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The
Paper
History instructors have a need for their students to
write a formal paper. The paper can be either a research
topic of your choice or a book review dealing with some
period of English history.
If you choose to write a research paper, select a topic
that interests you. For example, do you want to know
more about William the Conqueror? Did Shakespeare write
those plays? You might want to learn more about Sir
Christopher Wren and the building of St. Paul’s
cathedral.
If you elect to complete a paper, an individual
consultation by email or eNOVA with your instructor
should be completed before the end of the fourth week or
as soon as possible.
There are some rules, research papers not conforming to
approved form will lose points. Style will follow the
proposed procedures for footnoting and citing the
bibliography suggested by any acceptable college style
manual.
Information on how to document material from electronic
sources may be found at "Best of the Web" on the NVCC
Libraries Home Page; select "Citing Electronic
Sources."
Remember, anyone can post material on the internet. It
is best to start with a well known authority on your
subject.
The paper will be transmitted to your instructor by
email as an attachment.
After careful consideration, you have decided that you
would rather read a good book. Make a decision,
do you want to read a biography, an autobiography, a
historic study, or a reputable novel?
Any book considered for review by a student must have
prior approval of the instructor by the end of the
fourth week of the semester.
Generally, the form of the book review is as follows:
I If your book is a historical study, who was
the author? Consult standard biographical reference
works in the library. This is to be answered in a few
comprehensive sentences.
II.
What was the author's objective in writing the volume?
This information is usually found in the Forward or
Preface of the book.
III. What materials did the author use in writing the
book? Check the Bibliography for Primary and Secondary
Source works. Do you know the difference between primary
and secondary sources?
IV. Write a general survey of the content of the book.
This section should not be more than five pages of the
report.
V. Your personal opinion of the book and why;
you must support your opinion by evidence taken from the
content of the book.
All book reviews must be computer-generated, double
spaced no less than five pages and no more than than
ten, proof-read without a disfiguring number of
corrections on any given page. The paper will be sent
by email as an attachment. The book review is due at
the end of the fourteenth week of the semester.
All papers (research papers and book reviews) must
have a complete title page.
Once you have a rough draft of your book review or
research paper, it would be a good idea to take it to
your Campus Writing Center for suggestions.
You paper is worth 20% of your grade.
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