A Basic Manual for Creating American History Essays
American history essays are commonly used as essay portions during midterms or history finals. The writing section is often half of the final score for AP exams, requiring students to analyze American History documents and events. If you will be writing the assignment for a mandatory exam, you are likely to choose from two different essay topics relating to history in the US. Due to the fact that it accounts for half of your score, you will want to do well in this portion and express your ideas in a clear and sequential manner. By taking the time to study and organize your thoughts, you can build an outline that tackles the topic in detail.
- Perform a Question Analysis
- Collect and Organize Research
- What is your Thesis?
- Write the Intro
- Write the Body Paragraphs
- Write the Conclusion
The first thing to do before writing the American history essay is read through the question carefully. Do you understand what it is asking thoroughly? If you are having a hard time clearing up the concept, approach the keywords and write down relevant information on a blank piece of paper provided to you by the instructor.
After you go over the question it's likely that you will remember important information, keywords and chapters that relate to your textbook or study guide. Record every detail that comes to mind; organize it by topic and by sequence of events. By designing a thorough outline it will be much easier to answer the question and dictate it with clear thoughts.
After reading the essay question, do you have a strong position? Do you have a personal opinion on the topic based off of the research you have conducted? This is the statement that you are going to convey or reject. Regardless of the question you must choose a side and define your thesis clearly. Every essay must have a strong and informative thesis based off of plausible information.
The most important part of the essay is the introduction. This is where you acknowledge the thesis, question and a strong opinion. It should be designed in a way that is appealing to your average reader so that the audience continues reading with great interest and curiosity.
In your American History essay you must have a minimum of three paragraphs and each of them should address the topics that you have talked about within the introduction. Make sure that you use strong sentences and clearly support the argument. The last sentence needs to lead into the next paragraphs smoothly.
The conclusion is equally important to the introduction. The last paragraph is where you will reintroduce readers to the original question and how you have answered it using historical facts. Remember that this is where you are going to talk about the thesis again and restate topics from the body paragraphs. Make sure that you do not provide the reader with new information or summarize things that were already explained. Reflect upon what you have written and leave the reader with the impression that you are well informed on the exam topic.