• Did not (instead of didnt)
• First and last name
• Lazaro Cardenas (the first time in the essay,
  thereafter Cardenas)
• Presidential (or royal) administrations
• In parenthesis the first time in the essay
• Lazaro Cardenas (1934-1940)
• Italicize foreign words
• Ejido, Mita, Criollos

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General Grammar TipsAgreement

• Subject-Verb Agreement
• The group of soldiers were tired and hungry.
• The group of soldiers was tired and hungry.
• Pronoun-Antecedent Agreement
• Someone born into the lower class could not
  change their status.
• Someone born into the lower class could not
  change his or her status.
• People born into the lower class could not change
  their status.

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General Grammar TipsSplit Infinitives

• Infinitive to plus verb
• Must never be split by a modifier
• To boldly go where no man has gone before
• Incorrect To effectively govern
• Correct To govern effectively
• Incorrect To completely defeat
• Correct To defeat completely

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General Grammar TipsThe Poor Overused Apostrophe

• Apostrophes make words possessive
• The soldiers guns (Belonging to one soldier)
• The soldiers guns (Belonging to more than one
  soldier)
• They also form contractions but this is not
  appropriate in formal writing
• They do not make words plural
• They do not make numbers or acronyms plural
• 1500s (not 1500s)
• MREs (not MREs)

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General Grammar TipsCommonly Misspelled Words

• Their (possessive), There (place), Theyre (they
  are)
• To (direction), Two (2), Too (also)
• Affect (verb, influence), Effect (noun, result)
• Allusion (suggestion), Illusion (deception)
• Eminent (noteworthy), Imminent (impending)
• Than (comparison), Then (at that time)
• Ensure (make certain), Insure (indemnify)