for my history students at MiraCosta College

1. History 104:
Writing a Historical Thesis
Lisa M Lane

2. A historical thesis is kind of like a thesis for an English paper. It is a statement or
sentence that you need to prove. You prove a thesis by presenting a brief
argument and some evidence.

3. That evidence comes from the resources we have for this class. We want to use
primary sources (writings or artworks created at the time we’re studying)
whenever possible to support our theses.

4. In this online class, we will be developing historical theses for our posts
and essays. You'll write a lot in this class, but you won't write any
research papers. All the writing is in discussion forums and in your
exams.

5. Photo credit: acordova on Flickr
There is no research paper, because we're doing research all the time, finding new
sources or working together, instead of saving up for a big individual project.

6. In the Sources and Writing forums, you'll post good primary sources that
you find yourself. Then, later in the week, you will choose a few of these
sources and pull them together to write about them. We’ll practice both
gathering sources and writing about them every week.

7. Don't worry about how "good" your thesis and writing is at first. It's a bit unnerving to
post your work, get to know each other, absorb the facts, get used to the online
format. But this introduction should at least let you know what I have in mind for
your work, and mine, in this class.

8. Good: The 17th century was a golden
age for the Netherlands because they
expanded their control of international
trade.
Bad: The 17th century was a golden
age for the Netherlands because
Martians controlled their trade.
A good thesis takes the evidence into account, using the primary sources to prove a
point. A "wrong" thesis is one that has no evidence - it can’t be proven.

9. A "bad" answer, one gets an F, is an answer that is plagiarized. It is copied from
another source, without citing or referencing the original creator.

10. copyright Staples Inc
By the end of the class, writing a thesis will be quick and easy, which will help you in
all your classes, not just this one. At the same time, you'll gain understanding of
historical patterns over time, because you'll be creating your own historical
narrative as you work in this class. So let's get started!