Essaying the Past (eBook)

Jim Cullen teaches history at the Ethical Culture Fieldston School in New York, USA. He was previously a Preceptor in the Expository Writing Program at Harvard University, USA. He is the author of nine books, among them Imperfect Presidents: Tales of Misadventure and Triumph (2007), The American Dream: A Short History of an Idea that Shaped a Nation (2003), and Born in the U.S.A.: Bruce Springsteen and the American Tradition (1997).

Preface to the Second Edition ix

Preface to the Third Edition xiii

Acknowledgments xv

Introduction to the Student: Why Would You Look at a Book Like This? 1

Part I Thinking and Reading about History 5

1 History: It's about Time 7

2 What's the Story with History? 14

3 The Sources of History 20

4 Good Answers Begin with Good Questions 29

5 Search Engines, Research Ingenuity 35

6 How to Read a Book without Ever Getting to Chapter One 44

Part II Writing about History 57

7 Analysis: The Intersection of Reading and Writing 59

8 Making a Case: An Argument in Three Parts 67

9 Defining Introductions 74

10 Strong Bodies (I): The Work of Topic Sentences 86

11 Strong Bodies (II): Exposition and Evidence 94

12 Strong Bodies (III): Counterargument and Counterevidence 104

13 Surprising Conclusions 111

14 Scaling the Summit: Crystallizing Your Argument 118

15 Writing is Rewriting: The Art of Revision 123

16 Putting It All Together: The Research Essay (A Case Study) 130

Conclusion: The Love of History 149

Appendices

A Writing an Essay: Ten Easy Steps in Review 152

B Essay Varieties: DBQs, Reviews, and Comparison Assignments 154

C Let's Give a Hand: Bibliographies and Footnotes 160

D Credit Scams: The Dangers of Plagiarism 170

E Web of Lies? Weighing the Internet 174

F A Glossary of Key Terms 177

G More Reading about Writing 182

Index 185