Topic The Cuban Revolution
Essays must consult a minimum of 8 secondary sources (8 scholarly books or the equivalent in books and articles). You should aim to secure the best sources, not the ones easiest to obtain via the web. Where possible, your secondary sources should include a representative sample of works written about your topic over a fairly broad period of time. (For instance, if you are writing about the Civil War, you will want to look at works from the “Gilded Age,” the Progressive Era, the 1940s-1950s, the 1960s, 1970s, 1980s, 1990s, etc..) You will not be able to write about the changing historiography on a topic if you don’t know what it is!
Essays must present and defend a thesis. The thesis is your own main argument about the major trends (patterns) in historical interpretation of your topic.
In defending your thesis, you must present detailed evidence from your secondary sources. These must include properly identified and properly cited paraphrases, summaries, and quotations from your secondary sources.
You can analyze the development of your topic either chronologically or thematically, as long as you trace changes and explain differences in interpretation.
You must provide proper footnote citations to all sources quoted, paraphrased, or summarized in your paper. Your notes must be precise–they must refer to the specific pages of works that demonstrate the interpretations you are examining in your paper.
Be typed, double-spaced with 1 inch margins, 12-point font, and numbered pages.
Be a minimum of 8 typed pages.
Include a title and title page. The title does not have to be fancy, but should reflect the purpose of the project.
Be well-written and free of excessive grammatical errors, misspelled words, typos and other mistakes. You should pay careful attention to paragraph structuring; each paragraph should develop a single, coherent idea. Follow all rules of proper grammar and composition.
Use a minimum of 8 different sources.
Use the formal Chicago citation style for references (footnotes). Details on this citation style are laid out in chapters 16 and 17 of the Manual for Writers.
Include a bibliography, with primary and secondary sources listed separately.