Manual Footnotes

Hanover College
History Department
Style Sheet for
Chicago Manual Footnotes

Footnotes are a conventional way to tell your readers where you got the information and quotes that appear in your paper. Your goal is to make it easy for your readers to see what sources you used -- and easy to find any that they might want to study further. To do that, you need to provide complete citations in a consistent citation style. Leading publishers of historical scholarship (such as the American Historical Review and the Journal of American History) require Chicago Manual style footnotes.
Below you will find model footnotes that cite various types of sources. The models illustrate the format for the first reference to that item.
A second reference to the same item can be shortened (as in model footnote 2 below). For a more detailed treatment, see Chicago Documentation Style at hackerhandbooks.com. Also see the Chicago Manual itself (available at the Duggan Library).

Printed Sources

Books (print format)

Book (print)

     1. William H. Rehnquist, The Supreme Court: A History (New York: Knopf, 2001), 204.

     2. Rehnquist, Supreme Court, 21.

This is the most basic cite for a book. For any book, follow this model for punctuation, capitalization, and italics, providing author, title, place of publication, publisher, date of publication, and the page where the information you are citing can be found. Variations on this basic cite are modelled below. Note that a complete citation is needed for the first reference you make to any item (as with model footnote 1); a shortened cite (as with model footnote 2) can be used thereafter.
Use this model for books available online only if they appear exactly as they did in print (i.e. with page images). Remember that the purpose of a footnote is to make it easy for readers to find the item you used. If the paper source and the online source look exactly the same (as would be the case in a photocopy, for instance), the details above will be most helpful for your readers. If the book has been reformatted in any way, your readers will need the URL and other information according to the model below.

Book, with two or three authors

     3. Michael D. Coe and Mark Van Stone, Reading the Maya Glyphs (London: Thames & Hudson, 2002), 129-30.


Book, with four or more authors

     4. Lynn Hunt et al., The Making of the West: Peoples and Cultures (Boston: Bedford, 2001), 541.


Book, with no known author

     5. The Men's League Handbook on Women's Suffrage (London: Thames & Hudson, 1912), 23.


Book, edited without an author

     6. Jack Beatty, ed., Colossus: How the Corporation Changed America (New York: Broadway Books, 2001), 127.


Book, edited with an author

     7. Ted Poston, A First Draft of History, ed. Kathleen A. Hauke (Athens: University of Georgia Press, 2000), 46.


Book, translated

     8. Tonino Guerra, Abandoned Places, trans. Adria Bernardi (Barcelona: Guernica, 1999), 71.


Book, in an edition other than the first

     9. Andrew F. Rolle, California: A History, 5th ed. (Wheeling, IL: Harlan Davidson, 1998), 243.


Book, from a multivolume work

     10. James M. McPherson, Ordeal by Fire, vol. 2, The Civil War (New York: McGraw-Hill, 1993), 205.

     11. Peter N. Stearns, ed., Encyclopedia of European Social History: From 1350 to 2000 (New York: Carles Scribner's Sons, 2001), III: 271.

For a separately titled volume, see model footnote 10; for volumes without individual titles (as with model footnote 11), provide the volume number with the pagination. Note that the cite to III:271 means page 271 of the third volume of the multivolume set.


Government document

     12. U.S. Department of State, Foreign Relations of the United States: Diplomatic Papers, 1943 (Washington, DC: GPO, 1965), 562.

Encyclopedias and other reference books

With rare exceptions, print encyclopedias and other reference books follow the models already provided for citing books. (See models for edited works, or multivolume works above, for instance).

Use those models for reference works available online only if they appear exactly as they did in print (i.e. with page images). Remember that your goal is to make it easy for readers to find the item you used. If the paper source and the online source look exactly the same (as would be the case in a photocopy, for instance), the details above will be most helpful for your readers. If the book has been reformatted in any way, your readers will need the URL and other information as provided in the models below.

Dictionaries and a few widely recognized reference sources are cited as follows ("s.v." is for the Latin sub verbo, "under the word"):

     13. American Heritage Dictonary, New College Edition, s.v. "copy-edit ."

     14. Encyclopaedia Britannica, 15th ed., s.v. "Monroe Doctrine."

Sacred texts

     15. Matt. 20:4-9 (Revised Standard Version).

     16. Koran 19:17-21.

For the Bible (model footnote 15), provide the book, followed by chapter and verse (i.e. 15a refers to the Gospel of Matthew, chapter 20, verses 4-9). For the Koran, provide sura and verse (i.e. model footnote 16 refers to sura 19, verses 19-21).

Articles and other short works (print format)

Article in a scholarly journal

     17. Jonathan Zimmerman, "Ethnicity and the History Wars in the 1920s," Journal of American History 87, no. 1 (2000), 101.

Use this model for scholarly articles you have read online only if the article appears exactly as it did in print -- as with articles in JSTOR. If the article has been reformatted in any way, provide URL and other information according to the model footnotes below.

Book review

     18. Nancy Gabin, review of The Other Feminists: Activists in the Liberal Establishment, by Susan M. Hartman, Journal of Women's History 12, no. 3 (2000), 230.

Article in a magazine or newspaper

     19. Joy Williams, "One Acre," Harper's, February 2001, 62.

     20. Dan Barry, "A Mill Closes, and a Hamlet Fades to Black," New York Times, 16 Feb. 2001, A1.

     21. Boston Globe, "Renewable Energy Rules," 11 Aug. 2003, sec. A1.

Use this model for articles you have read online only if they appear exactly as they did in print (i.e. with page images). If the article has been reformatted in any way, provide URL and other information according to the model below. When the author of an article is unknown, treat the periodical itself as the author. Provide page and section numbers as the newspaper does (i.e. A1 means page 1 of section A).


Work in an anthology

     22. Rebecca Harding Davis, "Life in the Iron-Mills," in The Norton Anthology of American Literature, ed. Nina Baym, shorter 6th ed. (New York: Norton, 2003), 1205.

     23. Thomas Gainsborough to Elizabeth Rasse, 1753, in The Letters of Thomas Gainsborough, ed. John Hayes (New Haven: Yale University Press, 2001), 5.

For a short story or article, follow model footnote 22; for a letter, model footnote 23. For citing a letter in an archive, see below.

Online Sources

Book (reformatted online)

     24. Heinz Kramer, A Changing Turkey: The Challenge to Europe and the United States (Washington, DC: Brookings Press, 2000), 85, http://brookings.nap.edu/books/0815750234/html/index.html (accessed 12 Sept. 2004).

Use this model when the book has been reformatted in some way from the original printed copies. If the book appears exactly as it did in print (i.e. with page images), use the model found above. Provide as much of the following as is available: 1) the author, 2) the title, 3) the original publication information, 4) a page number or other locator, such as paragraph number, 7) a stable URL (if provided and if it can be conveniently transcribed) or the website's homepage or search page (if a stable URL is not provided or is very long), 8) date you accessed the book.


Article (reformatted online)

     25. Gina Kolata, "Scientists Debating Future of Hormone Replacement," New York Times, 23 Oct. 2002, http://www.proquest.com (accessed 22 Feb. 2003).

     26. Fiona Morgan, "Banning the Bullies," Salon, 15 March 2001, http://www.salon.com/news/feature/2001/03/15/bullying/index.html (accessed 24 Feb. 2003).

     27. Linda Belau, "Trauma and the Material Signifier," Postmodern Culture 11, no. 2 (2001), par. 6, http://www.iath.virginia.edu/pmc/text-only/issue.101/11.2belau.txt (accessed 11 Jan. 2008).

Use this model for articles that originally appeared in print but that you found reformated online. If the article appears exactly as it did in print (as with JSTOR), use the model found above. If the article was published directly to the web, use the model found below. Provide as much of the following as is available: 1) author of article, 2) title of article, 3) title of journal, magazine, or newspaper, 4) volume and issue number, 5) date, 6) page number or other locator, such as paragraph number, 7) a stable URL (if provided and if it can be conveniently transcribed) or the website's homepage or search page (if a stable URL is not provided or is very long), 8) date you .d the article.

Encyclopedias and other reference works (online)

     28. "Benjamin McLane Spock," World of Health (online; Thomson Gale, 2006), in Biography Resource Center, http://galenet.galegroup.com/ (accessed 11 Jan. 2008).

Provide as much of the following as is available: 1) author of entry, 2) entry title, 3) title of reference source, 4) if the item has been reformated from a print source, provide a note showing that and as much of the original publication information as is available 5) if the reference source is part of a collection such as the Gale Biography Resource Center, provide the name of that collection, 6) a stable URL (if provided and if it can be conveniently transcribed) or the website's homepage or search page (if a stable URL is not provided or is very long), 7) the date you accessed the item.
If the reference work appears exactly as it did in print (i.e. with page images), use the models described above.

Primary sources reproduced online

     29. John Locke, The Second Treatise on Government (1690), excerpted, Hanover College History Department, http://history.hanover.edu/courses/excerpts/165locke.html (accessed 24 Oct. 2003), para. 3.

To the extent possible, combine the information you would have provided for the primary source in its original form (as a book or letter, for instance) plus identifying information for the online version of it. As a general rule, provide 1) author's name, 2) title of the original work, 3) date of original work, 4) "excerpted" or "translated" as appropriate, 5) title of the site, 6) sponsor of the site, 7) stable URL (if provided and if it can be conveniently transcribed) or the website's homepage or search page (if a stable URL is not provided or is very long), 8) date on which you accessed the page, 9) page or paragraph number.

 

Webpages (original content online)

     30. Sheila Connor, "Historical Background," Garden and Forest, Library of Congress, http://lcweb.loc.gov/preserv/prd/gardfor/historygf.html (accessed 13 Mar. 2007).

     31. PBS Online, "Media Giants," Frontline: The Merchants of Cool, http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/pages/frontline/shows/cool/giants (accessed 12 Oct. 2007).

Provide as many of the following elements as are available: 1) author's name, 2) title of the page, 3) title of the site, 4) sponsor of the site, 5) stable URL (if provided and if it can be conveniently transcribed) or the website's homepage or search page (if a stable URL is not provided or is very long), 6) date on which you accessed the page. When no author is named, treat the site's sponsor as the author.

Manuscript Sources

Archival material

     32. Alexander Smith, letter to Jane Grey, 28 July 1920, Smith Collection, 46:3, Duggan Library, Hanover College (Hanover, Ind.).

     33. Edward M. House diary, 6 Nov. 1918, Edward M. House Papers, Yale University Library (New Haven, Conn.).

Manuscript material comes in many forms, and information about individual items is not always complete. Within those limits, do your best to provide the information needed for your readers to find the source you used. In general, you should include the author, title or recipient, type of document, date, collection name, box number, folder number, archive name, and geographic location. When in doubt, follow the archivist's recommendation. Note that the reference to 46:3 means that the letter is in folder 3 of box 46.


Unpublished dissertation

     34. Stephanie Lynn Budin, "The Origins of Aphrodite" (PhD diss., University of Pennsylvania, 2000), 301-2.


Census records

     35. U.S. Department of the Interior, Census Office, Tenth Census, 1880, Hanover, Jefferson County, Indiana, series T9, roll 287, p. 20, s.v. "Edward Harrison."

     36. U.S. Department of the Interior, Census Office, Tenth Census, 1880, Hanover, Jefferson County, Indiana, s.v. "Olive Harrison," Heritage Quest, HeritageQuestOnline.com.

If you viewed the census through microfilm or as a page image, model footnote 35 is preferable to 36, which is for a database of census information. Note that "s.v." is for the Latin sub verbo, "under the word." If the cite is to the census page, provide the name of the household head for the household you are citing. If the cite is to an entry in a database, provide the search term/name.

Other Sources

Film (movie)

     37. The Secret of Roan Inish, dir. by John Sayles (1993; Columbia TriStar, 2000 dvd).

Provide 1) the title, 2) the director, 3) theatrical release date, 4) if viewed as dvd or video, specify the distributor, date of dvd or video release, and format.


Television or radio program

     38. "A Place of His Own," 1976 episode of Happy Days (ABC, 1974-1984; Paramount, 2008 dvd).

Provide 1) the title of the episode, 2) broadcast date of the episode, 3) title of series, 4) network, 5) inclusive dates of the series, 6) if viewed as dvd or video, specify the distributor, date of dvd or video release, and format.


Broadcast interview

     39. Ron Haviv, interview by Charlie Rose, 12 Feb. 2001, The Charlie Rose Show (PBS).

Provide 1) person being interviewed, 2) the interviewer, 3) title of the episode, if given, 4) the date of the interview, 5) name of the program, 6) the network.


Sound recording

     40. Gustav Holst, The Planets, Royal Philharmonic, Andre Previn (1990; Telarc, 1990 cd).

Provide 1) composer, 2) name of piece, 3) performer(s), 4) date of performance, if available, 5) title of cd, if necessary (in italics); 6) distributor 7) release date and format.


Personal communication

     41. Sara Lehman, letter to author, 13 Aug. 2000.

     42. Abby Labille, "News from Home," email to author, 24 Oct. 2007.

     43. Thomas Anderson, conversation with author, 24 Oct. 2007.

Use these models for information people have communicated to you directly. Model footnote 43 is appropriate for informal oral history interviews.


College lectures

     44. Charles Chipping, lecture for "Introduction to English Literature," Hanover College, 17 May 2003.

Miscellany

One source quoted in another

     45. Adam Smith, The Wealth of Nations (New York: Random House, 1965), 11, quoted in Mark Skousen, The Making of Modern Economics: The Lives and the Ideas of the Great Thinkers (Armonk, NY: M. E. Sharpe, 2001), 15.

    46. Jo March, “The Great Depression at Rutgers,” excerpt from Leo Jenkins, oral history interview with Mary Jo Bratton, 31 March 1982, East Carolina University Archives, http://www.ecu.edu/cs-lib/archives/ohlj2.cfm (accessed 24 May 2009).

If you wish to refer to a source that the source you are consulting quotes, provide as much information as is available about the quoted source, and also provide the relevant information for the item in which it appears.


Items in the Duggan Archives often cited by Hanover students

     47. JoBeth Smith, "Immigrant Neighborhoods in the Fifties" (14 May 2003), "Twentieth-Century America and Your Family" collection, 38:4, Duggan Library, Hanover College (Hanover, Ind.).

     48. "Alumni File of Charles Alling, Class of 1885," Archives of Hanover College, Duggan Library, Hanover College (Hanover, Ind.).

More on what footnotes are and how they work.

Footnotes are a conventional way to tell your readers where you got the information and quotes that appear in your paper. Complete citations in a consistent citation style make it easier for your readers to scan through your citations and find what they want quickly.

If you are reading this page from the Hanover College campus, you can click here to see an example of a published article using Chicago Manual style footnotes. (If this link does not work for you, contact your library to see if your institution provides access to scholarly journals through some other means.)

Suppose the second paragraph of your paper mentions Horatio Nelson Taft visiting the White House, and suppose one of your readers is curious about where she could read more about Taft. She will look for the next superscript number after your mention of Taft. (For most papers, there is a footnote at the end of each paragraph of text in the body of the paper, so she'll look first at the end of the paragraph.) The superscript number she finds in the text directs her to the appropriate spot on the numbered list that runs along the bottom of all your pages. There, your citation tells her that you learned about Taft's visit by reading his diary, and you give her all the information she needs to find a copy of the diary to read herself. (Standard citation styles give her enough information to find it online or to order it through interlibrary loan, for instance). If you quote Taft again later in your paper, she'll want to know more about that information too, and so she'll again look to the end of the paragraph for the superscript number that will direct her to the bottom of your page. There she'll find your shortened reference to the Taft diary, with the page where she can read the quote in context. If she has forgotten the diary's publication details, she can look back to your first footnote for all the specifics. If you follow a consistent citation style, she'll be able to find the first full cite easily by scanning up through your earlier footnotes.

Notice that footnotes are numbered consecutively over the course of the whole paper. (That is, the paragraph that mentions Taft the second time gets its own footnote; don't re-use the number found in the earlier paragraph.)

If you are confused about how to punctuate sentences with quotations and footnotes, remember that "the end punctuation goes first, followed by quotation marks as appropriate, and then the superscript number."¹

If you are confused about how to find the details you need for a complete cite, you will find helpful visuals by following the "citation at a glance" links in Chicago Documentation Style at hackerhandbooks.com.

Be careful to avoid accidental plagiarism. If you do not provide a footnote for information that you have learned from someone else, you are implying that you know that information from your own experience. You are thus stealing the credit for someone else's hard work, and academics take theft of intellectual property seriously.

Hanover College

Hanover College History Department

Common

Dangling Modifiers

A dangling modifier is a phrase or clause that, because of its proximity, seems to modify a word it could not logically modify. One of the most common dangling modifiers occurs in the following sentence: "Hopefully, the project will succeed." "Hopefully" is an adverb that appears to modify the noun "project," the subject of the sentence. But how can a project be hopeful? To fix the sentence, we need to show who's really doing the hoping: "We hope that the project will succeed."

Another very common dangling modifier appears in the following sentence construction: "Based on our observations, the project will succeed." Again, the modifier — "based" — cannot logically modify the noun to which it is attached — "project." "The project" is not "based on our observations." To fix the sentence, we need to say, "On the basis of our observations, we believe the project will succeed."

Inconsistent Verb Tenses

Make sure you use past tense consistently throughout a sentence and use past perfect tense when it is called for. For example, in the following sentence there is a lack of consistency in tense; it shifts from past to present: "Government officials said that they are correcting the problem." Since the verb in the main clause is stated in the past tense — "said" — the verb in the subordinate clause — "are correcting" — should also be stated in the past tense. The sentence should read "Government officials said that they were correcting the problem." If, however, the action of the dependent clause was completed before the action in the main clause, use past perfect tense in the dependent clause. For example, "Government officials said that they had corrected the problem.

Noun Strings

Try to avoid long strings of nouns, such as the following, that show no grammatical relationships among the many nouns: "Army Fiscal Year 1990 Apache Helicopter Spare and Repair Parts Budget Request." Add possessive case and prepositions to clarify how the nouns relate to each other. Revision: "The Army's Fiscal Year 1990 Budget Request for Spare and Repair Parts for the Apache Helicopter."

Faulty Agreement in Number

One of the most common pronoun agreement problems occurs when one tries to avoid the sexist use of pronouns. For example, the following sentence is inconsistent in number: "Each student must clean their own room." The plural pronoun "their" does not agree in number with the singular "Each student" and the singular "room." To fix the sentence, you could say "Each student must clean his or her own room." If you find the "his or her" construction awkward, make all pronouns and associated nouns in the sentence plural: "All students must clean their own rooms."

Unclear Antecedents for "This," "Which," and "It"

An "antecedent" is the noun a pronoun refers to. When using "this," "which," or "it," make sure there is no question about what the pronoun's antecedent is. In the following case, the antecedent for "this" is unclear: "The company needs accurate data for its estimates. This is the purpose of the task force." Similarly, the antecedent for "which" is unclear in this passage: "The company needs accurate data for its estimates, which is the purpose of the task force." To make the passages clearer, change them to: "The company needs accurate data for its estimates. Providing such data is the purpose of the task force."

In the following sentence, the antecedent for "it" is unclear: "When the government workers who should be classed as administrators are enumerated, it reaches staggering proportions." Revise to eliminate the vague pronoun as follows: "When the government workers who should be classed as administrators are enumerated, the total is staggering."

Failure to Use Possessive Case with a Gerund

A gerund is the present participle of the verb (the verbal form ending in "ing") when used as a noun. The possessive case should be used for modifiers of a gerund: "I would appreciate your attending the meeting." "It is all contingent on the President's signing the bill." If, however, you find this construction awkward or impossible, reword the sentence. For instance, to avoid awkward construction such as the following, revise: "This is one of several steps taken by the Secretary to prevent the ceiling on expenditures' being broken again next year." Revision: "This is one of several steps taken by the Secretary to prevent the ceiling on expenditures from being broken again next year."

Misuse of "That" and "Which"

The key to determining when to use "that" and when to use "which" is in deciding whether the clause or phrase that follows is essential to defining what you mean (it's "restrictive") or is simply parenthetical information (it's "nonrestrictive"). Use "that" with restrictive phrases or clauses and "which" with nonrestrictive phrases or clauses. For example, if I am holding up only one book and say "I'll give you this book, which explains grammatical rules," you don't need to know that the book is about grammar to know which book I mean. If I'm holding up a history book and a grammar book and I say "I'll give you the book that explains grammatical rules," you need to know that the book explains grammatical rules to know which book I mean.

As a rule of thumb, use "which" and set the phrase or clause off by commas if the information that follows is parenthetical, or unessential to the meaning of your sentence. Use "that" and don't set your phrase or clause off by commas when the information that follows is essential to the meaning of your sentence.

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Academic Resource Center Sweet Briar College Sweet Briar, VA 24595

http://www.arc.sbc.edu Phone: (434) 381-6278 Fax: (434) 381-6215

Academic Papers

I. The Structure and Content of a Paper

(1) question and thesis

Ultimately, you should be able to identify a single question (there will invariably be many questions subsumed under that question) that defines the general purpose of the work and serves as an organizing principle. (The question need not be expressed literally as an interrogative, a sentence ending in a question mark. Stylistically, it is much more effective to introduce the question in a more subtle and elegant--yet very clear--fashion.) The answer to that question is the paper's thesis. A thesis is not a statement of purpose; it is a statement of conclusion. You should be able to articulate your thesis in one or two sentences. Typically, both the major question and the thesis are expressed in the introduction of the paper. The bulk of the paper then develops the argument to prove the thesis.

(2) argument

• (a) structure and logic Ideally, a paper is like a Mozart symphony. Everything fits together perfectly, and the removal of a single note, or a single sentence, would destroy the whole. In a paper, the overall objectives must be clear, the design coherent, and the individual themes linked to each other and to the whole. Paragraphs must form coherent units, linked to other paragraphs and to the big picture by well-defined topic sentences and by transitional clauses and sentences. Above all, the logic of your argument, from your largest point to the smallest detail, must be expressed with clarity and precision.
  
• (b) evidence The evidence you marshall to support your position are the building blocks of your argument. The nature of the evidence will vary according to the nature of the topic and argument. In a paper focusing on a single text, for example, the evidence will often be the text itself. Papers dealing with broad social phenomena may draw upon statistical studies for evidence, while a paper on political history may rely on a single documents reconstructing policies, motives, and objectives. While primary evidence is strongest, it is often the case that you must rely upon the authority of secondary sources, a reliance that ideally is not based on blind trust of authority but rather a critical reading of secondary scholarship.
  
• (c) context Context is essential to any paper. You must provide your readers not only with background information necessary to introduce your topic and question, but also with material that is essential to an understanding of individual points in your argument. Your evidence and your points may be perfectly sound, but without the appropriate context, they will be lost on your readers. Context is thus crucial for establishing the logic of your argument.
  
• (d) counter-arguments and counter-evidence The idea of a topic with multiple interpretations often conjures up images of competing schools of thought and of subjects that are strikingly "controversial" or that have pro-con, black-white interpretations. It is true that there are competing schools of thought in almost every discipline, and some subjects are controversial. But most are not. To interpret is to explain meaning and significance; typically developing an interpretation means imposing order, clarifying distinctions, and defining concepts, not engaging two diametrically opposed views. In most cases, arguments are not cast in terms of black and white, but rather subtle shades of gray. The counter-arguments are typically not comprehensive alternatives to your whole argument, but small counterpoints to individual points. And often it is authors of themselves who create counter-arguments and produce counter- evidence. As you develop your argument, you become aware of, and make note of, alternative ways of making sense of the evidence or problem immediately at hand.
  That a particular question is open to different interpretations does not carry with it the implication that one argument is as good as an other. The overriding consideration is whether the argument is effective. Two authors, for example, may address the same question and arrive at the same answer, and yet one author's interpretation is argued effectively while the other's is not. Similarly, two authors may address the same question and arrive at radically different interpretations, and yet both interpretations may be argued effectively.
  

(3) conclusion

The function of a conclusion is to bring together the various strands of your argument, but effective conclusions do not simply summarize points that have been previously made. Conclusions should return the reader to the guiding question and objectives of the paper and bring matters to a resolution. Often, authors save for the conclusions special insights or perspectives related to their question and thesis, especially of the kind that do not call for exacting proof.

II. Sources

The sources for a research paper may be primary (original), secondary (interpretations by scholars), or a combination of both. You will need to conduct bibliographical searches as you define your topic and then at various other points as you refocus and refine you argument.

The number of sources you use will depend entirely on your topic, question, and approach. There is no set formula. If you concentrate on a single text, for example, the number of sources you use beyond that text may be relatively small. Other topics necessarily demand a breadth of reading. Often you will simply use chapters or portions of books or journal articles. You should read the materially carefully and thoughtfully, but recognize that you may save time by using table of contents and indices wisely. You may use textbooks, encyclopedias, and dictionaries for reference, but it is expected that the bulk of your argument will be based on either primary sources or scholarly articles and books.

III. Scope

The scope of your topic may be highly focused, very broad, or somewhere in between. The scope is not the principal measure of whether a topic is sufficiently open-ended or whether it is manageable. A paper on a single canto of Dante's Comedy may supply a wide-range of substantive questions leading to different interpretations. On the other hand, a paper topic of considerable breadth, like the decline of the Ming and triumph of the Ch'ing dynasties, may be focused and manageable. The key determinant for success in addressing a large questions is whether there are sources that directly address the question. A topic such as the decline of the Ming and triumph of the Ch'ing could not be done unless there are scholarly studies that have already directly tackled that issue. To delve into the mass of primary sources and smaller-scale secondary sources on the topic, even assuming knowledge of the language and availability of sources, would be an impossible task. If, however, there are secondary sources that treat the topic in a comprehensive manner, then the topic is manageable.

IV. Selecting a Topic

The goal is to select a topic that is both substantive and manageable. There are two general approaches to choosing a topic in history.

(1) The first is rather traditional. Select a general area or topic that interests you, read more about it, and then gradually develop a well-defined topic and question. The scope of the topic may remain quite broad, or it may become narrowly focused, to the point even of being based on primary sources. Again the availability of appropriate sources is of critical importance. Often, you will be faced with a number of viable options. Those interested in the witch hunts of Early Modern Europe, for example, will find several studies that offer comprehensive interpretations of the big picture--the rise, proliferation, and decline of the hunts. While a topic of such breadth is possible, further reading may suggest to you more focused, thematic topics dealing with the witch-hunts such as the relationship between women victims of the hunts and early modern perceptions of women or the debate among early modern intellectuals about the reality of witchcraft.

(2) The second is to focus on a single text (or perhaps two or three). When you pose questions of the text, you may concentrate primarily on questions whose answers are found either within the text itself or, alternatively, in the relationship between the text and context. Thus, a paper on John Locke's Second Treatise of Government, for example, could focus solely on questions derived from Locke's argument as developed in the text. Or it could explore the relationship between Locke's theory and previous theories against which Locke is responding (a key part of the intellectual context) or between Locke's theory and the political events of Locke's time (the political context).

If you choose to focus on a single text, you first need to master the text, developing a solid understanding of its purpose, structure, logic, and themes. You should also need to read secondary interpretations of the text, and you should at least familiarize yourself with the historical context using secondary sources since and understanding of context may hel you frame "internal" questions. If your are concentrating on the relationship between text and context, you will need to undertake a more systematic and comprehensive review of secondary literature examining the author's audience and purpose and the wider historical context.

V. Redefining and Refining

In the early stages of research, it is sufficient that you identify a topic that will lend itself to analysis and interpretation. It is generally helpful to identify an overarching question and a potential thesis, but typically questions and theses change as work progresses. Often it is only at the end, after your argument has been redefined and reworked many times, that the "right" formulation of the question and thesis becomes clear.

Effective writing takes work. You will always be rethinking, remodelling, and rewriting, and you will constantly need to find new sources and undertake more research. As your argument takes shape, however, your work becomes more focused. You may need to conduct more research, but you know exactly what kind of evidence or context you need. You may need to rework or clarify a section of your argument, but you can isolate the paragraph or sentences that need to be reworked.

Why Study History?

The purpose of historical inquiry is not simply to present facts but to search for an interpretation of the past. Historians attempt to find patterns and establish meaning through the rigorous study of documents and artifacts left by people of other times and other places.

The study of history is vital to a liberal arts education. History is unique among the liberal arts in its emphasis on historical perspective and context. Historians insist that the past must be understood on its own terms; any historical phenomenon--an event, an idea, a law, or a dogma for example--must first be understood in its context, as part of a web of interrelated institutions, values, and beliefs that define a particular culture and era. Among the liberal arts, history is the discipline most concerned with understanding change. Historians seek not only to explain historical causality--how and why change occurs within societies and cultures. They also try to account for the endurance of tradition, understand the complex interplay between continuity and change, and explain the origins, evolution, and decline of institutions and ideas. History is also distinguished by its singularly broad scope. Virtually every subject has a history and can be analyzed and interpreted in historical perspective and context; the scope of historical inquiry is bound only by the quantity and quality of surviving documents and artifacts.

It is commonly acknowledged that an understanding of the past is fundamental to an understanding of the present. The analysis and interpretation of history provide an essential context for evaluating contemporary institutions, politics, and cultures. Understanding the present configuration of society is not the only reason to study the past; history also provides unique insight into human nature and human civilization. By demanding that we see the world through the eyes of others, that we develop a sense of context and coherence while recognizing complexity and ambiguity, and that we confront the record not only of human achievement but also of human failure, cruelty, and barbarity, the study of history provides us with a richly-textured, substantive framework for understanding the human condition and grappling with moral questions and problems. History is essential to the traditional objectives of the liberal arts, the quest for wisdom and virtue.

There is another reason to study history: it's fun. History combines the excitement of exploration and discovery with the sense of reward born of successfully confronting and making sense of complex and challenging problems.

--Frank Luttmer (1996)

A Key Note For You

Winston Churchill
Speech before Commons
(June 4, 1940)

In a long series of very fierce battles, now on this front, now on that, fighting on three fronts at once, battles fought by two or three divisions against an equal or sometimes larger number of the enemy, and fought very fiercely on old ground so many of us knew so well, our losses in men exceed 30,000 in killed, wounded and missing. I take this occasion for expressing the sympathy of the House with those who have suffered bereavement or are still anxious. The President of the Board of Trade (Sir Andrew Duncan) is not here today. His son has been killed, and many here have felt private affliction of the sharpest form, but I would say about the missing -- we have had a large number of wounded come home safely to this country -- there may be very many reported missing who will come back home some day.

In the confusion of departure it is inevitable that many should be cut off. Against this loss of over 30,000 men we may set the far heavier loss certainly inflicted on the enemy, but our losses in material are enormous. We have perhaps lost one-third of the men we lost in the opening days of the battle on March 21, 1918, but we have lost nearly as many guns -- nearly 1,000 -- and all our transport and all the armored vehicles that were with the army of the north.

These losses will impose further delay on the expansion of our military strength. That expansion has not been proceeding as fast as we had hoped. The best of all we had to give has been given to the B. E. F., and although they had not the number of tanks and some articles of equipment which were desirable they were a very well and finely equipped army. They had the first fruits of all our industry had to give. That has gone and now here is further delay.

How long it will be, how long it will last depends upon the exertions which we make on this island. An effort, the like of which has never been seen in our records, is now being made. Work is proceeding night and day. Sundays and week days. Capital and labor have cast aside their interests, rights and customs and put everything into the common stock. Already the flow of munitions has leaped forward. There is no reason why we should not in a few months overtake the sudden and serious loss that has come upon us without retarding the development of our general program.

Nevertheless, our thankfulness at the escape of our army with so many men, and the thankfulness of their loved ones, who passed through an agonizing week, must not blind us to the fact that what happened in France and Belgium is a colossal military disaster.

The French Army has been weakened, the Belgian Army has been lost and a large part of those fortified lines upon which so much faith was reposed has gone, and many valuable mining districts and factories have passed into the enemy's possession.

The whole of the Channel ports are in his hands, with all the strategic consequences that follow from that, and we must expect another blow to be struck almost immediately at us or at France.

We were told that Hitler has plans for invading the British Isles. This has often been thought of before. When Napoleon lay at Boulogne for a year with his flat-bottomed boats and his Grand Army, some one told him there were bitter weeds in England. There certainly were and a good many more of them have since been returned. The whole question of defense against invasion is powerfully affected by the fact that we have for the time being in this island incomparably more military forces than we had in the last war. But his will not continue. We shall not be content with a defensive war. We have our duty to our Allies.

We have to reconstitute and build up the B. E. F. once again under its gallant Commander in Chief, Lord Gort. All this is en train. But now I feel we must put our defense in this island into such a high state of organization that the fewest possible numbers will be required to give effectual security and that the largest possible potential offensive effort may be released.

On this we are now engaged. It would be very convenient to enter upon this subject in secret sessions. The government would not necessarily be able to reveal any great military secrets, but we should like to have our discussions free and without the restraint imposed by the fact that they would be read the next day by the enemy.

The government would benefit by the views expressed by the House. I understand that some request is to be made on this subject, which will be readily acceded to by the government. We have found it necessary to take measures of increasing stringency, not only against enemy aliens and suspicious characters of other nationalities but also against British subjects who may become a danger or a nuisance should the war be transported to the United Kingdom.

I know there are a great many people affected by the orders which we have made who are people affected by the orders which we have made who are passionate enemies of Nazi Germany. I am very sorry from them, but we cannot, under the present circumstances, draw all the distinctions we should like to do. If parachute landings were attempted and fierce nights followed, those unfortunate people would be far better out of the way for their own sake as well as ours.

There is, however, another class for which I feel not the slightest sympathy. Parliament has given us powers to put down fifth column activities with the strongest hand, and we shall use those powers subject to the supervision and correcting of the House without hesitation until we are satisfied and more than satisfied that this malignancy in our midst has been effectually stamped out.

Turning once again to the question of invasion, there has, I will observe, never been a period in all those long centuries of which we boast when an absolute guarantee against invasion, still less against serous raids, could have been given to our people. In the days of Napoleon the same wind which might have carried his transports across the Channel might have driven away a blockading fleet. There is always the chance, and it is that chance which has excited and befooled the imaginations of many continental tyrants.

We are assured that novel methods will be adopted, and when we see the originality, malice and ingenuity of aggression which our enemy displays we may certainly prepare ourselves for every kind of novel stratagem and every kind of brutal and treacherous manoeuvre. I think no idea is so outlandish that it should not be considered and viewed with a watchful, but at the same time steady, eye.

We must never forget the solid assurances of sea power and those which belong to air power if they can be locally exercised. I have myself full confidence that if all do their duty and if the best arrangements are made, as they are being made, we shall prove ourselves once again able to defend our island home, ride out the storms of ware outlive the menace of tyranny, if necessary, for years, if necessary, alone.

At any rate, that is what we are going to try to do. that is the resolve of His Majesty's Government, every man of them. that is the will of Parliament and the nation. The British Empire and the French Republic, linked together in their cause and their need, will defend to the death their native soils, aiding each other like good comrades to the utmost of their strength, even though a large tract of Europe and many old and famous States have fallen or may fall into the grip of the Gestapo and all the odious apparatus of Nazi rule.

We shall not flag nor fail. We shall go on to the end. We shall fight in France and on the seas and oceans; we shall fight with growing confidence and growing strength in the air. We shall defend our island whatever the cost may be; we shall fight on beaches, landing grounds, in fields, in streets and on the hills. We shall never surrender and even if, which I do not for the moment believe, this island or a large part of it were subjugated and starving, then our empire beyond the seas, armed and guarded by the British Fleet, will carry on the struggle until in God's good time the New World with all its power and might, sets forth to the liberation and rescue of the Old.