how to write a humanities essay

how to write a humanities essay

How to Write a Humanities Essay

1. Introduction

I hope this helps in providing a start to how you can make a humanities essay. Remember, it is a lot better to do thesis-based evidence-driven writing than to try to tackle questions of interest with opinionated writing. Keep that in mind and good luck.

Now, when you have your own humanities essay, in the conclusion, you must provide a synthesis of the information you have communicated in your essay. What you must do is show your reader that you have fulfilled your thesis. This means that you introduced it in the introduction, looked for information, provided it, and finally provided a logical answer to the question at hand. Then, end your essay with a sense of completeness by letting your reader know that the essay has fulfilled its goal.

It is about how you can make a humanities essay. You can always save your time and have your essay from a professional writer. But if you want to learn more about how to make a good humanities essay, it is always best to make it on your own. Now let’s start. How do you start to make a humanities essay? This guide is formed based on the Humanities style guide.

2. Understanding the Essay Prompt

The next step is to identify any restricting words in the prompt to make sure you can follow the guidelines and also the subject matter. Then work out if there are any implicit or assumed issues within the prompt so you can cover the whole topic.

For example, you should try to label the instruction words, which tell you what you are supposed to do in the essay (e.g., compare, analyze, etc.). Then identify the content words, which tell you what the topic area for your assignment is (e.g., modernism culture, new political history).

To write a humanities essay, you need to know a few things: where to begin, how to generate content, and how to end it. Understanding the prompt should be the first thing to do in this regard. An essay prompt usually consists of instructions and questions that you need to cover in your essay. A good way to help understand your prompt is to break it down into parts. The best thing to do here would be to take a highlighter or pen and jot down notes on the prompt.

3. Research and Analysis

Timing and organization of research and analysis might be the most difficult part of essay writing on a humanities topic. This type of essay does not have a strict sense of timing; it is not something to be cranked out in an hour and best forgotten. Rather, essay writing is a continuous reflection on a given topic. With this type of mindset, it is difficult to define stopping points for research and data collection. Typically, writing an outline is a useful habit that can simplify the process of bringing an essay together. Make a preliminary outline, revisiting your listed data and points and organizing them in a clear, logical manner. This organizational process can highlight any egregious gaps in your material, and show whether the research structure for the essay will work out successfully.

Analysis occurs throughout the whole writing process and in every paragraph. Developing complex ideas and constructing logical transitions between them necessitates your continual reflection on your data. This is especially true when making broad, connective statements—when discussing cause and effect, or continuity and change. Always be ready for ideas to change; remaining flexible and open-minded about your data is an excellent quality for a humanities essayist. Admitting to your own confusion and uncertainty about a topic is also an honest reflection on the research or learning process; again, use this as an impetus to return to the material for added clarity. Be aware of the appropriate usage of quotes and paraphrasing, and always attribute information to its source.

Once you know your topic and have drawn from your work of primary interest, make a list of key points you might want to explore, and make about two to five bullet points for each of these items. This list becomes a guide for analysis in future writing, and can be continuously revisited and reworked. During the writing process, always keep your thinking logically connected; each piece of analyzed material should flow into and complement the next.

Read the assigned work, and then read it again. The simplicity of this step belies its usefulness. You want to have the main content of the work in mind, and to be considering at the same time the implications of the work. Mark your text with a pen or pencil to note key passages that will be subject to later analysis; this not only improves your understanding of the work but helps immensely in locating passages when you review the text later. During or after reading, you might wish to do some background research on the work or its author. Always keep your own essay topic in mind in order to maintain focus and direction. Background research beyond the text can add clarity to your interpretations and provide a context.

Research is a key part of writing a humanities essay. In order to do research, you may need to go to your local library. You should try to go to the library a few times. This will ensure that you will find a variety of sources. At the library, look for materials not only on its online catalogue but also in the stack areas. An essay is always more interesting to write (and to read) if you can tie your understanding of a topic to a specific place—that is, if you can visit the place. If you can, do some field research! For travel to the library or places of field research, make the outing into a special occasion. Dress up a little, bring a friend or a family member, and treat yourselves afterwards. You want to associate your research ventures with satisfaction in order to muffle your reluctance to engage in research when you have other things to do. Ideally, one of your research outings will lead you to find a single book, article, or place that will centre your essay on the topic.

4. Structuring Your Essay

Once you have the literature you want to use, the topic you want to address, you are ready to compose your arguments and put your ideas down in an organized manner. This is not just a helpful preliminary means to an end; it is integral to the strength of your overall work. A university-level Humanities essay is not a linear or prescriptive piece of writing, so crafting a powerful structure that achieves your aims in the most efficient way is an extremely complicated undertaking. Nevertheless, the nature of the step-by-step process means that this task can be broken down into a series of small, simple decisions. It is, therefore, best approached slowly and with an inquisitive attitude. Define exactly what you’re asking of it and the space you need to achieve it. Underline repetition, both in subject matter and primary sources, throughout your argument and appreciate it as a serious tool for enrichment. Using organized questions such as how, why, and what may reveal that you are being more pressurized at certain points than you feel comfortable with and may highlight gaps in your knowledge of the subject. Mapping your allegorical intention is sometimes best achieved by conjuring a parallel explanation of perhaps a work of art, music, or modern event. Finally, don’t be afraid of reforming ideas as your essay progresses. Remaining flexible is the essence of great essay-writing, especially in a discipline like Humanities.

5. Conclusion and Final Tips

The conclusion is dessert, leaving a pleasant aftertaste, making the reader feel that their hunger for information has been satisfied properly. In other words, your job is to make sense of the evidence, argue convincingly, and culminate well.

Think of the essay as though it is a meal. The introduction is the entrée, inviting the reader to indulge in what is to follow. The main body is the tasty main course, full of flavour and goodness to fill our stomachs. But most importantly, an essay is not a replication of the work of others. Work that is not your own, or is partly yours and partly someone else’s, is like a half-eaten meal. It is full of regrets and discomfort, and we cannot erase what we have sampled.

Good essays have several things in common. They answer the question asked or provide an insight. They have a clear thesis. They are well organised, with arguments backed up with evidence. And they are well written, showing they are clearly understood.