Education

How to write a history essay? Tips for student

  • March 20, 2024
  • 7 min read
How to write a history essay? Tips for student

Historical events or significant periods are usually described in a history essay. Before writing it, it is worthwhile to get an idea about the peculiarities, and the rules of formatting of this work. Below we will tell you how to write a history essay in such a way to get the highest score, as well as share some small tips.

What is the difference between the history essay and the rest of the assignments, and what is its significance?

When students write a history essay, it develops their personality, teaches them to form their point of view, evaluate the events that happened, and highlight meaningful priorities for themselves. This work checks the level of knowledge of the history of the student, as well as his/her ability to systemize historical data, freely present the conclusions, and understand the significance of certain phenomena/events.

To write an essay for a high grade, you need to work hard. Writing skills take time to improve. As you know, students have busy schedules and don’t have enough time to do their homework. That is why you can always use do my research paper service to avoid difficulties.

It is necessary to write with the boundaries of the chosen period in mind. There are certain criteria for grading history essays, on the basis of which some rules for its writing stand out.

The history essay should contain:

  • two or more episodes/events of the past;
  • two significant figures of a certain period;
  • a cause-and-effect relationship of historical phenomena of a certain period;
  • the evaluative significance of a particular stage of history;
  • tactful use of subject terms/concepts.

To begin with, one chooses a historical period and defines its peculiarity. That is, it is worth characterizing the given stage of history, its specificity, and then choosing the facts corresponding to this time.

Historical facts

Events of the past time are of two kinds:

  • Historical (really once existed, have an objective evidence base and temporal/spatial localization);
  • Scientific-historical (events of history, confirmed by the research of scientists, their conclusions based on historical sources).

Facts are selected not to simply list the events that took place at the relevant time but to highlight the main more significant episodes that fully convey the characteristics of the period described and the impact on the development of the country later on.

Next, it is necessary to show evaluative subject knowledge. Here you need to show your knowledge regarding the opinions of representatives of the scientific community about the course of significant events in history. The history essay is evaluated mainly on the depth of the question disclosed and reasoned reasoning.

Historical assessment of personality

The characterization of a historical person is of great importance. To get the highest grade, you will need not only to detail the personality’s activities but also to show his or her role in the history of the given period, based on reliable historical data. This information will help to get a high grade for the essay.

Cause and effect

Another criterion for a history essay claiming an “excellent” is to identify connections between episodes in history, and how one event influenced another. Students must learn how to analyze the data they discover, identify sources and consequences, and draw the appropriate conclusion with a conclusion. This is a fairly complex intellectual activity.

In addition, the completeness of your knowledge of the period you are describing and its chronological sequence is essential. You need to determine the pattern of episodes in history that have occurred and that are sequentially related to each other. As a rule, an event occurs due to several factors. In such cases, you need to know how to isolate the more significant events.

To know how to write a history essay without classic mistakes, let’s look at the most common ones:

  • The primary or least important reasons are incorrectly identified;
  • the reason for the event described is not disclosed, but simply replaced by some fact;
  • historical episodes are stated without understanding their interrelation.

How do you structure a history essay?

It is necessary to outline the history essay. It will help to form a quality essay without losing sight of meaningful information.

1. Choosing a period.

2. Finding evidence that the choice is correct.

3. Name the period, taking into account its specificity.

4. Identify facts that relate to the time of the chosen period. We identify the especially important episodes and the less important ones. 5.

5. Identify the historical figures who lived in the given period. Describe their occupation and contribution to history.

6. Identify the causes of the events of the period under study.

7. Find the appropriate terms and necessary concepts. 8.

8. Choose the facts that reveal the significance of this period, using the opinion of experts.

9. The collected information is systematized.

10. Create a plan for writing a history essay, an example:

  • Introduction (briefly describe the essence of the period chosen).
  • The main part (mainly a characteristic of events, personalities, causes, and consequences of development).
  • Conclusion (evaluates the importance of the given period).

11. Doing a review and necessary revision.

Tips for student

How to write a history essay? Let us help with tips.

  • It is worth choosing the historical time about which you are most informed;
  • Drafting a history essay plan beforehand will prevent you from moving away from logical and clear writing;
  • Break up the text into meaningful paragraphs;
  • You need specific, legible, concise writing where there are many significant episodes without empty informational material;
  • Apply terms whose meaning you know.

A quality history essay, examples of which can be found on the Internet, is necessary for clarity (at least ten different historical works). In this way, you can practice your essay writing.

To navigate how to write a history essay, first of all, pay attention to the grading criteria. Most importantly, cover all points qualitatively. Don’t forget about the genre specifics of the essay.

History essay outline

Get recommendations and get acquainted with an example of a history essay that can be in the dean’s office or found on the Internet networks, so it will be easier to structure a good essay correctly.

Example template:

1. Dates of the period and the name of the historical person and his/her contribution to the development of history.

2. Important episodes of this period with the personalities who participated in them (descriptions of episodes and persons separately). It is necessary to summarize the events.

3. Interrelation of these events and the reasons for their occurrence.

4. Evaluation of historical figures by scholars of the present and the past.

5. Summarize in words the significance of the chosen historical period.

For clear and correct structuring of the history essay outline:

1. a general description of the period of history.

2. Two episodes of the time (the causes, the essence, and the effect; two basic facts linking these episodes; two historical figures of this time, their contributions).

3. Assessment of the epoch of Russian history (the impact of this period on the further history of the country, the development of the economy/culture; foreign policy).

4. Conclusion (you can use the opinion of eminent historians).

To summarize

As we can see, for this type of historical essay clichés can be taken from a brief template. Examples of historical essays can always be found on the Internet. It is written competently, correctly, and briefly. The main part should be dominated by historical episodes and essays of scholars. This increases the grade. If you’re tired of homework, find good services on reddit to get help and relax.

For a complete understanding, it is worth studying various examples, and already ready-made essays on history. In practice, it is proven to be a very effective method. Successful work!

About Author

Andrew Lewis

Andrew Lewis is an expert web content writer and freelancer who is an expert in writing engaging articles in Business, General, Social Media, Tech, and Marketing and many more other categories. He has been serving our website for a few years. Andrew is a family man. When he isn’t writing, he loves to cook for his kids and spend time with them.

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