Below is just a small sampling of the historiographical topics you can find in the SHSU Library; just click a link to see books on that topic.
To explore additional topics: To explore additional topics (broader, narrower, or entirely different than those below), follow these steps: Open the library catalog ; click "Exact Search" in the blue toolbar; type Historiography ; and click "subject." A list of topics will be displayed; use the Backward and Forward buttons in the blue toolbar to browse, then click on a subject to view a list of books.
Each work in this series presents historiographic essays centered around the book's theme or area of focus, addressing all major schools of historical writing and thought on the topic.
If you can find a bibliography on your broad topic area, it will often include a summary of historiographical coverage and a list of sources to explore.
Search for books and other items in the library catalog.
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Writing the college essay
How do you write a letter to a friend that shows youâre a good candidate for the University of Pennsylvania? What reading list will help the Columbia University admissions committee understand your interdisciplinary interests? How can you convey your desire to attend Yale by inventing a course description for a topic youâre interested in studying?
These are the challenges students must overcome when writing their supplemental essays . Supplemental essays are a critical component of college applicationsâlike the personal statement, they provide students with the opportunity to showcase their authentic voice and perspective beyond the quantitative elements of their applications. However, unlike the personal essay, supplemental essays allow colleges to read studentsâ responses to targeted prompts and evaluate their candidacy for their specific institution. For this reason, supplemental essay prompts are often abstract, requiring students to get creative, read between the lines, and ditch the traditional essay-writing format when crafting their responses.
While many schools simply want to know âwhy do you want to attend our school?â others break the mold, inviting students to think outside of the box and answer prompts that are original, head-scratching, or downright weird. This year, the following five colleges pushed students to get creativeâif youâre struggling to rise to the challenge, here are some tips for tackling their unique prompts:
University of Chicago
Prompt: Weâre all familiar with green-eyed envy or feeling blue, but what about being âcaught purple-handedâ? Or âtickled orangeâ? Give an old color-infused expression a new hue and tell us what it represents. â Inspired by Ramsey Bottorff, Class of 2026
What Makes it Unique: No discussion of unique supplemental essay prompts would be complete without mentioning the University of Chicago, a school notorious for its puzzling and original prompts (perhaps the most well-known of these has been the recurring prompt âFind xâ). This prompt challenges you to invent a new color-based expression, encouraging both linguistic creativity and a deep dive into the emotional or cultural connotations of color. Itâs a prompt that allows you to play with language, think abstractly, and show off your ability to forge connections between concepts that arenât typically linkedâall qualities that likewise demonstrate your preparedness for UChicagoâs unique academic environment.
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How to Answer it: While it may be easy to get distracted by the open-ended nature of the prompt, remember that both the substance and structure of your response should give some insight into your personality, perspective, and characteristics. With this in mind, begin by considering the emotions, experiences, or ideas that most resonate with you. Then, use your imagination to consider how a specific color could represent that feeling or concept. Remember that the prompt is ultimately an opportunity to showcase your creativity and original way of looking at the world, so your explanation does not need to be unnecessarily deep or complexâif you have a playful personality, convey your playfulness in your response; if you are known for your sarcasm, consider how you can weave in your biting wit; if you are an amateur poet, consider how you might take inspiration from poetry as you write, or offer a response in the form of a poem.
The goal is to take a familiar concept and turn it into something new and meaningful through a creative lens. Use this essay to showcase your ability to think inventively and to draw surprising connections between language and life.
Harvard University
Prompt: Top 3 things your roommates might like to know about you.
What Makes it Unique: This prompt is unique in both form and substanceâfirst, you only have 150 words to write about all 3 things. Consider using a form other than a traditional essay or short answer response, such as a bullet list or short letter. Additionally, note that the things your roommate might like to learn about you do not necessarily overlap with the things you would traditionally share with an admissions committee. The aim of the prompt is to get to know your quirks and foiblesâwho are you as a person and a friend? What distinguishes you outside of academics and accolades?
How to Answer it: First and foremost, feel free to get creative with your response to this prompt. While you are producing a supplemental essay and thus a professional piece of writing, the prompt invites you to share more personal qualities, and you should aim to demonstrate your unique characteristics in your own voice. Consider things such as: How would your friends describe you? What funny stories do your parents and siblings share that encapsulate your personality? Or, consider what someone might want to know about living with you: do you snore? Do you have a collection of vintage posters? Are you particularly fastidious? While these may seem like trivial things to mention, the true creativity is in how you connect these qualities to deeper truths about yourselfâperhaps your sleepwalking is consistent with your reputation for being the first to raise your hand in class or speak up about a cause youâre passionate about. Perhaps your living conditions are a metaphor for how your brain worksâthough it looks like a mess to everyone else, you have a place for everything and know exactly where to find it. Whatever qualities you choose, embrace the opportunity to think outside of the box and showcase something that admissions officers wonât learn about anywhere else on your application.
University of Pennsylvania
Prompt: Write a short thank-you note to someone you have not yet thanked and would like to acknowledge.
What Makes it Unique: Breaking from the traditional essay format, this supplement invites you to write directly to a third party in the form of a 150-200 word long letter. The challenge in answering this distinct prompt is to remember that your letter should say as much about you, your unique qualities and what you value as it does about the recipientâall while not seeming overly boastful or contrived.
How to Answer it: As you select a recipient, consider the relationships that have been most formative in your high school experienceâwriting to someone who has played a large part in your story will allow the admissions committee some insight into your development and the meaningful relationships that guided you on your journey. Once youâve identified the person, craft a thank-you note that is specific and heartfeltâunlike other essays, this prompt invites you to be sentimental and emotional, as long as doing so would authentically convey your feelings of gratitude. Describe the impact theyâve had on you, what youâve learned from them, and how their influence has shaped your path. For example, if youâre thanking a teacher, donât just say they helped you become a better studentâexplain how their encouragement gave you the confidence to pursue your passions. Keep the tone sincere and personal, avoid clichĂ©s and focus on the unique role this person has played in your life.
University of Notre Dame
Prompt: What compliment are you most proud of receiving, and why does it mean so much to you?
What Makes it Unique: This prompt is unique in that it invites students to share something about themselves by reflecting on someone elseâs words in 50-100 words.
How to Answer it: The key to answering this prompt is to avoid focusing too much on the complement itself and instead focus on your response to receiving it and why it was so important to you. Note that this prompt is not an opportunity to brag about your achievements, but instead to showcase what truly matters to you. Select a compliment that truly speaks to who you are and what you value. It could be related to your character, work ethic, kindness, creativity, or any other quality that you hold in high regard. The compliment doesnât have to be grand or come from someone with authorityâit could be something small but significant that left a lasting impression on you, or it could have particular meaning for you because it came from someone you didnât expect it to come from. Be brief in setting the stage and explaining the context of the complimentâwhat is most important is your reflection on its significance and how it shaped your understanding of yourself.
Stanford University
Prompt: List five things that are important to you.
What Makes it Unique: This promptâs simplicity is what makes it so challenging. Stanford asks for a list, not an essay, which means you have very limited space (50 words) to convey something meaningful about yourself. Additionally, the prompt does not specify what these âthingsâ must beâthey could be a physical item, an idea, a concept, or even a pastime. Whatever you choose, these five items should add depth to your identity, values, and priorities.
How to Answer it: Start by brainstorming what matters most to youâthese could be values, activities, people, places, or even abstract concepts. The key is to choose items or concepts that, when considered together, provide a comprehensive snapshot of who you are. For example, you might select something tangible and specific such as âan antique telescope gifted by my grandfatherâ alongside something conceptual such as âthe willingness to admit when youâre wrong.â The beauty of this prompt is that it doesnât require complex sentences or elaborate explanationsâjust a clear and honest reflection of what you hold dear. Be thoughtful in your selections, and use this prompt to showcase your creativity and core values.
While the supplemental essays should convey something meaningful about you, your values, and your unique qualifications for the university to which you are applying, the best essays are those that are playful, original, and unexpected. By starting early and taking the time to draft and revise their ideas, students can showcase their authentic personalities and distinguish themselves from other applicants through their supplemental essays.
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, select a topic that will sustain your interest not only for the historiographic essay but also for Research and Writing (History 494). In Historiography and Historical Methods (History 394), you study the secondary sources; in Research and Writing, you craft an interpretation predominantly drawing upon primary sources.
History Compass is an online journal that publishes historiographic essays. If there is an essay on your topic, it can be an excellent place to start. ... When you are searching the library catalog for books on your topic, "historiography" is a useful keyword, because it is used in Library of Congress Subject Headings. For example:
A historiographical essay: Is based on a broad, less focused topic or theme, e.g., Reconstruction in the United States) Critically examines secondary sources written by historians; Puts emphasis on the historian, the historian's bias and how the writing of a particular topic has changed over the years
Like most history papers, the historiography follows a traditional essay structure with an introduction, body paragraphs, and a conclusion. ... the thesis statement will sum up and evaluate the current state of research on this topic. In a historiography paper that introduces or is preparatory to an argumentative history paper or graduate ...
Finding historiographic essays -- first steps. For topics that are of wide interest, you may be able to find an essay that reviews the literature on that topic, and that sets it in context by discussing how other historians have approached that topic. This kind of essay is invaluable when you are starting a research project. There are two easy ...
Historiographic Essay Manual, updated 12 August 2023 . questions from a micro-history perspective. In addition, the ready accessibility of Congressional Records through Andruss Library makes them a rich source. Certain topics attract an inordinate number of "popular or amateur" histories because of their titillating subject matter (e.g. Kennedy
A Historiographic Essay (also known as a Historiographic Review or, outside of the history discipline, a Literature Review) is a systematic and comprehensive analysis of books, scholarly articles, and other sources relevant to a specific topic that provides a base of knowledge.Literature reviews are designed to identify and critique the existing literature on a topic, justifying your research ...
This LibGuide has curated some additional examples of essays on historiographic topics. Websites for Guidance. University of Toronto: Historiography LibGuide. Librarians at the University of Toronto have designed a LibGuide to explain researching a historiography. NOTE: You will not have access to the databases on their site.
Mastering historiography is a foundational activity of graduate education in history and related fields. This guide provides suggestions to find already written historiographies and to gather sources to write such an original historiographical essay. The tools and suggestions here are only starting points.
A sample historiographic essay. Let us assume that the subject of your historiographic essay is the Rape of Nanking, an event discussed in some detail in the Book Reviews section. There, we examine the event as it is described and analyzed by Iris Chang in her bestselling book The Rape of Nanking.To this we now add several other sources, all of which are listed in the Works Cited section at ...
Seven Steps to Writing Historiography - Write a Historiography - Guides at University of Guelph. 1. Narrow your topic and select books and articles accordingly. Consider your specific area of study. Think about what interests you and other researchers in your field. Talk to your professor or TA, brainstorm, and read lecture notes and current ...
A historiographical essay is one that summarizes and analyzes historians' changing arguments and interpretations of a historical topic. Example: Perspective 1 (Carol F. Karlsen): The Salem witch trials were primarily an attack on the community's most economically powerful women.
A historiography (noun) or historiographical paper is an analysis of the interpretations of a specific topic written by past historians.. Specifically, a historiography identifies influential thinkers and reveals the shape of the scholarly debate on a particular subject. You can think of this as a narrative description of the web of scholars writing on the same or similar topics.
Historiographical essays provide the context within which contemporary historians continue a "conversation" begun by earlier scholars.Tracking down a good historiographical essay is perhaps the most efficient way to identify important works and critical debates on your topic.. Cambridge Histories and Oxford Reference are useful reference works.. Try the Cambridge Companions and Oxford ...
A historiography is best situated early on in an essay, preferably in the introduction in order to familiarize the reader with the topic and to set out the scope of previous work in broad terms. Your historiography should establish: the major thinkers on the topic, and; their main arguments (or theses). Your historiography may also explain:
đ Historiographical Essay Topics. Now, let's look into another type of essayâa historiographical essay. It analyzes and evaluates how scholars interpret a historical topic. Usually, the essay is problem-centered. So, compare the viewpoints of two or more historians on the same event. Here you will find good topics for historiographical ...
Spring 2023. Prompt: For your third paper for History 97E (1500 words), we are asking you to write a historiographic essay comparing secondary sources about a topic of your choice under the broad umbrella of imperial history. We strongly recommend that you use this as an opportunity to read some of the sources you plan to consult for your final ...
Step 1: Find (and narrow) a historical topic. If you haven't already been assigned a topic, you'll need to choose something to write about. Remember, don't choose something extremely broad like The Great Depression as your essay topic. While this works well as the general focus for your paper, you'll want to narrow your discussion.
These may also be helpful in preparing for qualifying exams as they provide overviews of the historiography on given topics as well as the frameworks and theoretical orientations associated and/or applied with/to them. ... but also provide examples of bibliographic essays, which are closely related to historiographical essays and literature ...
Finding historiographic essays -- first steps. For topics that are of wide interest, you may be able to find an essay that reviews the literature on that topic, and that sets it in context by discussing how other historians have approached that topic. This kind of essay is invaluable when you are starting a research project. There are two easy ...
In topically arranged historiographical essays, eight historians focus on the changing interpretations of Reconstruction from the so-called Dunning School of the early twentieth century to the "revisionists" of the World War II era, the "postrevisionists" of the Vietnam era, and the most current "post-postrevisionists" writing on Reconstruction today.
Historiographical essays constitute a form of writing that examines the intellectual development of a field or subject of historical study . These fields can be very broad (e.g., "the history of Jews under the Umayyad caliphs" or "the so-called 'Golden Age' of Iberian jewry") or quite narrow ("historical writing on irrigation and landscape in ...
Historiography of the Bible. Pages: 8 Words: 2776. Old Testament books, Deuteronomy, Samuel and Kings, establishing a monarchy for Israel and Judah proved somewhat problematic. This was due both to the divinity of God and the inevitable humanity that would be part of a human king.
How to Answer it: While it may be easy to get distracted by the open-ended nature of the prompt, remember that both the substance and structure of your response should give some insight into your ...
India sends far fewer athletes and support staff to the Olympics than top teams like the US, Majumdar said. For example, 117 Indian competitors went to Paris, compared with nearly 600 Americans.