your argument (and also serves as a useful check to prove to yourself that you really
know what you are talking about).
5) Mine the readings to select examples that support your argument. At times, you may
find a particular point an author makes useful. At other times, you may want to use the
evidence an author provides to come to different conclusions. I find it valuable at the
outset to pick more examples rather than fewer. Typically, I mark these by just sticking a
post-it on the page. Sometimes, I also code these post-its with letters, numbers, symbols,
whatever, so all the examples on the same point are marked “1” or “A.”
6) Now you are ready to write. Begin with the introduction. This first paragraph should
clearly state the overall argument and give the reader some sense of the structure of the
paper. The use of “first. . . .second . . .finally” runs the risk of not really making an
argument in which one point actually leads to the next. Instead, state your overall thesis
and then the rough outlines of the argument. What is an argument? An argument reflects
your particular take on a period of historical change. It explains why and how things
happened the way they did, what factors influenced this change or development, and,
often, who or what played significant roles. In general, an argument characterizes a
particular moment in history and explains the contingent forces at work.
7) Outline the remaining argument of the paper. You don’t need a tidy outline with
Roman numerals and lower-case letters. Instead, you need the topic sentences or ideas of
each paragraph. Once you do this you begin to see how much (or how little) space you
have to make your case. Often you have less than you thought. If the rule of thumb is
roughly two paragraphs per page (or page and a half), and you need an introduction and
conclusion, then you can work backwards and figure out how many points you have
room to make. Assume one major point per paragraph. These points should build on
each other and thus the reader should be able to read the intro and the first sentence of
each paragraph and understand the whole argument.
8) Select the quotes you want to use. Typically, you want to use a quote only when an
author or historical actor said something in specific words that actually matter. Use your
judgment as to whether something is particularly juicy and powerful, and you need to
have the exact quote, or whether you can just paraphrase. When you quote a scholar,
then you should use a lead-in like, As historian Alan Brinkley points out, “ . . . .” If you
are quoting from a quote in a book, identify the historical actor, As Huey Long argued, “ .
. .” and then in the footnotes, put where Long wrote it and also “as quoted in” and the
citation where you got the quote from. (By the way, get a good handbook on the proper
way to do notes.) In general, use quotes as evidence and examples that support your
argument rather than as the argument itself. In other words, make sure your quotes
reinforce a point you have stated in your own words.