what is history essay

what is history essay

Exploring the Significance of Historical Essays

1. Introduction to Historical Essays

All of your essays in this class, and perhaps most humanities classes have as a fundamental goal empirical validation of interpretations and generalizations—if those essays have any intrinsic or significant purpose at all. Without empirical facts, history does not exist. That is, no history can exist until it is first written, and to be historical, an essay of any genre must be anchored on historical sources. The library is your citadel, the archive your haven. Empirical validation of historical theses is accomplished by reference to primary sources. The very nature of what you write is the examination, treatment, and analysis of primary documents—actual historical facts from which you have derived your own interpretation. And this is the essence and substance of an historical essay, and the highest form of evidence. This is what distinguishes history in the humanities from all other philosophical or social sciences. The most daunting question requires some thesis in the form of a plausible argument. Why did events unfold? Why did the actors involved behave in the way that they did?

The most important attribute of a good historical essay is a strong argument. Basically, this is providing a well-organized, well-reasoned, well-documented, etc., response to a provocative question. Focusing on the question or frequently re-reading the essay prompt, brainstorming a list of descriptive adjectives to guide your statement of a thesis, creating key categories or concepts for a thematic approach and creating a working outline, and creating a first draft are some of the preliminary steps for enhancing the argument. Then the last steps are establishing your purpose in writing the paper; developing the structure of the, typically, three- or five-part essay; working through every stage of your topic; and culminating in a final draft.

2. The Importance of Historical Context

When a magazine published a special issue devoted entirely to historical essays, it received a response that in turn led to increased subscriptions and readership. For many readers, the attraction of historical essays is at once because they respect facts and attach importance to history. With many writing essays that explore history in depth, the media, too, have come to realize that there are many readers interested in history, especially when told through stories or tales about the lives of extraordinary people. Such tales are rich with meaning and substance, recording the past in logical and accurate events, and situating characters within a broader context based on historical evidence. The importance of historical essays in promoting and reproducing history is thus apparent.

In order to understand their ancestors, a reverence for history, historical facts, and a sense of the importance of historical essays can only be realized when students are endowed with an accurate understanding of historical knowledge. As a literary genre in which history meets essay, historical essays contain both historical and literary attributes that make them a distinctive art form. While the essence of literature is humanistic, history embodies actuality and objectivity. The combination of history and literary imagination reveals the natural unity between reality and art, creating an enriched literary space in which facts are transformed into living testimony. The charm of historical essays lies in their storytelling, through which readers naturally enter into historical narrative time. The popularity of historical essays is largely due to the increasingly easy access to the valuable historical documents, rare books, and manuscripts on which they are based.

3. Research and Writing Techniques for Historical Essays

2) Undermining the value of secondary sources is also part of the historical writing challenge. It is necessary for the researcher to demonstrate why certain secondary sources have been deemed more important than others in any given writing project. Newspapers, magazines, World Wide Web pages, television broadcasts, radio programs, and selection of books presenting certain points of view are all secondary sources. These are not in and of themselves historical texts or articles because they are the product of historical interpretation. Time erodes the meaning of the original intent. As such, researchers must know that secondary sources have their shortcomings, such as being susceptible to subjective composition and flawed interpretation.

1) The researcher needs to understand that valid historical investigation requires the use of primary sources in order to communicate his or her findings effectively with others or to interpret any findings accurately. This means defining the validity of the research by considering questions such as: Who composed this information? What were the motivations and objectives of the composer? And where were the facts obtained? An invalid history article could cite nothing more than secondary sources of selective importance and still satisfy the basic requirements of the genre. However, such limitations can very often limit the research and its illustrative value.

Crafting an adequate historical essay is quite sophisticated, in part, because of the varied research and writing techniques required. While history is not a simple, discrete, or easily understood intellectual discipline, effective historical essays do share some common characteristics.

4. Analyzing Primary and Secondary Sources

Using this data, it is possible to incorporate regional variations into the query or explore a smaller aspect of the question. This data must provide perceptions so an understanding of the event can begin to materialize. The weak points regarding this process could hint to a time when the details did not profoundly examine the historic period under investigation. Details must be capable of addressing numerous questions, directly or indirectly overdramatized upon by uncommon evidence. Contemplation of an issue must take into account many circumstances and events occurring at the time, in both the church and non-church world. The timing must be taken into account, coupled with precise conditions of the sources. The intent of the individuals responsible for expressing the perspective can be examined. Finally, studying the original context must offer an understanding about the historic period.

Primary sources are often the most important thing historians use to broaden their insight regarding a historic subject. This enlightening experience can commence with reading a variety of materials, records, diaries, letters, interviews, and other resources. This data should enable an in-depth knowledge to evolve in addition to feedback from various historians. An important aspect would be proper evaluation of the utilized items. Bias may exist in a controversial proposal, such as prejudice for or against a particular theme. Almost all letters and records were composed by selected observers and have undergone strict filtering of their individual thoughts on the matter. In several cases, assumed facts and information in any statement were influenced by various components beyond the individuals’ control.

5. Concluding Remarks and Future Directions

History educators may be well served to align such opportunities more closely with their students’ preferences and, as a result, ultimately improve learning outcomes. By providing comprehensive coverage of syllabus information, teachers can develop a better relationship with their students which may culminate in an increased appreciation of students’ abilities and settle a genuine interest in their performance. At the tertiary level especially, it is important for educators to realize what it is that students are most likely to participate in, and then to emphasize features that will most likely lead to successful student learning. It is difficult to impose a set of generic answers to complex historical questions, yet it is important to remain mindful of the bigger picture. In so doing, an ongoing appreciation of the bigger picture in higher education will persist, and the path between secondary historical essays and postmodern critique will remain clear.

This article has considered three interrelated issues related to the value and future directions of history essays. For students seeking a quality historic education, the ability to acquire key skill sets is highly reliant upon a diversity of potentially engaging and essential learning experiences. While historical essays are perceived by most students as neither particularly engaging nor essential, nor particularly helpful, the insights conveyed by experienced practitioners should encourage concerned teachers to “get out of the shape” and address these limitations in designing more stimulating and proactive learning opportunities.