U.S. History HW

1.4 The History Identification Paragraph [footnoteRef:1] [1: As adapted from http://www.cengagesites.com/academic/assets/sites/4004/061830603x_Writing_for_college_history.pdf]

A standard part of many college history courses throughout the United States is the "identification paragraph."

Rather than simply requiring students to memorize events and respond to a list, the identification paragraph (sometimes called by its abbreviation "I. D.") requires the student to provide TWO THINGS:

A) BASIC information—OR DEFINITION.

B) INTERPRET that information.

SECTION I—is about the DEFINITION portion

Although instructors are sometimes loath to explain what should be the "proper" length, try to aim for around four to five sentences. Keep in mind that the identification paragraph should be able to stand alone, with an introductory sentence, supporting sentences in a logical order, and a concluding sentence. A handy guide to remembering what should be addressed in a history I. D. paragraph are the 5 Ws:

1. Who?

2. What?

3. Where?

4. When?

AND… drum roll please…!

SECTION 2—is about the SIGNIFICANCE portion

5. The answer to the question: SO WHAT? (or What is the historical significance of the person, place, or event?)

This is the most challenging part of writing an excellent ID paragraph because it demands high-level and insightful thinking rather than mere memorization and regurgitation. You need to thoroughly explain how this person or event fits into the big picture context of the history by making connections to key ideas, events, or themes.

SECTION I-definition

Let's walk through an example. Usually the instructor will pick critical names of people, events, or developments that have been topics of the instructor's lectures. For our example, we'll write a history identification paragraph on ziggurats (a classic exam subject for an Early Western or World Civilization class).

Now, if you were constructing an I. D. paragraph on ziggurats you would want to address the 5 W's as previously mentioned.

You could accomplish this task in a minimum of about four sentences. After a quick review of your notes, you might easily come up with:

1. What = a temple

2. Where = Mesopotamia

This information could be the core of your introductory first sentence: A ziggurat was a temple in ancient Mesopotamia. So far, so good.

3. How about When? You might know that ziggurats existed in Mesopotamia for centuries. So, a safe dating would be to give a range: A ziggurat was a temple in ancient Mesopotamia. Meso-potamians worshipped at ziggurats for centuries from c. 3000 B.C.E-1000 B.C.E.

4. The Who aspect of this particular identification paragraph is a little more complicated. Since we cannot easily come up with an individual associated with a ziggurat, we can instead use an official, such as the priest-kings who performed sacrifices there. So, now we have a paragraph in progress that reads:

A ziggurat was a temple in ancient Mesopotamia. Mesopo-tamians worshipped at ziggurats for centuries from c. 3000 B.C.E-1000 B.C.E. The priest-kings of Mesopotamian cities ruled from the ziggurats and performed sacrifices there.

SECTION 2—Significance:

Thus far, we have covered Who , What , Where , and When and so have four of the five essential points.

5. To complete it, we need to answer So What —the historical significance part. It is useful to think of this as the concluding sentence of your paragraph.

**NOTE: A quick and simple way to set up the sentence is to write: Ziggurats are historically significant because....

This is where you have to do some interpretation. Ultimately, you will want to tie the specific example of ziggurats to the larger general historical view of the period (in this case, the ancient Near East). If you are taking an early Western or World Civilization course, you probably will have noticed that your textbook and instructor have stressed the religious nature of society in the ancient Near East.

This would fit very well with your identification paragraph on ziggurats. So, in the end, your I. D. paragraph might read:

A ziggurat was a temple in ancient Mesopotamia. Mesopo-tamians worshipped at ziggurats for centuries from c. 3000 B.C.E.-1000 B.C.E. The priest-kings of Mesopotamian cities ruled from the ziggurats and performed sacrifices there. Ziggurats are historically significant because they show the central role religion had in ancient Mesopotamia and in the ancient Near East.