INSTRUCTIONS FOR RESEARCH PAPER;Introduction
Paper writing has its own conventions. It is as well to learn these now as to need to correct bad habits later. The topic you chose should be something that is included in the scope of this course and is of interest to you. Limit the size of your topic. You cannot write a history of World War I in 5-7 pages. Pick a specific aspect of an event or person\u2019s life.
I Typing and Presentation
Papers must be typed, 5-7 pages, double-spaced, on standard 8 1\/2\u2033x 11\u2033 paper. Use 1 inch margins all round. Use 10 or 12 pt. type. If using a computer, do not use right-hand justification as it leads to oddly spaced words. Staple the paper in the top left-hand corner. Do not use plastic covers or binders. Keep a copy other than the one you submit (professors\u2019 cars have been stolen before now).
Text should be double spaced. Long quotations, however, should be single spaced and indented five spaces. There is always at least one space after a period. In typing it is customary to leave two spaces.
The paper should be written in paragraphs. The first line of each paragraph should be indented five spaces (one standard tab). Sub-headings (as in this handout) may be used, but are not considered good style by many. There is no gap between paragraphs.
II Title Page
The following information should be included on the title (front) page of all papers.
\u2022 Your name
\u2022 The course name and number
\u2022 The lecturer\u2019s name
\u2022 The date the paper was due
\u2022 The title of the paper
\u2022 Nothing else
III The Text
Good grammar is expected of all students. Those new to writing papers should pay special attention to the following, lack of attention to which represents 90% of grammatical and stylistic errors seen in student papers:-
i) Spelling
Spelling should follow the generally accepted conventions. If you don\u2019t have one, buy a good dictionary.
ii) Correct Use of Tenses
In general refer to actions people did in the past in the past tense (examples: \u201cNapoleon won the Battle of Austerlitz\u201d, and \u201cVoltaire wrote Candide\u201d). Refer to quotations from authors in the present tense, even if the author you are referring to is a historical person (examples: \u201cE.P. Thompson [a modern writer] says that the English working class evolved only in the 19th century,\u201d and also \u201cVoltaire [an 18th Century author] suggests the Church of his time was corrupt.\u201d) In the last case note that you use the present tense for what Voltaire says\/writes\/suggests but the past tense for his description of a state of affairs in the past.
iii) Use of Apostrophes
Apostrophes are not used in the plurals of words (example: \u201ctelephones.\u201d not \u201ctelephone\u2019s.\u201d) Apostrophes are used to indicate possession of one thing by another (example \u201cthe man\u2019s hat.\u201d) If the word that possesses is already plural the apostrophe goes after the \u201cs\u201d that was added to make the word plural (for instance, \u201cThe Students\u2019 Association\u201d means the association belonging to many students, but \u201cthe student\u2019s association\u201d would mean some association pertaining to one particular student.)
iv) Its and It\u2019s
\u201cIts\u201d = indication of possession, like \u201chis\u201d or \u201cher.\u201d
e.g. \u201cthe book\u2019s cover\u201d = \u201cits cover.\u201d
\u201cIt\u2019s\u201d= contraction for \u201cit is.\u201d
v) Capitalization
Capitalize:
1. The first word in a sentence.
2. Proper nouns (i.e. names).
3. Words such as \u201cKing,\u201d \u201cPresident,\u201d only when referring to a particular person.
4. Words in titles, but not non-initial conjunctions, prepositions, or articles.
vi) Conditional Verbs I
\u201cHe would have been elected,\u201d not \u201cHe would of been elected.\u201d
\u201cShe could have done it,\u201d not \u201cShe could of done it.\u201d
vii) Conditional Verbs II
It has been very common to use phrases such as \u201cIf he would have helped her, she would now be safe,\u201d but this is grammatical nonsense and does not do what it intends, which is to make a conditional statement about the past. Literally the phrase as it stands means \u201cIf he had wanted to help her, she would now be safe.\u201d The phrase should be \u201cIf he had helped her, she would now be safe.\u201d
viii Split Infinitives
It is probably a lost cause to argue against them, but too many split infinitives are a sign of an uneducated writer. The infinitive of a verb is that part which expresses the meaning alone, for example, \u201cto go,\u201d \u201cto sing,\u201d \u201cto be.\u201d In English, the infinitive is marked by the word \u201cto,\u201d but in most other languages the infinitive is just one word, for instance aller, penser (French), gehen, kaufen (German), cantar, amar (Spanish). For this reason, it has long been considered bad style in English to \u201csplit infinitives\u201d with adverbs. Instead of writing \u201cto quickly go,\u201d or \u201cto finally sing,\u201d you should write \u201cto go quickly,\u201d or \u201cfinally to sing.\u201d
ix) Use of First Person Pronouns
When writing formal papers only use \u201cI\u201d and \u201cme\u201d when it becomes confusing to avoid them. A term paper is not meant to \u201csound\u201d like a letter to a friend or a diary entry.
x) \u201cFeel\u201d and \u201cBelieve\u201d
These words are massively overused by students. Your feelings are not relevant to a paper, it\u2019s your thoughts that count. When writing about historical figures, you only know what they \u201cfelt\u201d if they left diaries or told someone else their feelings. Unless you can cite such information, do not state that a historical figure \u201cfelt\u201d something. Also do not use \u201cfelt\u201d when you mean \u201cthought.\u201d These comments apply to \u201cbelieve\u201d in a less stringent manner.
xi) \u201cBeing that\u201d
\u201cBeing that he was King of France, \u2026.\u201d is better rendered \u201cSince he was..,.\u201d or \u201cBecause he was\u2026,\u201d or \u201cWhen he was\u2026\u201d
xii) Words to Avoid
\u201cIncredible,\u201d \u201cUnbelievable,\u201d \u201cLiterally,\u201d \u201cPeople,\u201d \u201cThey.\u201d Always check that these words really mean something when you use them.
xiii Passive Constructions
It is bad style to use passive constructions, or more concretely, passive constructions lead to bad style.
Here are some examples:-
\u201cThe King was lynched.\u201d
\u201cThe White House had been burned down.\u201d
\u201cAmerica was discovered.\u201d
All these sentences would be stronger and more informative if the person doing the lynching\/burning\/discovering was put in the picture.
\u201cThe Parisian mob lynched the King.\u201d
\u201cThe British burned down the White House.\u201d
\u201cColumbus (never knew) he discovered America.\u201d
IV Citations and Notes
You must indicate from where you are making any quotations you use in your paper. It is also important to cite the source of arguments and ideas when you take them from a textbook or other author. The way to do this is in footnotes (at the bottom of the page) or endnotes (at the end of the paper). If you have a word processor that puts notes at the bottom of the page use it, otherwise use endnotes. DO NOT cite in the body of the work!
Notes should be indicated in the text by superscipted numbers, like this \u2013 1. If your equipment cannot superscript, enclose footnote numbers in brackets like this \u2013 [1]. Notes should be numbered consecutively from the beginning to the end of the paper rather than being separately numbered on each page. Even though the text of your paper is double-spaced, footnotes should be single spaced. Leave a line between each footnote. The first line of a footnote should be indented five spaces.
The first mention of a source in the footnote or endnote should contain the following information in the order given here:-
BOOK:- i) Name of author(s) ii) Title of book (underlined\/italicized) iii) The edition used (not necessary for first edition) vi) City of publication v) Publisher vi) Year of publication vii) page references.
JOURNAL ARTICLE:- i) Name of author(s) ii) \u201cTitle of Article\u201d (in quotation marks) iii) Name of journal (underlined\/italicized) vi) Number of Journal v) Year of publication (in parentheses) vi) page references.
ARTICLE IN A COLLECTION:- i) Name of author(s) of article ii) \u201cTitle of article\u201d (in quotation marks) iii) the word \u201cin\u201d iv) Title of collection (underlined\/italicized) v) The edition used (not necessary for first edition) vi) Name of editor(s) of collection vii) City of publication viii) Publisher ix) Year of publication x) page references.
Here is an example for a book (with a single author):-
1 Alfred Cobban, A History of Modern France Vol I :1715-1799, 3rd ed. (Baltimore: Pelican, 1963), 18.
A textbook with multiple authors would be :-
2 John B. Harrison, Richard E. Sullivan, and Dennis Sherman, A Short History of Western Civilization, Volume II, Since 1600, 7th ed. (New York: McGraw-Hill, 1990), 18.
An article from a journal would be :-
3 William Monter, \u201cThe Historiography of European Witchcraft,\u201d Journal of Interdisciplinary History 9 (1978), 450.
An article from a collection would be :-
4 William Monter, \u201cProtestant Wives, Catholic Saints, and the Devil\u2019s Handmaid: Women in the Age of Reformations,\u201d in Becoming Visible: Women in European History, ed. Renate Bridenthal and Claudia Koonz, 2d ed. (Boston: Houghton Mifflin, 1987), 206.
Note especially the use of punctuation in these references. Note also that the place of publication is always a city, never a state or country. If the place of publication is not one of the major publishing centers [i.e., New York, London, Boston, Paris, Los Angeles, San Francisco, Chicago], indicate the city and the state. Finally with publishers names do not include words such as \u201cLimited,\u201d \u201cInc.\u201d or \u201cPublishing Company.\u201d.
Later references to the same author can just give his or her last name and the page number. Do not use \u201cp\u201d or \u201cpg\u201d.: for example:-
5 Cobban, 26.
6 Monter, ??.
Do not use Latin reference abbreviations such as ibid., idem, or op.cit. They are unclear nowadays and look distinctly old-fashioned. Your aim is to present information as clearly as possible.
More information on footnotes can be found quickly in Webster\u2019s Tenth New Collegiate Dictionary, (Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster, 1993).
The alternative system of citation is the parenthetical references system used in some fields of academic study. It is not used in history, but you may wish to investigate it for other classes.
V Bibliography
For a college paper your bibliography or booklist should list all the books and articles you have consulted in writing your paper. It should contain the same information as your first citation in a footnote but in a slightly different order. For example:-
Bridenthal, Renate and Claudia Koonz, eds. Becoming Visible: Women in European History. 2d ed. Boston: Houghton Mifflin, 1987.
Cobban, Alfred. A History of Modern France Vol I:1715-1799. 3d ed. Baltimore: Pelican, 1963
Harrison, John B., Richard E. Sullivan, and Dennis Sherman. A Short History of Western Civilization, Volume II, Since 1600. 7th ed. New York: McGraw-Hill, 1990.
Monter, William, \u201cThe Historiography of European Witchcraft.\u201d Journal of Interdisciplinary History 9 (1978): 435-51
Monter, William, \u201cProtestant Wives, Catholic Saints, and the Devil\u2019s Handmaid: Women in the Age of Reformations.\u201d In Becoming Visible: Women in European History, ed. Renate Bridenthal and Claudia Koonz, , 2d ed., 201-19. Boston: Houghton Mifflin, 1987.
In a list of books the last name goes first. The books are listed alphabetically in order of the authors\u2019 last names. Books without an author are listed by the first word, excluding \u201cthe\u201d and \u201ca\u201d in the title: Webster\u2019s Ninth New Collegiate Dictionary would go under \u201cW\u201d. It looks better if you indent from the second line of each entry (a hanging indent). For more information see the pages in Webster\u2019s already mentioned.
The following advice appeared in the paper at Fordham University in the Fall\u201988 Semester. Needless to say it is meant to be humorous.
________________________________________
H O W T O W R I T E G O O D
My several years in the word game have learnt me several rules.
1. Avoid Alliteration. Always.
2. Prepositions are not words to end sentences with.
3. Avoid cliches like the plague. (They\u2019re old hat.)
4. Employ the vernacular.
5. Eschew ampersands & and abbreviations, etc.
6. Parenthetical remarks (however relevant) are unnecessary.
7. It is wrong to ever split an infinitive.
8. Contractions aren\u2019t necessary.
9. Foreign words and phrases are not apropos.
10. One should never generalize.
11. Eliminate quotations. As Ralph Waldo Emerson said: \u201cI hate quotations. Tell me what you know.\u201d
12. Comparisons are as bad as cliches.
13. Don\u2019t be redundant; don\u2019t use more words than necessary; it\u2019s highly superfluous.
14. Profanity sucks.
15. Be more or less specific.
16. Understatement is always best.
17. Exaggeration is a billion times worse than understatement.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
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