Renee S. Francis Research is the first process in writing an academic essay in history for a book or journal article.

Authors Furay and Salevouris (2004) made mention of the writer Capote in their book, who was thorough in his exploration of the facts for the clutter case. He had a passion for accuracy and as a result he did not use a tape recorder in his interviews. He observed that such equipment made interviewees nervous and uncommunicative. Furay and Salevouris stated that Capote trained himself in total recall becoming his own tape recorder (Furay and Salevouris 2000, 207). During the research one should search or seek to find relevant sources. When it comes to the topic of sources, most of us will readily agree that there are two basic forms of historical evidence. Sources can be either primary or secondary. Primary sources are sources which came into existence within the period being examined or investigated. For example, a letter written by Paul Bogle during the Morant Bay rebellion would be considered as a primary source, if the historian decided to investigate the Morant Bay rebellion. Others maintain that primary sources are often handwritten rather than printed and reflect the vocabulary and writing style of the period in which they were created (Benjamin 2004, 13). The author goes on to explain that secondary sources are the findings that someone who did not witness an event in history but probed primary evidence. Arthur Marwick contends that secondary sources have to make use of primary sources or draw on them, converting the raw material into history. Historians and history students should read more than one source to effectively write an academic essay in history. Why is this so? A single source will not amount to the research and so one need to read a variety of sources. Marwick reports, Historians do not rely on single sources, but always seeking corroboration, qualification and correction; On the other hand, in chapter 6 of Arthur Marwicks book The New Nature of History, he further explains that it is important to gather material that is relevant on the topic being
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Renee S. Francis investigated and organize it. The author is convinced that communicating in a clear and specific language is one of the fundamentals to good writing in history. All history must be written clearly and unambiguously, stated Marwick (2001). Jules R. Benjamin agrees with Marwick on the issue of communicating clearing. Benjamin states, In analysing evidence, historians must find some way of organizing it so that they can make clear its meaning. (Benjamin 2004, 15) Establishing a thesis or hypothesis is the next process required to effectively research and write an academic essay in history for a book or journal article. John Tosh holds the view that one way in which historians can guard against unintentionally integrating their interpretations of the past to their own bias is by formulating a hypothesis to be tested against the available evidence. Tosh explains that such a hypothesis is an explanation by reading the relevant secondary authorities of the historical problem being investigated. The hypothesis usually mirrors certain assumptions about the nature of society and the nature of history; in other words, historical hypotheses amount to an application of theory. A theory may epitomize the abstracting of generalizations from an accumulation of research findings, stated Tosh. The author emphasizes that historians do not necessarily use the term in the definition he gave above. Historians believe that theory means the framework of interpretation which gives impetus to an enquiry and influences its outcome. Theories are needed to explain human experience at a given time, historical change and the direction in which the change is moving. Historians spend most of their time explaining change. However, some historians do not use theory because they believe it is complicated to deliver an entirely convincing explanation of any one event in history. Author Tosh Pursuit states that, theoretical history is speculative history and should be left to philosophers and prophets. Based on Peter Mathis statement that, it is only too easy to

Renee S. Francis beat history over the head with the blunt instrument of a hypothesis and leave impression, Tosh was able to hold the view about theoretical history. During and after the writing process, one must reflect and revise. These are two commands which are important to effectively writing an academic essay in history, stated Marwick (2001). I am convinced as the author that sometimes one cannot find words to express the ideas because it is not properly thought out. However, he mentions that at difficult moments one has to stop and reflect (Marwick 2001, 200). He laments that it would be best to sort things out or do more research or reading. The author goes on to warn would be writers of history that three or four drafts of a completed essay would is not be enough to write effectively for a book or journal article. Nevertheless, I found the author quite cynical in saying that those who are unpractised in writing who think that just because they have managed to string a hundred or so sentences together, they have already achieved something (Marwick 2001,201) . This statement I as the reader took very personal, because I am a history student who has written a hundred sentences and believe that I have achieved something because in writing the hundred sentences I put clear and concise thoughts together so that my readers can understand. Marwick maintains that one important procedure that should be followed is checking every sentence, every paragraph and chapter meticulously to establish what is contributing to the entire or overall account, interpretation, or thesis being presented. A sentence that is not necessary while reflecting should be erased or rewrite to effectively write an academic essay in sixth-form, undergraduate or even at a higher level. An academic essay in history for a book or journal article needs some form of analysis and explanation to be effective. It is only fair to the writers work that he/ she address why and how questions stated by Marwick on page 201 in his book The New Nature of History. For
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Renee S. Francis example, some readers would be curious about what caused the Russian revolution and why did Adolf Hitler mercilessly killed Jews in cold blood? These are questions that need analysis and explanation for an academic essay in history for a book or journal article. Marwick expounded an analysis is whenever individuals writing, inquire under mere narrative or description and not just putting out the main events but elucidating or explaining their nature, how they came about and their overall importance. Furay and Salevouris, states that historians should make pertinent observations concerning the authorship, circumstances of composition, content, and potential believability of each piece of evidence. (Furay and Salevouris 2000, 156) In researching and writing journal articles or books, historians, based on how they have read and interpreted the evidence of their primary source, led by the relevant secondary source, have to keep in mind periodization and structure. According to Marwick periodization is simply a means of chopping up the past into manageable chunks of time (Marwick 2001, 207). Many history books and journal articles are situated within what the author considers to be one unified period. If a book focuses on one specific topic, for example family, then several periods may be examined or covered. However, the issue is how to deal simultaneously with the economic aspects of the family in Roman times and economic aspects of the family in the seventeenth century stated Marwick (Marwick 2001, 207). Historians will be at a disadvantage if they do not devise a structure which is organised and understandable that will achieve addressing all the different aspects that have to be dealt with. This is a difficult task for a historian because the structure should have a table of contents, organisation of chapters and sections of chapters. This structure Marwick believes, determines the special form that a piece of historical writing takes (Marwick 2001, 207).

Renee S. Francis The writing of history needs accuracy when handling the language. It is very easy to use clichs in writing. For example, a hail of bullets, taken by storm and loose cannon. Nonetheless, it should be avoided when writing an academic essay in history for a book or journal article. It is important to write clear and obvious. Problems may arise with conceptual terms. Certain jargons can have several meanings. However, concepts are needed to support a particular theory and to bring the intellectual thinking element into our writing of history, quoted Marwick (Marwick 2001, 215). For example the word textuality cited in Marwicks book, is associated with the neo-Marxist post-modernist theory about how any piece of writing or text is inevitably contaminated with bourgeois value ( Marwick 2001, 215). Historians sometimes use concepts to make a point. One outstanding example is stated in chapter 4 of Marwicks book. Lawrence Stone coin the concept affectionate individualism, which is sometimes called love. The concept means radically changing the nature of marriage in Britain in the 1640s. There is a relationship between history, the past and sources. As a result of this, an academic essay in history for a book or journal article will have a direct quotation from a source material. Barzun and Graff, made mention in their book The modern Researcher: wise advice on how to go about writing history at all levels, that researchers who use quotations, must as far as possible be merged into the text. Marwick expressed that this is good advice. Quotations should be distinct when written. For example, placing the quote in inverted commas and indented. Historians do not want to merge quotations with their commentary, stated Marwick. Additionally long direct quotations should be avoided. It is easier to copy large chunks of information rather than to take the time and reflect what quotes one needs and why. According to Furay and Salevouris (2004), quotations are to enhance the impact of writing. However, they are to be integrated smoothly into narrative. Nonetheless, foot notes are also essential for an academic
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Renee S. Francis essay in history. When a reader picks up a book to read with quotations from different sources, it is only fair that the source be identified using footnotes. The best way to identify this source, whether it is primary, secondary, or both, is to put a note at the bottom of the page or at the end of the book. The last and effective process required to research and write an academic essay in history for a book or journal article is documentation. According to Benjamin, documentation tells the reader where the material in your paper comes from (Benjamin 2004, 127). Documentation can take the form of a foot note mentioned above and a bibliography. According to Marwick, the bibliography provides an overview (Marwick 2001, 226). The bibliography should consist of one part having the primary sources, such as newspapers, and the second part consisting of secondary sources which will enable readers to check if the historian or writer has taken into account the views and perceptions of other historians who have pioneered the subject and presented different interpretation to the writers own. Readers should be able to do further readings and having a bibliography enables this. In conclusion, the processes required to effectively research and write an academic essay in history for a book or journal article are doing research to thoroughly exploring the facts, gathering raw materials otherwise known as sources. Establishing a thesis, reflecting and revising to ensure that the information written is relevant, analysing, learning the correct way to use the language, formulating a structure, using quotations, and proper documentation to allow readers to do further readings. These are all the processes one must go through to effectively write an essay in history for a book or journal article.

Renee S. Francis Bibliography

Benjamin, J. (2004). A students guide to History. Boston: Bedford/St. Martins. Furay, Salevouris C., (2000). The methods and skills of History. Illinois: Harlan Davidson, Inc. Graff, Henry F., (1957). The modern researcher. New York: Harcourt Brace Jovanovich Inc. Marwick, A., (2001). The news nature of History: knowledge, evidence, language. Chicago: Lyceum Books. Tosh, J., (2002). The pursuit of History. London: Pearson Eduaction Limited.