Essay paper prospectus

Paper Topic

Your topic should be one that falls within the periodization of this class, but you are to avoid anything that occurred within the last 20 years. Therefore, your topic is limited to the years between 1877-2000.

Because this is History 1302, I will not accept anything prior to the Reconstruction Era. Likewise, anything that has transpired within the last 20 years is still too fresh and there has not been enough time passed for historians to offer a proper analysis. These years are usually the left for political science, sociology, anthropology, or current affairs. I will not approve a topic that falls outside the given periodization.

Additionally, biographies are not history, so don’t tell me that you want to do your paper on your favorite historical figure. Yes, biographies can be historical, but focusing on an individual instead of the events that took place during their life and how they fit into that history is not history.

History is a process and not just a reportage of events that happened. That’s just reporting on the past and not interpreting it. I already the history, I don’t need for you to repeat it back to me. What I will expect is your interpretation of the sources, and that you provide a well supported thesis.

I will provide you with more explanation on the difference between writing history and reporting it in the weeks to come. But, if that is your conception of history, please disabuse yourself of that notion now to avoid confusion later.

In the prospectus, you were asked to select a topic, which could be broad to start. For the paper, you will have to narrow your focus and be more specific. Keep that in mind as you begin your topic selection process.