Note Taking - Some Tips

Note Taking – Some Tips

1             Titles and Sub-headings

2             Scan for key words.

3             Skim for important facts.

4             Write down only the key information.

5             Use concept maps.

6             Use abbreviations and symbols for visual reminders and emphasis.

7             Some golden rules

1             Titles and Sub-headings

·        Make a note of the title of the book, periodical or article

·        Note down the name of the author, publisher, and date of publication,

·        Note down subheadings and page numbers

2             Scan for keywords

·        Think of the important words that link to what you want to find out

·        Quickly scan the text for these words

·        Only read the parts of the text that contain your key words

·        Make a note of words that are repeated – make sure you know what they mean

3             Skim for Important Facts

·        Once you have found the correct section, you do not have to read every single word

·        Skim over each sentence, taking in the important facts

·        Write down Only the Key Information

·        Decide what is most important and write that down

·        Only write down key words and phrases; you do not need to write in full sentences.

4             Write down Only the Key Information

What is the key information in the text here?

Life in ancient Egypt was centred largely on agriculture. The majority of the people were involved in farming, and the growing season lasted eight to nine months. Wheat, fruits and vegetables were the principal crops, although there was some pastoral farming of cattle, sheep or goats. Farmers in ancient Egypt worked to reach a level of subsistence so that they could feed themselves and pay their taxes. During the annual flooding of the Nile, which typically lasted from July until November, farming was impossible. But when the waters receded, a thick layer of fertile silt over the farmlands remained, to ensure rich soil for their crops and thick grasses for their grazing animals.

5             Use Concept Maps

With a concept map, you are creating a visual setup that helps to explain the relationships between concepts and the main topic.

Would you use a concept map?

What do you like about this method of note-taking?

What are the cons of this method?

6             Use Abbreviations

Abbreviations are shortened words:

‘e.g.’ for ‘for example’, ‘info.’ instead of ‘information’.  If you shorten a word, put a full stop at the end of it to show it is an abbreviation.

Symbols: &, +, =, %, $,@.
As long as you understand them, you can make up your own symbols.

7             Some Golden Rules

·        Write clearly and accurately

·        Always leave a wide margin

·        Write using plenty of space

·        Structure your notes simply and clearly

·        Use headings and sub-headings

·        Use coloured pens consistently

·        Use bullet points – dotted, numbered or lettered

·        Make a note of titles and authors of evidence sited

6 Free Online Resources for Primary Source Documents By Monica Burns

September 6, 2013

The Common Core Learning Standards describe the importance of teaching students how to comprehend informational text. They are asked to read closely, make inferences, cite evidence, analyze arguments and interpret words and phrases as they are used in a text. Primary source documents are artifacts created by individuals during a particular period in history. This could be a letter, speech, photograph or journal entry. If you're looking to integrate social studies into your literacy block, try out one of these resources for primary source documents.

1. NATIONAL ARCHIVES
The National Archives is a fantastic resource. Their website is easy to navigate and includes lots of teacher resources. They feature a daily historical document relating to an event from that day in history. The online catalog can be searched using keywords, and 100 "milestone" documents are identified as significant to American history.

2. DOCSTEACH
Also run by the National Archives, DocsTeach is full of activities for educators. The documents are organized by different periods in American history. If you're teaching "Civil War and Reconstruction" or "Revolution and the New Nation," just click on the topic to find hundreds of primary source documents. DocsTeach provides audio, video, charts, graphs, maps and more.

3. SPARTACUS EDUCATIONAL
Spartacus Educational is a great resource for global history. It contains free encyclopedia entries that directly connect to primary source documents, making it a perfect tool for educators looking to give students a starting point in their research. It can even be used for a historical figure scavenger hunt!

4. FORDHAM UNIVERSITY
Fordham University is another good resource for global history. Similar to how DocsTeach organizes primary sources into periods of American history, this site categorizes documents as well. From the "Reformation" to "Post-World War II Religious Thought," teachers can find full texts available from Fordham or similar institutions. These sources are appropriate for the middle school and high school classroom.

5. THE AVALON PROJECT
Broken down by time period then listed in alphabetical order, the Avalon Project at Yale University also has primary sources for global history teachers. This database starts with ancient and medieval documents and moves into present times. In addition to categories that address specific historical periods, the Avalon Project includes links to human rights documents as part of Project Diana.

6. LIFE MAGAZINE PHOTO ARCHIVE
Google and Life Magazine have a wonderful search engine that lets users search millions of images from the Life Magazine Photo Archive. Not only can you type in key terms to guide your searches, you can also look through images organized by decade (1860s through 1970s) or significant people, places, events or sports topics.

How to write a first-class essay and ace your degree - from Oxbridge Essays

In this article, we’ll take a look at how you can write a first-class essay, giving you the best chance of graduating from university with a first overall.

As this report from 2017 indicates, more people in UK universities are being awarded first-class degrees than ever before. Recent research suggests that by 2030, all students will graduate from some universities with a first-class degree, due to grade inflation.

Inevitably, some are suggesting that this means university standards are falling. Many students now pay vast sums of money for the privilege of university education. As such, universities want them to leave as "satisfied customers". Perhaps this is why more firsts are being awarded. On the other hand, it could simply be that students have become better at researching what makes for first-class work. They're better at examining marking briefs. And at sharing tips – with other students in online forums and elsewhere – about what a first looks like.

So what does this mean for you if you're currently an undergraduate student? If you think this recent news means it's more likely you'll get a first, you can keep the Champagne on ice for now. A first-class degree takes hard work and dedication, no matter where or what you study.

Whatever the reasons for the recent spike in firsts, you can be sure that as a result, the following will now happen:

Universities will examine their standards more closely. They may look at making the criteria for first-class degrees more stringent in response to criticisms that they've 'gone soft'.
As up to a quarter of the new graduates hitting the job market do so with a shiny new first-class degree, top employers will routinely come to expect this in applicants for their very best jobs.
How can I get a first in my degree?
So, you want to be among those brandishing a first-class degree certificate when you don cap and gown next summer? Of course, you do. Now is the time to think about what kind of student you need to be in order to succeed.

Here are a few pointers:

You need to try and consistently write first-class essays.
It doesn't take a genius to work out that the more first-class essays you write at university, the more likely you are to score highly overall. And getting a First in your essay isn't as hard as you think. More on this later.

You need to know your stuff.
A marker doesn't need to get very far into your work to see if it's been written by somebody who has engaged with the subject matter in-depth and taken the time to understand its nuances. Or if the person who wrote it had only a basic grasp of the main concepts.

You need to express yourself well.
All the knowledge in the world won't score you a first if you don't also have the rhetorical skills to express that knowledge fluently and succinctly. You need the dexterity to marshal your knowledge effectively and solve the problem at hand (whether that's a long-form essay topic or an exam question).

Knowing your topic inside-out, but finding yourself unable to convey all that detailed knowledge, is immensely frustrating. If feedback on your previous work suggests your writing may not be up to scratch, be sure to take advantage of the help that's on offer at your university. This can be online tutorials, student mentors, or writing workshops. Nearly all universities offer academic writing support services to students, and these are often run by the library.

Alternatively, delve into the Oxbridge Essays blog for posts containing great general advice on good essay writing and essay writing tips.

Finally, the Essay Writing Service from Oxbridge Essays is a reliable place to turn to for essay help. Our academics can help tweak your writing or write a completely original, unplagiarized essay for you to use as inspiration in your own writing.

You need to be willing to work hard and to go above and beyond.
Just reading the assigned work and writing solid assignments will, at best, get you a 2:1. In fact, that's what Second-class degree classifications were designed for! If you want to stand out from the crowd, you need to be prepared to go the extra mile. Find ways of understanding your subject matter more thoroughly. Craft an "angle" from which you can approach the topic in a memorable, original, and unique way.

Most of all – and we really can't stress this enough – you need to be a gambler!
You need to be willing to take risks and be willing to put that safe, 2:1-level assignment you were going to write on the line in pursuit of greater reward. More on what this means below, but essentially you should be willing to take up positions that are controversial, sceptical and critical – and back them up.

You should even be willing, once in a while, to fail to reach the lofty aspirations you've set yourself. If you've ever watched a professional poker player you'll know that even the best of them don't win every hand. What's important is that they're ahead when they leave the table.

What does a first-class essay look like?
A lot of this stuff – risk-taking, depth of knowledge, and developing a unique "angle" – can sound pretty abstract. People marking essays may land on opposite sides of the fence where borderline cases are concerned.

However, most agree with what a first-class essay looks like and can pinpoint features that set it apart. Markers look for things like:

Essay matches the assignment brief
This may sound obvious, but did you really read the assignment brief? And when did you last read it? A first-class essay needs to show originality and creativity. But it also needs to prove that you can follow instructions.

If you've been given guidance on what your essay needs to cover, make sure you follow this to the letter. Also, take note of the number and type of sources it needs to use, or any other instructions. You can only do this if you revisit the brief repeatedly while writing. This will ensure you're still on the path you were originally pointed down and haven't gone off at a tangent.

Writing a brilliant, original essay that doesn't meet the assignment brief is likely to be a frustrating waste of effort. True, you may well still get sufficient credit for your originality. But you'll achieve far more marks if you shoot for originality and accuracy.

A clear and sophisticated argument
A first-class essay sets out its intentions (its own criteria for success) explicitly. By the end of your first couple of paragraphs, your reader should know (a) what you are hoping to accomplish, and (b) how you plan on accomplishing it.

Your central argument – or thesis – shapes everything else about your essay. So you need to make sure it's well-thought-out. For a first-class essay, this argument shouldn't just rehash the module material. It shouldn't regurgitate one of the positions you've learned about in class. It should build on one or more of these positions by interrogating them, bringing them into conflict or otherwise disrupting them.

Solid support for every argument
You don't just need to make a sophisticated argument; you need to support it as well. Use primary and/or secondary sources to back up everything you say. Be particularly careful to back up anything contentious with rigorous, logically consistent argumentation.

Undergraduates also often forget the need to effectively address counter-arguments to their own position. If there are alternative positions to the one you're taking (and there almost always are), don't omit these from your essay. Address them head-on by quoting their authors (if they're established positions). Or, simply hypothesise alternative interpretations to your own. Explain why your position is more persuasive, logical, or better-supported than the alternatives.

When done well, drawing attention to counter-arguments doesn't detract from your own argument. It enhances it by providing evidence of your capacity to reason in a careful, meticulous, sceptical and balanced way.

A logical and appropriate structure
Have you ever been asked to write a comparative essay, say on a couple of literary texts? And did you have lots to say about one of the texts but not much at all about the other? How did you approach that challenge? We've all written the "brain-dump" essay. You shape your work not around the question you're supposed to be answering, but around topic areas that you can comfortably write a lot about. Your approach to a comparative essay may be to write 2500 words about the text you love, and tack 500 words onto the end about the one you don't care for. If so, your mindset needs a bit of adjusting if you're going to get that first-class degree.

A first-class essay always presents its arguments and its supporting evidence in the order and manner that's best suited to its overall goals. Not according to what topic areas its author finds the most interesting or most comfortable to talk about. It can chafe if you feel you have more to offer on a particular topic than the assignment allows you to include. But balance and structural discipline are essential components of any good essay.

In-depth engagement and intellectual risk
This is where going "above and beyond" comes in. Everything from your thesis statement to your bibliography can and will be weighed as evidence of the depth of your engagement with the topic. If you've set yourself the challenge of defending a fringe position on a topic, or have delved deep into the theories underlying the positions of your set texts, you've clearly set yourself up for a potential first in the essay. None of this is enough by itself, though. Don't forget that you need to execute it in a disciplined and organised fashion!

Emerging understanding of your role in knowledge creation
This one is easy to overlook, but even as a university student you're part of a system that collaboratively creates knowledge. You can contribute meaningfully to this system by provoking your tutors to see problems or areas in their field differently. This may influence the way they teach (or research, or write about) this material in future. Top students demonstrate that they're aware of this role in collaborative knowledge creation. It is clear they take it seriously, in the work they submit.

The best way to communicate this is to pay attention to two things. First, the content of the quality sources you read in the course of your studies. Second, the rhetorical style these sources employ. Learn the language, and frame your arguments in the same way scholars do. For example, "What I want to suggest by juxtaposing these two theories is…" or, "The purpose of this intervention is…" and so on.

In short, you need to present an essay that shows the following:

Clarity of purpose, integrity of structure, originality of argument, and confidence of delivery.


What else can I do to get a first in my essays?

It will take time to perfect an essay-writing strategy that delivers all this while persuading your reader that your paper is evidence of real intellectual risk. And that it goes above and beyond what's expected of the typical undergraduate at your level. But here are a few tips to help give you the best possible chance:

Start early
Your module may have a long reading list that will be tricky to keep on top of during the term. If so, make sure you get the list (and, if possible, the syllabus showing what kind of essays the module will require) ahead of time. If your module starts in September, spend some time over summer doing preparatory reading. Also, think about which areas of the module pique your interest.

Once the module starts, remember: it's never too early in the term to start thinking about the essays that are due at the end of it. Don't wait until the essay topics circulate a few weeks before term-end. Think now about the topics that especially interest you. Then read around to get a better understanding of their histories and the current debates.

Read beyond the syllabus
Students who are heading for a good 2:1 degree tend to see the module reading list as the start and end of their workload. They don't necessary see beyond it. A 2:1 student considers it a job well done if they've done "all the reading". However, a student capable of a first knows there's no such thing as "all the reading". Every scholarly text on your syllabus, whether it's required or suggested reading, is a jumping-off point. It's a place to begin to look for the origins and intellectual histories of the topics you're engaged with. It will often lead you to more challenging material than what's on the syllabus.

Search through the bibliographies of the texts on the syllabus to discover the texts they draw from, and then go look them up. At undergraduate level, set texts are often simplified versions of complex scholarly works and notions. They're designed to distil intricate ideas down into more manageable overview material. But wrestling with complex articles is the best way to demonstrate that you're engaging with the topic in depth, with a sophisticated level of understanding.

Build your bibliography as you research
Keeping notes of all your sources used in research will make writing your bibliography later far less of a chore. Given that every single text on your syllabus likely references thirty more, bibliography mining can quickly become overwhelming. Luckily, we have to hand the integration of web searches and referencing tools. These integrations make the challenge of compiling and sifting through references far easier than it once was. Get into the habit of exporting every reference you search for into the bibliographic software program of your choice.

Your institution might have a subscription to a a commercial tool such as RefWorks or Endnote. But the freeware tool Zotero is more than capable of compiling references and allowing you to add notes to revisit later. It's usually a matter of adding a Digital Object Identifier (DOI) for your source into the program. Then it will store all the details you need to generate a bibliography for your essay later (no matter what reference style your university demands). It will also store the URL of the source so you can retrieve it later.

Make sure you organise your research into categories. This will ensure you have a focused set of scholarly sources waiting for you when you've decided on your final essay topic.

Develop your own essay topic, and talk to your tutor (often!)
Are you the kind of student who likes to go it alone, and rarely, if ever, visits your tutor during his or her office hours? If you're serious about getting a first, you need to get over any reservations you have about seeing your tutor often. Make regular appointments to talk through your essay ideas. If the syllabus allows it, come up with your own essay topic rather than going with any in the topic list you're given.

Even if you haven't explicitly been told that you can design your own essay topic, ask if it's possible. Nothing is a clearer mark of your originality and active engagement with the module content than defining exactly what it is you want to write about, and how you intend to approach the argument. You have nothing to lose and everything to gain by expressing enthusiasm for the material, and a desire to think independently about it. And one of your tutor's roles is to help you develop your arguments. S/he might suggest texts you haven't come across yet that will help support your points, or make your arguments stronger by challenging them.

Don't just synthesise; critique and contest
It's common for students to get frustrated when they do all of the above and still come away with a good 2:1, rather than the first they were expecting. For some, this can happen because reading very widely can 'muddy' the waters of their understanding. Reading more about a subject will help you understand its depth and complexity. But it can cause you to begin to lose rather than gain confidence in your own understanding.

It can be tempting to let your essays become summaries of what other scholars have said, and let their voices speak over your own. This is especially true when you've read widely and have a sound understanding of the positions of scholars in your field.

But it doesn't matter how much reading you've done or how sound your knowledge of existing work in a field. To consistently score first-class marks, you have to develop a position on that field. You must examine where you stand in relation to these scholars and ask yourself some fundamental questions:

1. Do I agree with them?
2. If not, why not?
3. How can I articulate and defend my position?

If you've thought long and hard about these questions in every module you take, your journey to a first-class degree is well underway. There is, admittedly, a degree of risk here. What if you've fundamentally misunderstood some key aspect of a debate? What if your position simply doesn't add up?

There will be times when you'll get things wrong, and you'll feel frustrated or even embarrassed. But that's why we said at the outset that you need to be a gambler – this approach will pay off far more often than it will fail. And if you're feeling particularly insecure about a line of reasoning, ask your tutor to read over a draft and give you some pointers on where to go next.

Is it worth the risk?
In a word, yes. Not every attempt at academic risk-taking will be entirely successful. But following the steps above will ensure that tutors and markers see genuine, in-depth engagement with the topic. Not to mention evidence of serious intellectual growth.

Markers will take all this into account, as well as pointing out the places where your argument didn't quite hit the mark. So even if the risk doesn't quite work out, you're unlikely to get a lower mark than playing it safe and submitting a “solid 2:1” piece. And over the span of your degree, this approach will yield a higher mark than consistently writing competent essays on the set texts without significant innovation or risk.

Plus, of course, this process has its own rewards beyond your essay mark. Even if you didn't quite hit your target score for this module, your engagement with the topic will have been far richer. You'll emerge far more knowledgeable at the end of it than if you'd played it safe.

So go ahead… live a little!

Working with Sources - from the National Archive

Working with sources

When you visit The National Archives or use our online content, you can see and sometimes handle the original records or primary sources for yourself.

In history, a primary source comes from the time period you are studying. It could be an eyewitness account, a photograph, a letter, a poster or report for example.

Here is a list of some of the main questions to think about when you are working with these records. Most of these questions can be applied to any of the different types of primary sources mentioned above.
  

Identification

What type of document is it?
Who produced it? Do you know anything about the author/creator?
When was it written/produced?
Why was it written/produced?


Understanding

Consider the key words and their meaning within the source
What points or arguments are made in the source?
What values or attitudes does the content of the source reflect?
How does the content of the source relate to a given historical situation?
Are there any clues about the intended audience for the source?
How reliable is the source and does it have any limitations?
How does it relate to other sources from this period? Does it share the same ideas, attitudes and arguments? How would you explain any differences between these sources?

Analysing a Historical Document

Click here to read this article from the website it was originally published on

You may be asked to analyse a primary document. Here are some questions you might ask of your document. You will note a common theme—read critically with sensitivity to the context. 

This list is not a suggested outline for a paper; the wording of the assignment and the nature of the document itself should determine your organization and which of the questions are most relevant. Of course, you can ask these same questions of any document you encounter in your research.

• What exactly is the document (e.g., diary, king’s decree, opera score, bureaucratic memorandum, parliamentary minutes, newspaper article, peace treaty)?

• Are you dealing with the original or with a copy? If it is a copy, how remote is it from the original (e.g., photocopy of the original, reformatted version in a book, translation)? 

• How might deviations from the original affect your interpretation?

• What is the date of the document?

• Is there any reason to believe that the document is not genuine or not exactly what it appears to be?

• Who is the author, and what stake does the author have in the matters discussed? If the document is unsigned, what can you infer about the author or authors?

• What sort of biases or blind spots might the author have? For example, is an educated bureaucrat writing with third-hand knowledge of rural hunger riots?

• Where, why, and under what circumstances did the author write the document?

• How might the circumstances (e.g., fear of censorship, the desire to curry favour or evade blame) have influenced the content, style, or tone of the document?

• Has the document been published? If so, did the author intend it to be published?

• If the document was not published, how has it been preserved? In a public archive? In a private collection? 

• Can you learn anything from the way it has been preserved? For example, has it been treated as important or as a minor scrap of paper?

• Does the document have a boilerplate format or style, suggesting that it is a routine sample of a standardized genre, or does it appear out of the ordinary, even unique?

• Who is the intended audience for the document?

• What exactly does the document say?

• Does it imply something different?

• If the document represents more than one viewpoint, have you carefully distinguished between the author's viewpoint and those viewpoints the author presents only to criticize or refute?

• In what ways are you, the historian, reading the document differently than its intended audience would have read it (assuming that future historians were not the intended audience)?

• What does the document leave out that you might have expected it to discuss?

• What does the document assume that the reader already knows about the subject (e.g., personal conflicts among the Bolsheviks in 1910, the details of tax farming in eighteenth-century Normandy, secret negotiations to end the Vietnam war)?

• What additional information might help you better interpret the document?

• Do you know (or are you able to infer) the effects or influences, if any, of the document?

• What does the document tell you about the period you are studying?

• If your document is part of an edited collection, why do you suppose the editor chose it?

• How might the editing have changed the way you perceive the document? For example, have parts been omitted? Has it been translated? (If so, when, by whom, and in what style?)

• Has the editor placed the document in a suggestive context among other documents, or in some other way led you to a particular interpretation?

Make things stand out

Revision points

• One really important point to consider when preparing your recasting task is to make a genuine and personal approach to the task. Try and adopt an angle, this is a particular way of approaching or considering the task or a single sustained perspective that will inform every statement you make in the recast task. Failure to do this may mean your recast task becomes a formulaic tick box exercise. Examiners may mark your work for lack of engagement, being superficial and limited. 

• When you are revising your recast task and commentary you must write your recasting text and recasting commentary under timed conditions.

• You should expect to spend 1 hour in total on these two tasks.

• Remember that the recasting task is worth 25 marks and the recasting commentary is worth 15 marks. 40 marks in total.

• Expect to spend 40 minutes planning, writing and editing your recast text and 20 minutes planning, writing and editing your commentary task.

• Follow the word limit carefully for the recast text. Aim to write between 300 - 400 words only. If you write less than 300 words for the recast text, the examiners will assume you've not included enough points. If you write over 400 words the examiners will assume you've repeated ideas, not taken enough trouble over the crafting of your text or included irrelevant details.

• The more you practise the recast task and commentary the more you will develop an instinct for writing within the word limit. Why not always aim to write 380 words. At first you will need to count them. But soon you'll just automatically know when you've written 380 words.

• However for the commentary,  so long as you are referring to audience, purpose, genre and attitudes toward the main topic; using the correct terminology and commenting on effects of these language features on an audience, then you can exceed the word limit of 150 - 250 words.

• You must be selective in the material you use from the source text. Don't write every point but choose the relevant points that link to the task and then choose the most important points from this list. I assume there will be about 8 - 12 relevant points that you should include in the recast text. 

• As you write the recast text always have in your mind your audience, purpose and genre. As you write use relevant language features that will appeal to your target audience, are relevant to the genre and are suitable for your purpose[s].

• As you write your recast text you could highlight keywords and phrases that contain language and literary features that you could comment on in your commentary. You could highlight these words or phrases by underlining them or making them bold.

Ten Essay Tips by Robert Pearce

Essays are no longer the be-all and end-all of history assessment, but the ability to write a good essay is still vital. Robert Pearce gives some advice. Article from History Today


Writing a good essay involves the sort of verbal craftsmanship which can only come from long periods of hard practice. There is no short-cut to success and no foolproof formula to follow. Hence what follows are tips, not commandments. Nevertheless, they are worth thinking about.

1 Answer the question, the whole question and nothing but the question. You can only score marks if you are being relevant, so take your time, before plunging into the writing, to think clearly about the meaning of the essay title and to make an essay plan. Many teachers advise students to look for the 'keywords and phrases' in a title – but it is as well to remember that every word serves some function and therefore is important.

2 Be direct and explicit: don't leave it for the marker to puzzle out the relevance of what you are writing. That means giving a relevant argument: if you're not arguing a case, you're not answering the question.

3 The first paragraph is vital if you are to avoid the two commonest pitfalls, being irrelevant and writing a narrative. Try to do three things: a) analyse the question, defining its meaning and establishing its parameters; b) sub-divide the question into smaller areas (on each of which you will subsequently have a paragraph); and c) outline an argument or, perhaps, several alternative interpretations. By all means have a dramatic first sentence – to shock the reader from the stupor that prolonged marking invariably induces – but do not merely 'set the scene' or begin to 'tell a story'. There's no time for this.

4 The final paragraph is also vital. Do not bring in fresh factual material, and do not address the 'next' topic (for instance, what Hitler did after 1933 once you've answered the question by explaining why he came to power). Instead, return to the actual wording of the question and answer it as directly and succinctly as possible – and make sure it's consistent with what you've written earlier. It may seem perverse, but it's worth experimenting by writing the conclusion to an essay first: then you'll know exactly where you are heading.

5 In the middle paragraphs, deal with one relevant issue per paragraph. Each middle paragraph should have an argument (or interpretation or generalisation) supported by evidence. You must always give both. Try to give the argument in the first sentence(s) and then to 'prove' it with the best possible selection of details. (Philip Larkin once wrote that modern novels consist of a beginning, a muddle and an end. So do many student essays, so beware of the pitfalls.)

6 Give real facts and evidence, not just historians' opinions. Quote the evidence the historians quote, not the historians themselves (unless that is, they have expressed themselves with real flair or unless you find it necessary to discuss their particular interpretations). Remember that history is the reconstruction of the past on the basis of the surviving evidence: it is not just a collection of opinions. Also, give the evidence in the essay proper: don't hide it away in footnotes or appendices in a foolhardy attempt to make your essay seem 'academic'.

7 The correct balance is vital. Give most space to the most important issues – importance being assessed in relation to the question set. Remember that it is all too easy to spend a disproportionate amount of time/space on the first issue you deal with so that others have to be dealt with hurriedly. For this reason, it is probably best not to leave your most important ideas to the end of an essay, especially in an exam, when you may run out of time.

8 If you are required to do so, give references to your quotations, and don't forget the all-important page number. Never try to pass off other people's work as your own: plagiarism, even of phrases, is generally easily spotted and heavily penalised.

9 For term-time essays, presentation is important. If you word-process, use double-spacing and a decent sized font; if using a pen, try to make your handwriting legible. Spread your work out, in order to leave room for comments, and number the pages. Check spelling and grammar, and strive - and strive again - for clarity of expression. If you fail to express yourself clearly you will inevitably penalise yourself. In exams, your work will be all the better for the trouble you've taken in essays beforehand. Good habits are almost as easy to acquire as bad, so work hard to express yourself well and don't be satisfied with your second-best.

10 Write several versions of your essay. Kipling used to write a short story and then put it away for a minimum of two years: when he went back to it, he was able to spot imperfections very easily and make improvements. You can't follow his example, but you should be able to spread your work out over several weeks. You'll only get the best out of yourself if you give yourself time to do so. So revise your work, strike out that irrelevant passage, rewrite that ambiguous sentence, reorder the material to better advantage. If you're easily pleased, it's virtually certain that your examiners will not be.

How To Write a Good History Essay by Robert Pearce former editor History Review magazine

A personal view

First of all, we ought to ask, What constitutes a good history essay? Probably no two people will completely agree if only for the very good reason that quality is in the eye – and reflects the intellectual state – of the reader. What follows, therefore, skips philosophical issues and instead offers practical advice on how to write an essay that will get top marks.

Relevance

Witnesses in court promise to tell the truth, the whole truth and nothing but the truth. All history students should swear a similar oath: to answer the question, the whole question and nothing but the question. This is the number one rule. You can write brilliantly and argue a case with a wealth of convincing evidence, but if you are not being relevant then you might as well be tinkling a cymbal. In other words, you have to think very carefully about the question you are asked to answer. Be certain to avoid the besetting sin of those weaker students who, fatally, answer the question the examiners should have set – but unfortunately didn’t. Take your time, look carefully at the wording of the question, and be certain in your own mind that you have thoroughly understood all its terms.

If, for instance, you are asked why Hitler came to power, you must define what this process of coming to power consisted of. Is there any specific event that marks his achievement of power? If you immediately seize on his appointment as Chancellor, think carefully and ask yourself what actual powers this position conferred on him. Was the passing of the Enabling Act more important? And when did the rise to power actually start? Will you need to mention Hitler’s birth and childhood or the hyperinflation of the early 1920s? If you can establish which years are relevant – and consequently which are irrelevant – you will have made a very good start. Then you can decide on the different factors that explain his rise.

Or if you are asked to explain the successes of a particular individual, again avoid writing the first thing that comes into your head. Think about possible successes. In so doing, you will automatically be presented with the problem of defining ‘success’. What does it really mean? Is it the achievement of one’s aims? Is it objective (a matter of fact) or subjective (a matter of opinion)? Do we have to consider short-term and long-term successes? If the person benefits from extraordinary good luck, is that still a success? This grappling with the problem of definition will help you compile an annotated list of successes, and you can then proceed to explain them, tracing their origins and pinpointing how and why they occurred. Is there a key common factor in the successes? If so, this could constitute the central thrust of your answer.

The keyword in the above paragraphs is thinking. This should be distinguished from remembering, daydreaming and idly speculating. Thinking is rarely a pleasant undertaking, and most of us contrive to avoid it most of the time. But unfortunately, there’s no substitute if you want to get the top grade. So think as hard as you can about the meaning of the question, about the issues it raises and the ways you can answer it. You have to think and think hard – and then you should think again, trying to find loopholes in your reasoning. Eventually, you will almost certainly become confused. Don’t worry: confusion is often a necessary stage in the achievement of clarity. If you get totally confused, take a break. When you return to the question, it may be that the problems have resolved themselves. If not, give yourself more time. You may well find that decent ideas simply pop into your conscious mind at unexpected times.

You need to think for yourself and come up with a ‘bright idea’ to write a good history essay. You can, of course, follow the herd and repeat the interpretation given in your textbook. But there are problems here. First, what is to distinguish your work from that of everybody else? Second, it’s very unlikely that your school text has grappled with the precise question you have been set.

The advice above is relevant to coursework essays. It’s different in exams, where time is limited. But even here, you should take time out to do some thinking. Examiners look for quality rather than quantity, and brevity makes relevance doubly important. If you get into the habit of thinking about the key issues in your course, rather than just absorbing whatever you are told or read, you will probably find you’ve already considered whatever issues examiners pinpoint in exams.

The Vital First Paragraph

Every part of an essay is important, but the first paragraph is vital. This is the first chance you have to impress – or depress – an examiner, and first impressions are often decisive. You might, therefore, try to write an eye-catching first sentence. (‘Start with an earthquake and work up to a climax,’ counselled the film-maker Cecil B. De Mille.) More important is that you demonstrate your understanding of the question set. Here you give your carefully thought out definitions of the key terms, and here you establish the relevant time-frame and issues – in other words, the parameters of the question. Also, you divide the overall question into more manageable sub-divisions, or smaller questions, on each of which you will subsequently write a paragraph. You formulate an argument, or perhaps voice alternative lines of argument, that you will substantiate later in the essay. Hence the first paragraph – or perhaps you might spread this opening section over two paragraphs – is the key to a good essay.

On reading a good first paragraph, examiners will be profoundly reassured that its author is on the right lines, being relevant, analytical and rigorous. They will probably breathe a sigh of relief that here is one student at least who is avoiding the two common pitfalls. The first is to ignore the question altogether. The second is to write a narrative of events – often beginning with the birth of an individual – with a half-hearted attempt at answering the question in the final paragraph.

Middle Paragraphs

Philip Larkin once said that the modern novel consists of a beginning, a muddle and an end. The same is, alas, all too true of many history essays. But if you’ve written a good opening section, in which you’ve divided the overall question into separate and manageable areas, your essay will not be muddled; it will be coherent.

It should be obvious, from your middle paragraphs, what question you are answering. Indeed it’s a good test of an essay that the reader should be able to guess the question even if the title is covered up. So consider starting each middle paragraph will a generalisation relevant to the question. Then you can develop this idea and substantiate it with evidence. You must give a judicious selection of evidence (i.e. facts and quotations) to support the argument you are making. You only have a limited amount of space or time, so think about how much detail to give. Relatively unimportant background issues can be summarised with a broad brush; your most important areas need greater embellishment. (Do not be one of those misguided candidates who, unaccountably, ‘go to town’ on peripheral areas and gloss over crucial ones.)

The regulations often specify that, in the A2 year, students should be familiar with the main interpretations of historians. Do not ignore this advice. On the other hand, do not take historiography to extremes, so that the past itself is virtually ignored. In particular, never fall into the trap of thinking that all you need are sets of historians’ opinions. Quite often in essays students give a generalisation and back it up with the opinion of a historian – and since they have formulated the generalisation from the opinion, the argument is entirely circular, and therefore meaningless and unconvincing. It also fatuously presupposes that historians are infallible and omniscient gods. Unless you give real evidence to back up your view – as historians do – a generalisation is simply an assertion. Middle paragraphs are the place for the real substance of an essay, and you neglect this at your peril.

Final Paragraph

If you’ve been arguing a case in the body of an essay, you should hammer home that case in the final paragraph. If you’ve been examining several alternative propositions, now is the time to say which one is correct. In the middle paragraph you are akin to a barrister arguing a case. Now, in the final paragraph, you are the judge summing up and pronouncing the verdict.

It’s as well to keep in mind what you should not be doing. Do not introduce lots of fresh evidence at this stage, though you can certainly introduce the odd extra fact that clinches your case. Nor should you go on to the ‘next’ issue. If your question is about Hitler coming to power, you should not end by giving a summary of what he did once in power. Such an irrelevant ending will fail to win marks. Remember the point about answering ‘nothing but the question’? On the other hand, it may be that some of the things Hitler did after coming to power shed valuable light on why he came to power in the first place. If you can argue this convincingly, all well and good; but don’t expect the examiner to puzzle out relevance. Examiners are not expected to think; you must make your material explicitly relevant.

Final Thoughts

A good essay, especially one that seems to have been effortlessly composed, has often been revised several times; and the best students are those who are most self-critical. Get into the habit of criticising your own first drafts, and never be satisfied with second-best efforts. Also, take account of the feedback you get from teachers. Don’t just look at the mark your essay gets; read the comments carefully. If teachers don’t advise how to do even better next time, they are not doing their job properly.

Relevance is vital in a good essay, and so is evidence marshalled in such a way that it produces a convincing argument. But nothing else really matters. The paragraph structure recommended above is just a guide, nothing more, and you can write a fine essay using a very different arrangement of material. Similarly, though it would be excellent if you wrote in expressive, witty and sparklingly provocative prose, you can still get top marks even if your essay is serious, ponderous and even downright dull.

There is an infinite number of ways to write an essay because any form of writing is a means of self-expression. Your essay will be unique because you are unique: it’s up to you to ensure that it’s uniquely good, not uniquely mediocre.