history interview paper

A

Mechanics:

This paper is written far above the minimum standards.

It includes all the positive qualities of the B paper listed.

In addition, it displays originality, imagination, vitality, and a personal voice for the author. But the principal characteristic of the "A" paper is its rich content and analysis. The quality, quantity, clarity, and density of the information delivered is such that the reader feels significantly taught by the author, sentence after sentence, paragraph after paragraph.

The "A" paper is also marked by stylistic finesse: the title and the opening are engaging; the transitions are artful; the phrasing is tight, fresh, and specific; the tone enhances the purpose of the paper.

The "A" paper, because of its careful organization and development, imparts a feeling of wholeness and clarity.

Content:

The primary sources (the oral histories) and the historical context are seamlessly interwoven.

The student has successfully used the sources to construct an original and insightful history that connections the individual accounts to the larger historical context to create a unique understanding of the historical actors, processes, or actions.

B

It is more than competent. Besides being almost free of mechanical errors, the "B" paper delivers substantial information--that is, substantial in both quantity and in relevance.

Its specific points are logically ordered, well-developed, and unified around a clear organizing principle that is apparent early in the paper. It has positive value that goes beyond the avoidance of error, but it lacks one or more qualities that would bring it close to perfection. It may develop an idea fully and accurately but lack elements of originality

Stylistically, the opening paragraph draws the reader; the closing paragraph is both conclusive and thematically related to the opening. The transitions between paragraphs are, for the most part, smooth, the sentence structures varied.

In general, a "B" paper offers substantial information with few distractions. The B paper, then, is a complete paper in fulfilling the assignment, but lacks something in organization, clarity, richness of detail, quantity of information, or cleanness of style.

The B paper is always mechanically correct. The spelling is good, and the punctuation is accurate.

Above all, the paper makes sense throughout. It has a thesis that is limited and worth arguing. It does not contain unexpected digressions, and it ends by keeping the promise to argue and inform that the writer makes in the beginning.

The primary sources (the oral histories) are used and there is an attempt to connect them with the larger historical context, but the connections are incomplete or underdeveloped.

The student does not give the complete explanations between the micro-historical analysis and the macro-historical happenings in his/her paper.

C

It is generally competent but lacks intellectual rigor; it meets the assignment, has few mechanical errors and is reasonably well-organized and developed.

The actual information it delivers, however, seems thin and commonplace. One reason for that impression is that the ideas are typically cast in the form of vague generalities--generalities in presentation of theory, experimental findings, or even application examples.

The paper may not be developed fully, its logic may be unconvincing or its organization, paragraphs, or sentences weak.

Stylistically, the "C" paper has other shortcomings: a weak opening paragraph, a perfunctory conclusion, strained transitions, choppy and monotonous sentence patterns, and diction marred by repetition, redundancy, and imprecision.

This type of paper may be relatively correct in grammatical form, but its content may be uninspired or thin, thus warranting a grade no higher than C.

The student has only used the primary sources (oral histories) to construct a singular narrative of what happened to his/her source.

There is no sense of how the source’s life or stories are connected to the larger historical context, or how their life was affected by or affected the larger historical processes.

D

The D paper either has no thesis or else it has one that is strikingly vague, broad, or uninteresting.

There is little indication that the writer understands the material being presented. The paragraphs do not hold together; ideas do not develop from sentence to sentence.

This paper usually repeats the same thoughts again and again, perhaps in slightly different language but often in the same words.

The paper is filled with mechanical faults, errors in grammar, and errors in spelling.

The student does not conduct the required oral interview or does not use the primary sources.

The student does not follow directions or present a historical narrative.