Scott, Gregory M. : University of Central Oklahoma
Garrison, Stephen M. : University of Central Oklahoma
Summary
Brief, yet comprehensive, this user-friendly text/reference provides history students with practical advice about how to improve their writing and study skills while learning about history. It presents the discipline of history as a very relevant social science, demystifies the writing process, lessens students' anxiety over library research, and reviews the rudimentary skills necessary for "surviving" a college history course. It offers guides to preparing different types of history papers and features fun and interesting creative writing exercises that invite students into the world of writing history in unique ways that are more enjoyable than traditional approaches.
Discusses history as a social science -- helping students to see beyond history as the memorization of meaningless, isolated facts (about a past they care little about) to the study of the past as the study of people like themselves.
Explores the writing process
Giving students who are unpracticed in scholarly writing practical advice and helpful points with every phase of the research and writing process. Emphasizes the three-way . . . relationships among writer, topic, and audience. Examines those elements of grammar, style, and punctuation that cause the most confusion among writers in general.
Provides step-by-step, anxiety-lessening guidance on organizing the research process and probing the mysteries of the library.
Explains how to present a writing project in proper format and how to cite sources correctly and ethically.
Offers guides to preparing types of history papers -- e.g., book reviews, biographies, various topical history papers, military papers, archaeological papers, and historical scripts.
Features fun and interesting creative writing exercises that invite students into the world of writing history in unique ways that are more enjoyable than traditional approaches, e.g.:
Oral history. Describing the artifact. The art gallery. The historical "letter home." The "time machine." The "luminous detail." The drama of history. Multi-media exercises.
Contains practical advice on how to "survive" a college history course.
Focuses on the rudimentary skills of taking good lecture notes, reading a textbook effectively, and preparing for exams.
Table of Contents
I. AN INTRODUCTION TO THE STUDY OF HISTORY.
1. The Discipline of History.
II. A HANDBOOK OF STYLE FOR HISTORY PAPERS.
2. Writing as Communication.
3. Writing Competently.
4. Paper Formats.
5. Citing Sources.
III. CONDUCTING HISTORICAL RESEARCH.
6. Organizing the Research Process.
7. Information in the Library.
8. History on the World Wide Web.
IV. HOW TO WRITE COLLEGE HISTORY PAPERS.
9. Book Reviews.
10. Topical History Papers.
11. Biographies and Oral History.
12. Having Fun with History: Short Writing Assignments.
