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History Coursework: The Top 5 Writing Tips for History Majors

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history coursework guide

History coursework can seem dry and difficult at times, especially when your professor expects you to stay cognizant of the particular dates of particular events for all of your exams.

History coursework need not be a nightmare. The following five tips will help you avoid common errors and get the most out of your coursework for history, including high marks:

  1. Break the question down into its component parts. History coursework may include a historical analysis question such as why was the relationship between George Washington and Baron Von Steuben important for the eventual victory of the Continental Army. The component parts of this question would be Washington, Von Steuben, Valley Forge, War of Independence, and the American Continental Army victory over England. Then trace the series of events starting with the Valley Forge encampment to the victory maintaining focus on Washington and Von Steuben.
  2. Use research sparingly for history courseworks. Apply keywords to target your research. For instance, using the above example, you do not need to research everything that happened at Valley Forge. Instead, focus exclusively on when Von Steuben arrived at the camp.
  3. Use charts to organize dates and place them in highly visible locations. You can achieve a deeper level of organization of dates for your coursework for history by using color codes to distinguish historical people and their relationship to the dates. The chart saves you from continually having to look up the dates online or in your textbook.
  4. Apply the proper writing style to all of your courseworks for history. Social Sciences courses such as history require a scholarly form of writing that favors analysis. Avoid listing dates without offering insight as to why they matter. 
  5. Look for a new way in to the history courseworks topic. Remember that history courseworks are about real people. Run a few searches online to find some out of the ordinary details about your topic such as fashions of the day, what kinds of foods they ate, what kind of sports they played, and what musical instruments they played to add insight to your analysis.
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