2 exam essay questions. (3 pages each) Details in the file attached
Essay Writing Tips and Suggestions
These are some general tips on writing essays that might be useful to you.
1. Introduce your main thesis (argument) clearly in the first few paragraphs. In this case your argument will be an answer to the question I have given you.
2. Throughout your paper, stay on topic and include only information and analysis that is directly relevant to the main thesis. Make sure the reader understands how this information is relevant to the main thesis.
3. Be sure that you are proving rather than just stating your argument. While your opinion is important in this assignment, what’s more important is your ability to support your opinion and convince the reader t
4. End your paper with a brief conclusion that sums up your argument and reminds the reader how you have proven it. Don’t make the conclusion too long or too repetitive
5. Avoid using the passive voice, “it was thought” etc. If possible explain who is performing the action, “Mary thought” etc.
6. Remain in the same tense, avoid shifting from past to present tense. Usually history is written in the past tense, but at times when writing about recent history you might need to shift into the present tense. Avoid doing this mid sentence or mid paragraph if possible.
7. Try to retain a certain formality in your writing without being unnecessarily verbose or pretentious. Use plain language as much as possible but don’t be conversational or colloquial.
8. Be specific in your adjectives, avoid, “good”, “great”, “nice” etc.
9. Introduce your quotations, don’t just change who the speaker is without telling us who that person is and why you’re quoting them, ex, “in the words of historian Mary Beard…”
10. Avoid relying on opinion quotations as evidence. Just because a historian thinks something doesn’t make it true. You still have to prove it’s true
11. Stay away from “I intend to show” or “this paper will”. It’s a short paper. You don’t need to tell the reader what you’re going to write, just do it. If your argument is well laid out the reader should be able to follow it and understand what you’re arguing without that much direction.
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