WRITING A GOOD TERM PAPER
HIS 4930. Slavery in the Atlantic WorldTerm papers can take several forms, ranging from historiographical surveys of a particular topic to focused analyses using a body of primary sources (journals, plantation records, correspondence, newspapers). For the junior colloquia, it is expected that students will at the very least incorporate primary materials into their term papers and preferably undertake a research project based on the analysis of contemporary sources, either manuscript or printed. The UF Library has a very good collection in U.S. history from the slavery period, an outstanding Latin American collection, and its Caribbean holdings are exceptionally strong, probably the best anywhere. The term paper gives you an opportunity to use a world-class resource base to explore a topic of your choosing. By opting to work with primary sources, you get to produce history yourself and not just discuss the work of others. Tracking down a suitable body of material and mastering the techniques needed for its analysis (linguistic, quantitative, imaginative insight) can be a challenge that brings special rewards. The following points should be taken into account:
The subject chosen must be related to slavery in the Atlantic world during the period 1492-1900. The merit of the paper partly will be judged on whether it lives up to the expectations created by its title. Don't call a paper "Jamaican slave resistance" and write only about maroons or nineteenth-century revolts. Hence, choose your title carefully, and adjust it, if necessary.
The following recent works provide succinct introductions to topics and are a good place to start compiling a bibliography for term papers: S. Engerman, S. Drescher, R. Paquette, Slavery; S. Drescher, S. Engerman, Historical Guide to World Slavery; J. Miller, P. Finkelman, Macmillan Encyclopedia of World Slavery; J. Miller, Slavery and Slaving in World History.
If you choose a topic we have covered in class, you will be held to a higher standard than than if you have to research a subject from scratch. You ought to have selected a topic by mid-term; this involves reading ahead in the course material. Students frequently encounter heavy demand for the same books; if library books are on loan, fill out a recall form. Discuss your choice with me; I can usually help. Aim to write several drafts; allow time to polish the writing and adjust balance and coverage. An essay needs to be crafted, not just poured out on to paper. Ten to twelve pages of text, not counting notes and bibliography, is sufficient. However, students wishing to write a longer piece preparatory to an honors thesis thesis (and who have a 3.5 UDGPA) are encouraged to do so.
Aim for an analytic rather than purely descriptive approach. One way to do this is to adopt a "compare and contrast" framework. E.g. look at the same phenomenon in different colonies ordifferent periods. Also, while you may feel unable to criticize the opinions of published scholars, if you read two or three works on the same subject, you should start to notice differences in content or interpretation, about which you can form your own opinions. Conversely, you need to be able to justify your criticisms. In evaluating a book, take into account when it was published, who published it, and what sources it used. Beware of popular, unscholarly accounts, especially on the internet; material is only as reliable as the person who put in there. Books published by university presses and written by academics are likely to be the most reliable. It may be helpful to read reviews of the work, published in journals such as American Historical Review (available on-line via JSTOR) and New West Indian Guide.
Remember history is in large measure concerned with cause and effect; that is, how and why things change, especially why they do so at a particular point in time. So, if you want to write about Haitian voodoo, do not simply describe it. Rather, examine how it has developed and what roles it has played through history.
Include a bibliography and use foot- or end-notes to reference controversial ideas, obscure pieces of information, and all quotations. However, avoid frequent or lengthy quotations. There is no reason to quote any author directly, unless the precise form of words is crucial. This should be your writing not someone else's. And note that the vast majority of students vastly overuse the word vast.
Consider using materials contemporary with the topic you are studying, either as a source of data to analyze or for evidence of attitudes specific to a time and place. For example, slavery era newspapers carried not just news and opinion but also lists of fugitive slaves, shipping and price data, and adverts of plantations for sale. The library has abundant correspondence in French and Spanish by participants in the Haitian Revolution, plantation accounts from Jamaica and Saint Domingue, and extensive government papers from the Bahamas, Surinam and the Danish West Indies. See me, if you are interested in working with historical documents; also Geggus, The Caribbean Collections at the University of Florida: A Brief Description. The Slavery Websites listed below include a wealth of data--interviews with former slaves, records of slave ship voyages, adverts for fugitive slaves, marriage and baptismal records of people of color, and so on.
In writing papers, be certain to give proper credit whenever you use words, phrases, ideas, arguments, and
conclusions drawn from someone else’s work. Failure to give credit by quoting and/or footnoting is plagiarism
and is unacceptable. Please review the University’s honesty policy at
http://regulations.ufl.edu/chapter4/4017.pdf .Part of your grade is determined by spelling, grammar, use of words, and punctuation. Pay close attention to the attached list. Do not use the "historical present" tense; use the past tense for past events, i.e. not, "In 1492 the Spanish reach the Americas and a demographic catastrophe begins."
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FAVORITE MISSPELLINGS AND OTHER MUCH-ABUSED WORDS
one country, one country's trade |
[singular possessive] |
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effect [noun] |
An important effect |
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Brazil's trade expanded. It [NOT "they"] became wealthier. |
[countries are singular not plural nouns] |
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there [place] / their [possessive] |
There is their dog |
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Caribbean, Indian |
One phenomenon, two phenomena |
explanation, explain |
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receive |
hierarchical |
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to dominate a dominant person |
independent, independence |
a king's reign; to give free rein |
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occur, occurrence |
principle [noun]; principal [adj.] |
A lack of principle |
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Never "off of"; just "off." |
lose/loose: A loose screw. To lose your mind. |
too/to/two: Two is too many to invite. |
fewer [plural] / less [singular] |
Fewer people, less population |
Commas and periods go inside quotation marks in U.S. (not British) punctuation: |
"African American," or “of African descent,” have since the 1990s tended to replace “Afro-American,” just as in the 1960s “Black” replaced “Negro.” |