Write a history paper. Details in the files attached
Question:
The Invention of Canada is the essay topic, broadly defined. Presenting your viewpoint on the invention of Canada through industrialization is the goal.
Define how industrialization is that specific aspect of invention, to arrive at the core topic/issue of your paper.
Having gone through the “Lecture notes” (File attached), and having reflected on them, identifying the sources best suited to developing a thoughtful, reflexive response to the overall question of inventing Canada. Construct an essay about ideas and the invention of Canada through industrialization over time. This will be an analytical and explanatory account of past action—"the ultimate task of any historian"[1] —with a reflexively critical edge.
Remember: This is a History Paper. You must, therefore, organize your discussion chronologically (as far as possible, discuss past events in the order that they occurred, working your way toward the present), to show cause and effect.
Your essay is to represent an original, thoughtful contribution with the following components:
Title Page, including title of paper, your name, course name, instructor name, and date.
Introduction with thesis statement.
Body of paper, including citations properly footnoted and Bibliography format as laid out in the Chicago Manual of Style.
Conclusion.
Bibliography.
Please double space all material except for the citations and bibliography.
The word count for this essay should be between 2,500 words and 3,000 words NOT INCLUDING CITATIONS OR BIBLIOGRAPHY. Part of the job of a historian is to convey an argument in a clear, concise, and effective way, so if you go over the upper limit by a significant amount, the instructor may return the essay unmarked.
A good history paper is not simply a narration of past events. An essay of value supplies analysis: posing an argument (thesis), and proceeding to demonstrate the argument's validity. Writers of good essays furnish supporting evidence that is persuasive, and they point out weaknesses in any counter-arguments. As willing participants in the discourse of difference (meaning differences in opinion, based on differences of interpretation), they know what their stance is, and they have considered what the opposing stances might be. They target their paper to an audience that might not be in agreement, in order to communicate, to contribute to the construction of knowledge, to establish the worthiness of including their views in a wider debate. Simple assertion is not enough (hence the need to back up your statements with footnoted sources).
Method:
Use the analysis of the lecture notes to address the specific aspect of, or problem with, the process of inventing Canada through Industrialization. Define this specific aspect of invention, to arrive at the core topic/issue of your paper. Be clear in your own mind why this topic matters to you and why you think it ought to matter to others.
Research your topic. In addition to the sources in the lecture notes (in the bibliography of the Lecture notes), you must consider outside source material. Do not directly cite the lecture notes but you can cite from the sources in the lecture notes. Lecture notes are there for you to just have an idea. A good rule of thumb is to use at least 4 articles or books (other than those provided to you in the lecture notes) during the initial phase of preparing your essay and then add to that number (if needed) as you re-write and tighten your argument. Using too few sources shows a lack of research and might contribute to a failure to consider points that are relevant to your topic.
Determine a thesis—the argument you will be making and will be using your sources to support.
Use the thesis to craft an introductory paragraph. The opening paragraph clearly and precisely defines the major question, topic, or issue that will be discussed; in other words, the subject and main argument to be made (Note: "Chinese migrants to British Columbia" is a subject but not a thesis. "Migration is a natural human behaviour" is a thesis but not a subject). Include a brief statement of the:
nature (the kind of approach you are using, based on what kind of study/analyses you have conducted);
scope (the chronological, thematic, or other boundaries of your discussion), or limitations of the paper (explaining why your choice of boundaries for your paper make sense ); and
your objectives (which should be to make your point, whatever it might be, and for a good reason).
Write the body of the paper. Develop a series of interrelated and logically organized paragraphs that make the case for your argument using evidence from the sources. Remember, this should be an original paper so do not rely too much on lecture note. Keep your argument and interpretation consistent (don't contradict yourself). Do not digress from your central point. If your paragraphs do not flow logically from one to the other, you may have to rethink the organization of your argument and evidence. Remember to include footnotes.
Bring your argument to a close. Conclude with a final paragraph that summarizes the essay and leads logically to a statement of your ultimate point. Check your introduction: did you prove what you said you would prove? Keep in mind:
The conclusion should be consistent with the introduction and the body. Lack of consistency suggests you changed your argument while working through the paper, perhaps developing a new insight by the time the final paragraph was written. If, as an author, you arrive at a new insight that is extraordinarily better than the ones that led you to it, re-writing the paper might be worthwhile.
Your conclusions should be regarded as tentative (history is never "over," and you might run across new evidence in the future which will lead you to revise your ideas); and your findings may be at odds with those of fellow students and other historians.
Review the paper. Do a final edit of the paper, making necessary corrections. This is one of the most important parts of the essay writing process. Look for typos, grammatical errors, flaws in logic, awkward organization, and other issues that might detract from the strength of your presentation. Check your footnotes against the bibliography—are all the footnoted sources included in the bibliography?
Submit the paper with the bibliography.
(You may use these sources that I gathered for you as there are many sources in the lecture notes so I took the important ones out. In addition to these 3 below you have to use a minimum of 4 sources other than the sources in the lectures notes.)
Bibliography
Marion McKay, “‘The Tubercular Cow Must Go’: Business, Politics, and Winnipeg’s Milk Supply, 1894-1922,” Canadian Bulletin of Medical History / Bulletin canadienne d’historire de la médicine 23, no. 2 (2006): 355-380. Full text online (accessed 8 December 2010).
Andrew Graybill, “Texas Rangers, Canadian Mounties, and the Policing of the Transnational Industrial Frontier, 1885-1910,”The Western Historical Quarterly 35, no. 2 Summer, 2004): 167-191. Available via U of M Libraries, JSTOR database (accessed 14 December 2010).
T.W. Acheson, “Changing Social Origins of the Canadian Industrial Elite, 1880-1910,” The Business History Review 47, no. 2 Canada (Summer 1973): 189-217. Available via U of M Libraries, JSTOR database (accessed 8 December 2010).
