Writing Essay Introduction History

One way of answering the question would be set up a series of 'tests', as it were, that can be investigated in turn.

One way of answering the question would be set up a series of 'tests', as it were, that can be investigated in turn.

It might be useful to define and defend the criteria on which your judgement depends.

That is, to explain why they are the best criteria for judging the historical phenomenon at issue.

You may respond, for example, by agreeing with the quotation in which case you will need to explain why agreement is the best response, why it would be wrong to disagree.

You should consider the merits of a variety of responses.

With most historical problems (certainly the most interesting ones) it is seldom possible to arrive at a definitive answer.

The evidence almost always permits a variety of solutions, and different approaches generate divergent conclusions.If possible you should always examine the book or article from which the quotation has been taken in order to discover what its author meant by it, to discover how the author has understood the issues.'Compare-and-contrast' questions demand the identification of similarities and differences.Essays test understanding by asking you to select and re-organise relevant material in order to produce your own answer to the set question.An undergraduate essay need not be particularly innovative in its approach and insights, but it must be the product of the student's own dialogue with the subject.The chief reason is that no other method provides as effective a means of testing a student's comprehension of a topic.We want you to show us that not only have you acquired a knowledge of the topic but also that you fully understand the topic and the issues raised by it.That is, the question requires a discussion of the system as a whole and the consideration of alternative explanations of how 'X' worked within it.'To-what-extent' questions involve a judgement of measure.One method of tackling such an essay would be to distinguish five or six areas of similarity and contrast, and to devote a section of the essay to each area - a section in which you would assess the degree of similarity and reach a sub-conclusion.The conclusion would then require a summation of the various 'sub-conclusions'.