UTRECHTUNIVERSITY

Researcher’sManual:AcademicResearch,Writing

andPresentation

DepartmentofHistoryandArtHistory

JaccoPekelder,Coordinator(j.pekelder@uu.nl)

2

Historyisthedisciplineofresearchingthepastinarigorous,scholarlymannerandreportingonyourresultsinoralandwrittenform.TheResearcher’sManualcoverstheskillsyouwillneedasaresearcherofhistory.Itcontainspointersonthefollowing:

• settingupandconductingacademichistoricalresearch;• preparingandwritingapaperorthesisaboutthisresearch;• orallypresentingtheresultingpaperorthesis.

Theseseeminglydisparateskillsarepresentedinasinglemanualbecause,fortoday’sscholars,conductingacademicresearchandreportingonitgohandinhand.Asastudent,youwillbecomeawareofthisasyoubegintowriteresearchpapersandathesis.Youwillstartbypickingatopicandformulatingamainresearchquestionandsubquestions.Tofindanswers,youwilllookformonographs,compendiums,articlesinacademicjournalsandprimaryhistoricalsources,bothontheInternetandinlibrariesandarchives.You’llbereading(andreadingandreading)andtakingnotes.Hopefullythiswillsparkyourownthoughts,whichcancontributetoexistingknowledgeabouthistory.Youwilltrytoformulatethesethoughtsasbestyoucan,explainingthemtoyourselfatfirstandthentoothersaswell.

Tryingtofindtherightwordsforcesyoutothinkoutloud.Thiswillrevealwhichsubquestionsyourargumentanswersandwhichitdoesnot.Manystudentsdiscoverthatthemainresearchquestionneedstoberephrasedorsplitupintomoresubquestions.Atthispoint,youmighthavetotemporarilysuspendthewritingprocesstodomoreresearch;later,youcanresumewritingtoincorporateyouradditionalfindings.Inshort,theprocessofdoingresearchandwritingaboutitisafeedbackloop.

Thismanualistwothingsinone:

•afullinstructionalmanualforstudentswhoareabouttowritetheirfirsthistorypaper;and•areferenceguideforBachelor’sandMaster’sstudentswhohavewrittenpapersbefore,butcoulduseareminder.

Ifyoubelongtothefirsttargetgroup,readthemanualfromcovertocover.Moreexperiencedstudentscansimplyclickonthesectiontheywouldliketoreview.

Thepointersinthisresearcher’smanualcanhelpyouwriteagreatresearchpaperorthesis.

Goodluck!

JaccoPekelder

3

TableofContents

1. GettingStarted 5 • 1.1ChoosingaTopic 5• 1.2FindingSourcesandPreliminaryReading 6• 1.3WritingYourResearchQuestion 10• 1.4FindingAdditionalSources 12• PrimarySources 12 • ArchivalResearch 13• InternetSources 13

• 1.5Synopsis 152. AcademicResearch 16• 2.1TheResearch 16• 2.2EvaluatingLiteratureforQualityandRelevance 17• 2.3Organizing 19• 2.4SourceCriticism 20• 2.5ResearchingandWriting 223. AcademicWriting 23 • 3.1PreparingtoWrite 23• SpellingandStyle 24• TipsonSpellingandStyle 25

• 3.2StructuringaHistoryPaper/Thesis 33• Title 33 • Introduction 33 • Body 36• Conclusion 40

• 3.3Citation 41• ParaphrasingandQuoting 41• Notes 44• CitationGuidelines 47• Plagiarism 48

• 3.4Layout 49• TableofContents 49• Bibliography 50• IllustrationsandTables 50• Appendices 514. Presentation 52• 4.1PreparingYourPresentation 52 • 4.2Structure 53• 4.3PresentationSkills 54• 4.4PresentationSoftware 555. Examples 56• 5.1ResearchQuestions 56• 5.2SampleCitations 58• Books 60• Articles 63

4

• OtherSources 65• PrimarySourcesandAudiovisualMaterials 67

• 5.3Bibliography 69 • 5.4TableofContents 71• 5.5Synopsis 72

5

1. GettingStarted

1.1ChoosingaTopic

Startbynarrowingdownyourtopic,locationandtimeframe:

• Topic:thepivotalevent/figure/institution(e.g.theGreatDepression)• Location:thenation,regionorcityinvolved(e.g.theProvinceofUtrecht)• Timeframe:theperiodyouwanttostudy(e.g.theSecondWorldWar)

Inotherwords,askyourselfthetime-honored5WsandHquestions:Who,What,When,Where,WhyandHow.Initially,abroaddefinitionwillsuffice.Youwillnarrowthetopicdownfurtherbydefiningandformulatingyourresearchquestion.

6

1.2FindingSourcesandReading

Onceyouhavepickedatopic,youenterthereadingphase.Youshouldbeginbyfindingsecondaryliterature:textsthatothershavewrittenandpublishedaboutyourtopicoritscontext.Thiswillprovideanoverallanswertotwoquestions:Whatisyourtopiccomprisedof?Andwhatisknownaboutituptothispoint?Itisimportanttorealizethatyoursearchforliteratureiscompletedinphases.Themoreyoudiscoveraboutyourtopic,themoreyoucannarrowdownyoursearchandfindrelevantsources.Thebestadviceistostartreadingrightaway;itwillbethefirstofmanyexplorationsintosourcematerial.Thisprocesswillhoneyourskillsatsearchingfor,andpinpointing,relevantliterature.

TheInternet

PracticallyeveryresearchprojectstartswithanInternetsearch.TheInternetisunbeatableforobtainingpublicationsindigitalformat,forlocatingpublications(intheUniversityLibrary,forinstance)andobviously,forconsultingonlinesourceslikeWikipedia.Beforeyoustartsearching,makealistofkeywords,namesandtopicsthatarerelevanttoyourresearch.Makesureyoursearchtermsincludealternativespellings,translationsandsynonyms.

Itisimportantthatyouusetherightsearchenginestofindacademicpublications.TheUtrechtUniversityLibrarywebsite(www.library.uu.nl)providesanoverviewofthesearchenginesthatareusefulforfindingvarioustypesofsources.Tobeginwith,thereisthelibrarycataloganddatabaseofjournals,whichwillleadyoutoallthesourcesavailableatUtrechtUniversity.Inaddition,searchengineslikeGoogleScholar,ScopusandWebofSciencecanhelpyoufindarticles,booksandPhDtheses.Picartagivesaccesstoarticles,booksandjournalsubscriptionsinthepubliclibrariesoftheNetherlands.Worldcatdoesthesameworldwide.

TheUniversityLibrary(UB)hascreatedalargenumberofwhatitcalls‘libguides’tomakeiteasierforstudentstosearchforandfindsources,andtousethesearchsystem.Libguidesprovidetips,backgroundinformationandtraininginsearchingforanddealingwithacademicsources.Morespecifically,theseguidesexplainhowtofindabookorarticle,whichmediumtouse,howtogetyour

MoreAboutSearchTermsandKeywords

Manybibliographicaltoolsarestructuredusingkeywords.Basedonyourtopic,trytoformulatealistofsearchtermsandkeywordsthatcanbeusedtolookforliterature.Indrawingupthislist,trytobesystematicandusethefollowingaspectsofyourtopic:

• timeframe(when:whichperiodareyoudealingwith?)• geography(where:whichcountry,state,city?)• people(who:whoarelikelytobethemainactors?)• societalsector(whichsectorsofsociety,institutions,organizations,level(s)ofgovernment

arerelevanttoyourtopic?)• concepts(whichkeyconceptsdidyoucomeacrossintheliterature

7

handsonapublicationifitisunavailablethroughtheuniversitylibrary,andhowtocomeupwithrelevantsearchstrategiesorsearchterms.Foranoverviewofavailablelibguides,clickhere.

TheLibrary

Asidefromsearchingindigitalsystems,itiswisetoacquaintyourselfwiththeuniversitylibrary’scollection.Thelibraryisanimportanthubofinformation.Studentshaveaccesstotheuniversity’sentirephysicalcollectionandanydigitalsubscriptionsitislicensedfor.Therefore,studentsshouldknowwhatbooksandjournalsarepartoftheuniversitycollectionandhowthelibraryclassificationsystemworks.Theyneedtoknowwhatmaterialsareavailable,andwheretheyarelocated.Thelibraryalsohousescataloguesandbibliographieswithoverviewsofacademicpublicationsonaparticulartopic.

Foundliterature.Nowwhat?

Onceyouhavefoundsomerelevantbooksandarticles,youneedtoscanthroughthem.Startwiththemostrecentpublications.Readtheabstractsorbrowsethroughthetablesofcontents,andreadtheintroductionsandconclusions.Youraimistogetaquickimpressionofwhateachpublicationisaboutandwhetheritcouldbehelpfultoyou.Youdonotneedtoreadthemthoroughlyatthispoint.Payspecialattentiontothenotesandthebibliographies.Thesecanpointyoutootherliterature(thefamous,orinfamous,snowballmethod).

Onceyouhavegatheredagoodamountofliterature,makeaselection.Determinewhichpublicationsarethemostimportantandstartbyreadingthese.Takecaretowritedownthetitle,author,dateofpublicationandpublisherofeverypublicationyouhavefound,includingthoseyouconsiderlessimportant.Afterawhileyoumightforgetwhetheryouhaveseensomethingbefore,oranarticleyouthoughtwasnotimportantmightturnouttoberelevantafterall.

The‘SnowballMethod’

AcommonwaytofindgoodreferenceworksisknowninDutchacademiaasthesnowballmethod.Thisisatop-downsearchingmethod,meaningyoustartatthemostgenerallevelofliterature,suchasanencyclopediaorcompendium,togetabroadideaofwhatisknownaboutyourtopic.Thenyoustartdelvingdeeperintothesubject,byconsultingthesourceslistedasreferencesinthegeneral-levelliteraturethatyoubeganwith.Eachbookandarticleyoufindtherewillinturncontainitsownbibliographythatyoucanconsult.Andsoon.

Thesnowballmethodiseffective,butithassomedrawbacks:

• Youarecompletelydependentonsomeelse’sreferences.• Anyliteraturepublishedlaterthanthebibliographiesyoudrawsourcesfromisautomatically

excludedfromyourresearch.• Thereisnoendtoit;youcankeepsnowballingfromreferencetoreferenceadinfinitum.

Thesedrawbackscanbemitigatedbyrelyingonmorethanoneworkandincludingafewveryrecentpublications.

8

Whenisenoughenough?Itisimpossibletobeexhaustiveinyourliteratureresearchwhenstudyingahistoricaltopic.Throughreadingyouwillcontinuallygainmoreknowledgeandthiswillpromptnewquestions,whichyoumightbeabletoanswerifyouconsultedmoreliterature.Thisprocesscancontinueindefinitely,soyouneedtoremainpragmaticasyousearchandtrytodefinethescopeofyourresearch,thatis,todeterminewhichquestionsyouareandarenotgoingtoanswer.

Takecarenottoskipanykeypublications.Thesearepublicationsthatprovideindispensableinformationaboutyourtopicoraparticularaspectthereof.Akeypublicationcantakemanyshapes;itcouldamonograph,acompilation,ajournalarticle,aspecialeditionofajournal,conferenceproceedingsandsoon.

Tipsfordeterminingapublication’srelevance

Whenyoufindapublication,youhavetodecidewhetheritisrelevanttoyourresearch.Thefollowingchecklistcanhelpyoutodeterminethis:

• Whatisthepublicationaboutexactly?• Beforeyoustartreading,lookatthetableofcontents,introductionandconclusion.Doesthe

publicationcontaininformationyouneed?• Checktheindexfortopicsyouareinterestedin.• Checkthenotesandthebibliographytoseeiftheyrefertootherinterestingpublications.• Checktheappendicesforinterestingtables,images,mapsandthelike.• Isyourcopythemostrecentedition?Hasitbeenrevisedoverthecourseoftime?Hasit

beentranslatedintootherlanguages?• Doothersfrequentlyrefertothispublication?• Checkwhetherthetoneofthepublicationisoverlypopulisticorjargonistic.

Tipsforrecognizingkeypublications

Bibliographicalandhistoriographicalreviewstendtodiscussthemostup-to-datehistoricalresearchonaparticulartopic,sothesewilloftensteeryoutowardkeypublications.

Keypublicationsneednotberecent.Toidentifythem,paycloseattentiontootherresearcher’sreferences.

Ifyoukeepcomingacrosscitationsofthesamework,thisiswhatyoushoulddo:

• Checktheindexofthebooksyouhavealreadyselectedforyourresearchtoseeifitincludesthenameofthisauthorandcheckwhethertheworkinquestionismentionedinahistoriographicalintroductionorsomeotherchapter.

• Ifthisconfirmsyourimpressionthatitisakeypublication,getholdofacopyandscanthroughityourself.

• Trytofindreviewsofthepublicationfromauthoritativewriters.

9

Asyouread,allsortsofquestionswillcropup.Thesequestionsareyourfirststepstowardthecoreofyourresearch:yourresearchquestion.Thatiswhyyoushouldtakenotes,bothaboutthecontents(facts,places,people)andtheirlocation(author,pagenumbers,etc.).Thelatterwillbeofcrucialimportancetoyourresearchatalaterstage,whenwritingfootnotesorendnotesandcreatingabibliography.

10

1.3WritingYourResearchQuestion

Agoodresearchquestionenablesyoutoplaceyourtopicinitshistoricalcontext.Italsoallowsyoutocontextualizeittheoretically,thatis,todrawconnectionstowhatotherauthorshavesaidaboutit.Yourresearchquestionshowsyouareengagingwithexistinghistoriographicalsourcesandrelevanttheoriesonyourtopic.

Agoodresearchquestionhasfourcharacteristics:

• itisboundedintimeandspace;• itrequiresextensiveargumentation;• itcannotbeansweredbrieflyordescriptively;and• itrequiresabalancedconclusion.

Oneusefultipistostartyourresearchquestionwiththewords‘Towhatextent...’.Forexample:‘TowhatextentdidthebuildingofrailwayscontributetotheeconomicdevelopmentoftheNetherlandsinthe19thcentury?’or‘TowhatextentwasthehighpercentageofDutchJewsdeportedduringtheSecondWorldWarduetotheprofessionalismoftheDutchcivilregistrationsystem?’

Questionsthatstartwith‘Towhatextent’allowroomforyoutoarriveatabalancedanswer(ontheonehand...ontheotherhand).Thisguidingprinciplehelpstoensurethatyourpaperwillbeanalyticalandnotmerelydescriptive.Keepinmindthattheargumentationtendstocountmorethantheactualconclusioninacademicwriting.

Itisimportanttorealizethatyouwillneedtorewriteyourresearchquestionasastatementlateron,asdirectquestionsarerarelyusedinEnglish-languageacademicwritingandneverinsteadofathesisstatement.Onceyouhaveresearchedandfoundanswerstoyourresearchquestion,youshouldrephraseyourresearchquestionasathesisstatementthatreflectsyourmainpointorconclusion.

Subdivideyourmainresearchquestionintosubquestions

Onceyouhavephrasedyourmainresearchquestion,youcansplitupyourtopicandthesisintosubquestions.Thismakesansweringyourmainresearchquestionmucheasier:

• Subquestionswillmakeyourresearchsystematicandmanageable;eachsubquestionwillhelpyoufocusononeparticularaspectofyouroveralltopic.

• Subquestionsmakeexplicitwhichquestionsyourresearchneedstoanswer.Thisisindispensableforbuildingawell-foundedargumentthatfullyexplainsyourpaper’sthesis.

Tipsforphrasingaresearchquestion

Whilereading,writedownallthequestionsandideasyouhavethatrelatetoyourmainresearchquestion(whichwilllaterbecomeyourthesisstatement)andsubquestions.

Talktosomeone,afellowstudentforinstance,aboutyourtopic.Thisisagoodwayofquicklyorganizingyourthoughts.Whatisitthatattractsyoutothistopic?Whichproblemsorquestionsdidyouhituponwhilescanningandreadingthesourcesyoufoundinyourinitialsearch?

11

Theanswerstosubquestionsareoftenveryspecific.Theyarealsohelpfulforcreatingadivisionintochaptersand/orsections.

12

1.4FindingAdditionalSources

Havingreadthemainreferenceworksandcompendiums,youwillhaveformedageneralimpressionofyourtopic.Youcanusethisnewknowledgetophraseadditionalsearchtermsthatwillhelpyouuncoveradditionalsources.

Ideally,theresearchprocessisasfollows:

• Youacquiremoreandmoreknowledgeonyourtopicandthisknowledgebecomesincreasinglyspecific.

• Basedontheknowledgeyouhavegained,youphraseadditionalsearchtermsthatwillenableyoutofindmoresources.Thosesourcesinturnincreaseyourknowledge.

• Thisimprovedunderstandingenablesyoutoframeyoursubjectandtoansweryourmainresearchquestion,orhelpsyourephraseyourmainresearchquestionintoamoreanswerablequestion.

Throughthiscontinuousinteractionbetweenknowledgeacquisitionandknowledgeapplication,youeventuallygainacomprehensiveoverviewofthemostimportantpublicationsonyourtopic.Inaddition,youacquiretheabilitytosynthesizethesesourcesinarguingyourmainthesis.

PrimarySources

Roughlyspeaking,primarysourcesarepiecesof‘evidence’datingfromtheperiodyouareinvestigating,forexampleWilliamtheSilent’sApology,theProceedingsoftheDutchStates-Generalortheliteraltextofatreaty.Thedistinctionbetweensecondaryandprimarysourcesisnotalwaysclear,asbookscanfunctionasprimarysourcesinacademicresearch.

Primarysourcesaremainlydefinedas:

• personaldocuments(journals,letters,memoirs,autobiographies,speeches,interviews,photographs,etc.)

• officialdocuments(governmentdocuments,statistics,corporaterecords,etc.)• art(poetry,music,paintings,film,literature,etc.)• materialculture(clothing,tools,buildings,toys,vehicles,monuments,etc.)• newsmedia(newspapers,magazines,pamphlets,posters,etc.)

Primarysourcesareusuallykeptinarchives,buttherearecollectionsofsourcestoo:booksorwebsitesthathavecollectedsourcesaboutaparticulartopicorfromoneparticularmedium,suchasanout-of-printnewspaper.Anotherhelpfultoolisadirectorylistingsourcelocations.Directoriesareagoodplacetofindoutwhereparticularsourcesarestored.Say,forinstance,thatyouwantedtotrackdownsourcesonthehistoryoftheDutchEastIndies.Youcouldconsultthe‘DirectoryofsourcespresentintheNetherlandsonthehistoryoftheDutchEastIndies/Indonesia,1816-1942’.Tolocatethesesources,youcouldconsultcompendiums,registersanddirectoriesofarchives.Itshouldbenoted,however,thattheInternethasmadesuchdirectorieslesscrucialforfindingarchivalmaterial.

13

Inordertocorrectlyusecertainsources(e.g.archeologicalfinds,oldwritingsystems,coins,calendars,statisticaldata),youshouldusewhatareknownastheauxiliarysciencesofhistory,suchasarcheologyandstatistics.

ArchivalResearch

Researchusingprimarysourcesisoneofthemostfascinatingandexcitingaspectsofhistoricalinquiry.Itoffersresearchersachancetomakeinteresting‘finds’andtosupplementorcorrecttheexistingscholarlyliteratureonaparticulartopic.Oneshouldalwaysbearinmind,ofcourse,thatevenarchivescontainingprimarysourcesarethemselvesnotnecessarilyunbiased.Thepeoplewhosetupandmaintainarchivescanusethemasameanstoleavebehindafavorablehistory.

Ifyoudecidetodoarchivalresearchforyourhistorypaperorthesis,youneedtorealizethatthisrequiressomepriorknowledge.Youneedtofamiliarizeyourselfwithhowarchivesworkandyouwillsoonfindthatdifferentsourcesmaketheirownspecificdemandsontheresearcher.Thebestwaytolearnaboutthatisbysimplygettingtoworkinanarchive.

Belowyouwillfindasimpleroadmaptohelpyougetstarted.

ArchivalResearchRoadmap:

Step1:Donotdiveintoarchivesunprepared;startyourresearchbydoingaliteraturereview.Determine,firstofall,whetheroneormoreinstitutionsstoredknowledgeonyourtopic.Wasitagovernmentinstitutionorprivate?IntheNetherlands,differentlawsapplytoprivateandgovernmentinstitutions.Itiscrucialtoknowwhetherthearchivesrelevantforyourresearchareopentothepublic.

Step2:Usingreferencesintheliterature,thedirectorytoDutcharchiveswrittenbyBos-Ropsetal.,andthewww.archiefnet.nlwebsite,determinewhicharchivesyouneedtoconsult.

Step3:Onceyouknowwhichcollectionyouwanttoconsult,youcanchecktheoverviewofarchiveshousedbytheinstitutioninquestionandseewhichcatalogsandcatalognumberspertaintothesearchives.Youcanoftenfindthisinformationonline.Writedownthecatalognumberandthenumbersoftheitemsyouneed.Usingthesenumbersandthevisitornumberyoureceiveuponenteringthearchives,youcanrequesttheitemstobedeliveredtothereadingroom.Thisusuallytakesawhile,sobesureyousetasideampletimetocompletethisstep.

TipsforArchivalResearch

Checkaheadoftimewhenthearchivesareopentothepublic(openingdaysandhours).

Askwhetheryouarepermittedtotakephotographsoftherecords.Archivesoftenpermitresearcherstotakedigitalphotographswithoutaflash.

InternetSources

TheuseofsourcesthataresolelyavailableontheInternetcarriescertainrisks.ItcanbedifficulttojudgewhoisdisseminatingtheinformationontheInternet,whattheirmotivesareandwhattheinformationisbasedon.Therearenoguaranteesaboutthequalityortheauthenticityofonline

14

information.Anotherproblemistheinstabilityofinformationonmanywebsites.Informationcanchangewithoutnoticeandentirewebsitescandisappearwithoutatrace.

Whenusing(historical)sourcesontheInternet(treatises,diplomaticdocuments,historicspeeches,treaties,etc.)itisveryimportanttotracewhichinstitutionpublishedaparticularsourceandwhatoriginaltheyused.

TheInternetisagreatsourceforquickfact-findingandgettingahandleonyourtopic,butitdoescarryrisks.Whenresearchingpoliticallysensitivetopicsinparticular,theInternetcanbeusefulforfindingdivergentopinionsaboutthattopic,butitisseldomthemostsuitableplacetofindfactualinformation.

15

1.5Synopsis

Beforeyoustartonthebulkofyourresearch,youneedtowriteasynopsis.Thishelpsyoutoorganizeyourthoughts,delineatesyourresearchandishelpfulfordiscussingandpresentingyourresults.

Asynopsisconsistsofabriefintroductionofyourtopic,apreciselyformulatedmainresearchquestionandsubquestions,followedbyadivisionintochaptersthatalsospecifiestheorder,mannerandmaterialsyouaregoingtousetoanswertheabovequestions.

Asyouhavenotdoneanyrealresearchyet,yoursynopsisisbasedonexpectations.However,youshouldmakeyourselfwritedownasspecificallyaspossiblewhatyouintendtodo.Thinkaboutthebestorderfordealingwiththesubquestions;whatmustyourreadersknowbeforetheycanunderstandthenextstepinyourresearch?Yoursubquestionswilllikelyfunctionaschaptersorsectionsofyourpaperorpresentation.

Note:Becausethemainresearchquestionand/orsubquestionsmaychangeoverthecourseofyourresearchproject,youshouldnotconsideryoursynopsisetchedinstone.Ifyourlineofreasoningchangesorifyouwanttoaskdifferentquestions,simplyadjustyoursynopsis.

16

2. AcademicResearch

2.1TheResearcher

Carryingoutacademicresearchmighttakesomegettingusedto.Youareinfactexpectedtoadoptanewattitudetowardthepast.Thedaysofsimplygushingovercertainhistoriceventsorpeopleareover.Obviously,itisgoodifyourtopicinspiresyou,butasascholaryouarealsoexpectedtoapproachitcriticallyandanalytically.

Thisentailsactinglikearesearcher,evenifyouarejuststartingoutandhavealottolearnaboutdoinghistoricalresearch.Beawarethatbecomingaresearcherisnotsomethingthathappensafteryougraduate,butduringyourstudies.Thesooneryouflipthatswitch,thebetter.Likeyourfellowresearchers,yourmissionistolearnmoreaboutthepastbydoingresearch,eitheraloneorasamemberofateam,andbywritingpapers,debatingandpassionatelyarguingyourpoint–evenifthismeanssquarelyopposingothers’ideas.

17

2.2EvaluatingLiteratureforQualityandRelevance

Quality

Theliteratureyoufindwhenyoustartoutservesmainlytotrackdownfactsandinformation.Thesefactsarejustthebeginning,becausenohistoricalworkconsistsmerelyoffacts.Researchpapersareallaboutyourinterpretationofthefacts:thewayinwhichyoustructurethemintoacoherentnarrative.

Toevaluateliterature,youneedtodistilltheauthor’sinterpretationfromthefacts.Althoughsomehistoriansmakeitlookliketheypresentnothingbutfacts,theirworkalwayscontainsahistoricalinterpretation.

Makesureyouknowalittlebitabouttheauthorswhoseworkyouintendtouse,abouttheirmethodsandbackground.Askyourselfthefollowingquestions:

• Istheworkstructuredchronologicallyorthematically?• Whenwastheworkfirstpublished?• Whoistheauthor?(biography,publications,education,reputation)• Hastheauthorpublishedextensivelyonthistopic?• Cantheauthorbeseenaspartofaparticularhistoriographicaltraditionanddoess/heapply

aparticularmethod?• Wastheworkwrittenfromaparticularnational,religious,politicalorideologicalviewpoint?• Whatistheauthortryingtoachieve?• Whoisthetargetaudience?• Howdoestheauthorsubstantiatehis/herarguments?Dids/heuseaparticularacademic

modelortheory?Arehis/herargumentsplausible?• Whatsourcesandliteraturedidtheauthoruse?

Bookreviewscanhelpyoufindtheanswerstothesequestions,butbeware.Areviewreflectsonlytheopinionofthepersonwhowroteit.Therefore,itiswisetoconsultseveralreviewsofthesamebook.Thisgivesyoumoreinformationtoevaluatetheimportanceoftheworksyouaregoingtostudyandtoputthemintheirpropercontext.

Relevance

Youmustevaluateliteraturenotonlyforitsquality,butalsoforitsrelevance.Thiswillenableyoutoselectthechapters,excerptsorsectionswithadirectbearingonyourresearch.Thisseemsfairlyobvious,butmanypapershavebeenmarredbytheinclusionofextraneousinformationthatcouldeasilyhavebeenfilteredout.Continuallymonitoringforrelevanceallowsyoutoansweryourmainresearchquestionorsubquestionsinthemostfocusedmanner.Toassesswhetheratextisrelevant,youcanaskyourselfthefollowingquestions:

• Doestheliteraturehelpyouansweryourmainresearchquestion/subquestions?• Doestheliteratureanswerthewholequestion/subquestionorjustoneaspectofit?• Towhatextentdoesthethesisstatementintheliteraturematchyourownmainresearch

question?

18

• Howcloselydoestheresearchtopicortheanalysisinthistextresembleyoursinyourpaper/thesis?

• Isthecontextoftheresearchtopicthesameasyours?• Whenwastheliteraturefirstpublishedandwhenwastheresearchitisbasedoncarried

out?• Dothefindingsandinterpretationinthistextcorrespondtothoseinotherliterature?Ordo

thefindingsandviewsinthistextcontradictotherresearch?

Bearinmindthatitishighlyunlikelyyouwillfindscholarlyliteraturethatanswersyourmainresearchquestionandsubquestionsintheirentirety;youwillseldomcomeacrossatextthatreportsontheexactsameresearchortopicthatyouaretackling.Ifallyourinformationcouldbetakenfromasinglesource,yourresearchwouldbesuperfluous.Inanycase,soundhistoricalresearchisalwaysbasedonmorethanonesource.

19

2.3Organizing

Trytoorganizeyournotesasmuchaspossible.Youcanapproachthistaskstructurally(i.e.foreachbook,articleorsource)orthematically.Bewarned,however,thatitisunwieldyandmessytouseloosesheetsofpaperornotebooksforindividualsources.Avoidchaosanduseoneofthemanyavailableprogramsforkeepingtrackofyourliteratureandsources,suchasRefWorks,EndnoteorZotero.Thesereferencemanagersorresearchtoolscanhelpyouorganizeyoursourcesbyputtingreferenceinformationinfolders,forexample,andbyenteringthepertinentpagenumbers.The‘Managingdataandliterature’tabonUtrechtUniversitylibrarywebsite(www.library.uu.nl)provideslinkstosuchreferencemanagementtools.Forinformationonhowtousethesetools,clickthe‘Morehelpwithmanaging’menuitemtoaccessthelibrary’s‘libguides’onthesubject.YoucanalsousetheUniversityLibraryPersonalLibrarytool,whichallowsyoutostoreanoverviewofyourreferencesonthesite.Formoreinformation,youcanconsultthelibguideonthesubject.

Whateveryoudo,makesurethateverythingyoujotdown–whetheritisthetitleofabookoranoteaboutsomeauthor’sviews–isfindable.Thereisnothingworsethancomingacrossacrucialnoteinthemiddleofthewritingprocessandnotbeingabletotraceitsorigin.Therefore,itisimperativethatyouincludeauthor,titleandpagenumbereverytimeyoumakeanoteaboutatext;thearchive,catalognumberanditemnumberwhenyoumakeanoteaboutaprimarysource;andtheexactURLandaccessdatewhenyoujotdownsomethingaboutanonlinesource.

20

2.4SourceCriticism

Ifyouhavefoundrelevantarchivaldocuments,youneedtodeterminetheircredibility.Assessthevalueoftheinformationtheycontainbyapplying‘sourcecriticism’.

Wedistinguishtwotypesofsourcecriticism:

Externalsourcecriticismisconcernedwiththesource’sauthenticity(IsthisHitler’srealjournal?).Mosthistorianswillnothavetodealwiththisveryoften.Belowareafewdifferentapproaches:

• Textualcriticismpertainstothecontentsoftheoriginaltext.Whenasourceturnsouttobeacopy,thehistoriansearchesfortheoriginalwording.

• Authenticityorprovenancecriticismestablisheswhetherthepurportedauthor,dateandgeographicaloriginofatextareaccurate.

• Derivationcriticismexamineswhethertheauthorpersonallywordedthetextorcopieditfromothers.

Internalsourcecriticismevaluatesasource’sinformationvalueandisassuchextremelyimportanttohistorians.Therearecountlessquestionsyoucanaskaboutanysource.Belowareafewdifferentapproaches:

• Whatistheexactmeaningofthestatement(words)usedinthesource?Whatpreciselyistheauthortryingtoconvey?Dowefullyunderstandtheexpressions,metaphorsandfiguresofspeechinthetext?Thisisrelevantnotonlyto17th-centuryvocabulary,butalsotowordsweusewhosemeaninghaschangedovertime(interpretativeorexegeticcriticism).Taketheword‘soldier’forexample.Thesedays,asoldierissomeonewhoservesinanarmy.IntheMiddleAges,thewordsoldierreferredtoanyonewhocollectedpay(OldFrenchsol,soud,sou,fromLatinsolidum,soldum)forservicesrendered.Soevenifyouthinkyouunderstandaword,itmayhavehaddifferentconnotationsatthetimeitwaswritten.

• Doesthesource’sauthoractuallyhavefirst-handexperienceofthefacts?Howandthroughwhichagentormediadidtheauthorlearnofthefactsdescribedinthetext?Lookattheauthor’sbiography:isitplausibles/hewitnessedtheeventss/hedescribed?(credibilitycriticism)

• Howcompetentistheauthor?Iss/hesufficientlyknowledgeableaboutthetopics/hediscusses?(competencecriticism)

• Whatweretheauthor’smotives?Towhatendwasthetextwritten?Whichhiddenagendamightthissourcehave?Thesequestionspertaintotheauthor’s/source’spositionandthecircumstancesunderwhichthetextwaswritten.Forexample,adescriptionofaresoundingelectoralvictoryinacountryundertotalitarianrulemustbeanalyzedandinterpretedinlightofthatregime(criticismoforthodoxy).

Data

Datamustalsobeapproachedwithacriticalattitude.Thisappliesnotonlytoexistingdata,butalsotothedatayourownresearchgenerates.Moreover,processingdataisnosimplematter.Itisanacquiredskillforwhichyouneedtostudytheauxiliaryscienceofstatisticsandconsultgoodstatisticalmanuals.

21

Beextremelycarefulininterpretingandpresentingstatisticaldata.Alwayssubjectdatatobothexternalandinternalsourcecriticism.

22

2.5ResearchingandWriting

Readthenwrite?

Writingisinseparablefromresearching.Itiswisetostartwritingearlierratherthanlater.Writingforcesyoutoorganizeyourinformationandyourthoughts,whichgeneratesnewideas.Donotpostponewritinguntilyou‘knoweverything’,becausenooneeverreachesthatpoint.Youwillonlyfindtheholesinyourresearchonceyoustarttowrite.

Onlybeginwritingwithmostoftheinformationonyourtopic,anddefinitelythemostrelevantinformation,athand.Asyouwrite,youwilllikelyfindthatyoudonothaveenoughinformationaboutaparticularaspectofyourtopicafterall.Youwillregularlyhavetoconsulttheliteratureanew;youmayevenhavetoreturntothelibrarytofindadditionalsources.

23

3. AcademicWriting

3.1PreparingtoWrite

Youhavegatheredalotofinformation.Itisunlikelythatyourtextisgoingtorefertoeverysinglescrapofmaterialyouhavecollected.Youneedtokeepaneyeonwhatisrelevanttoyourresearchquestion.Sobeforeyouwrite,itisimportanttogetorganized(yetagain)andtotakenotes:

• Haveyouuncoveredcontradictoryinterpretationsofparticularsubtopicsinyourresearch?Ifso,whichinterpretationsaretheseandwhyaretheycontradictory?Writethisdowninafewbriefandto-the-pointstatements.Alsowritedownwhichinterpretationyouthinkismostplausiblebasedontheinformationyouhavefound.

• Criticallyreviewyourmainresearchquestion,subquestionsandsynopsis:o Adjustornarrowdownyourresearchquestionifnecessary.o Next,checkwhetheryoursubquestionsstillansweryourmainquestion.Ifnot,adjust

themandwriteanewsynopsis.• Ifapplicable,changeyoursynopsisandmainquestiontoreflecttheresultsofyourresearch.• Identifytheanswerstoyourmainquestionandyourmainfindings.Reviewthestructureof

yoursynopsisforitsinternallogicandmakesureonestepleadslogicallytothenext.Thishelpsthewritingprocessandmakesyourpaper/thesismucheasiertoread.

• Usingyoursubquestions,divideyourworkintochaptersorsections.

Inanycase,youcannotbeginuntilyouhavemadeenoughprogressonyourresearchandsourceanalysis.Inotherwords,yourresearchquestion,subquestionsandfindingshavetobeclearlydelineated,evenifcertainproblemsstillhavetobesolvedduringthewritingprocess.

24

SpellingandStyle

Academicwriting

Academicwritingcanbelearned.Thereisnosingle‘right’wayofwritinganacademicessay.Themainrequirementisthatyoudoyourbesttoclearlyputintowordswhatyouhavediscoveredaboutthepastandwhatyouropiniononthatis.Proper,effectiveuseoflanguagehelpsyoutocommunicateyourresearchresults.Academicwritingisprimarilyfunctional.Itisavehicleforconveyingacademicallysoundandhonestresearch.However,itmustalsobeconsistent,explicitandcredible.Evengreatcontentcanberuinedbysubparwording.

Ahistoricalessay’spersuasivenessdependsmainlyonthequalityofthetext.Readersarenotobligedtoreadyourwriting.Onevaguesentence,spellingerrororambiguousphrasewilldetractfromyourargumentandsowdoubtsaboutyourcredibility.Somereaderswillsimplystopreading.Therefore,youshouldneverexpectyourreadersto‘getwhatyoumean’.Itisnotaboutwhatyouintend;itisaboutwhatyouputonpaper.Donothesitatetouseseveralsentencestoexplainwhatyoumean.Morethanonesentenceandcompleteclarityarepreferabletoonesentencewithlotsofambiguity.

Althougheveryonehastheirownwayofwritinganessay,thereisacommondenominator:nooneproducesagreattextfrombeginningtoendinonesitting.Agoodpaperisusuallytheresultofextensiveediting(rereading,improving,deleting).Thereisareasonwhyacademicjournalsuseeditorsorpeerstocorrectauthors’papers.

Everystudenthasstrengthsandweaknessesinwriting;youmustknowyourownweaknessesifyouaretoimproveyourwritingability.Oneofthegreatestproblemsinproducingtextsisthatpeopletendtooverlooktheirownerrors.Thisistrueofbothspellingandstyle.Youtendtoknowexactlywhatyoumeanwhilewriting,buttoensureyourmessagereachesyouraudienceyouneedtorereadyourtextwithaverycriticaleye.

TipstoImproveYourWriting

Staringatyourscreenfortoolongcausesyoutoloseperspective.Printyourtextandthenputitasideforawhile.Godosomethingelse.Thenreturntoitlatertorereaditcritically.

Whenyougetbackasectionyouhavehandedintoyourinstructor,carefullystudytheircomments.Lookatwhatyoudidright,whatneedsimprovingandwhaterrorsyoumade.

Makealistofyourown‘weaknesses’andcontinuetoupdatethislist.Whichmistakesdoyoutendtomake(seebelow)?Thesooneryourecognizethem,thesooneryoucancorrectthem.

Alwaysuseaspellingchecker.Thiswillatleastcatchsimpletypos,butbeware:itwillnotcatchtyposthatformanotherword(‘there’insteadof‘their’,‘form’insteadof‘from’).Donotrelyonthespellingcheckercompletelyeither.Itcanmakestrangesuggestionsifitdoesnotrecognizeaword(‘Methuen’insteadof‘Mauthausen’)andcorrectwordsthatarenoterrors(‘MeninGate’insteadof‘MeninGate’).Thesamegoesforgrammaticaltense.Evenifyouusethe‘checkgrammar’option,thespellingcheckerwillnotcatchmistakesintense(whereyouhaveusedapresentperfectinsteadofapastsimple,forexample)orevenasimpleerrorlikeanerroneouspasttenseafterauxiliary‘do’(‘didhemanaged’insteadof‘didhemanage’).

25

OriginalityandClarity

Goodwritingismainlyamatterofbeingcriticalofyourownwork.GeorgeOrwelloncewrotesomegreatadviceforwriters.Thefollowingquotecanhelpyoudeveloptherightattitudetowardyourownwriting:

Ascrupulouswriter,ineverysentencethathewrites,willaskhimselfatleastfourquestions,thus:1.WhatamItryingtosay?2.Whatwordswillexpressit?3.Whatimageoridiomwillmakeitclearer?4.Isthisimagefreshenoughtohaveaneffect?Andhewillprobablyaskhimselftwomore:1.CouldIputitmoreshortly?2.HaveIsaidanythingthatisavoidablyugly?―GeorgeOrwell,PoliticsandtheEnglishLanguage

Academicpapersandthesesaresupposedtocontainoriginalthought.AccordingtoOrwell,originalityishardertoachievewhenwritingaboutabstractissues.Unlikeconcretematters,whichimmediatelyconjureupimagesinourmind,abstractissuesarecouchedinwords.Wethinkabouttheseissuesinwordsratherthanimages.Therefore,wearemuchmorelikelytoresorttoexistingphrasesandsimileswhenwritingaboutsuchissues.Thisdistractsusfromouroriginalthoughtsaboutthetopicandweenduprepeatingotherpeople’sideas.Toavoidthis,Orwellcameupwithsixusefulguidelines:

1. Neveruseametaphor,simileorotherfigureofspeechwhichyouareusedtoseeinginprint.2. Neverusealongwordwhereashortonewilldo.3. Ifitispossibletocutawordout,alwayscutitout.4. Neverusethepassivewhereyoucanusetheactive.5. Neveruseaforeignphrase,ascientificwordorajargonwordifyoucanthinkofaneverydayEnglish

equivalent.6. Breakanyoftheserulessoonerthansayanythingoutrightbarbarous.

―GeorgeOrwell,AllArtisPropaganda:CriticalEssays

TipsonSpellingandStyle

HowtoAvoidFrequentlyMadeErrors

Youcanlearnfromothers’mistakes.Consultourstyleguidetoavoidfrequentlyoccurringmistakes.

• ChooseeitherUKorUSspellingandapplythosespellingrulesconsistently.• Usethetipsmentionedundertheheading‘Beprecise’topre-emptteachers’most

frequentlymadecomment:‘yourphrasingistoovague’.• Useourstyletipstoincreasethereadabilityofyourtext.

SpellingandSyntax

Spelling

Obviously,spellingmistakesareunacceptableinacademicwriting.Thisresearchmanualdoesnotprovideextensivespellingrules.Ifyouneedhelp,consultanonlinedictionary(www.oxforddictionaries.com,www.merriam-webster.com)oroneofthemanywebsitesandonlineforums(grammarist.com/spelling,forum.wordreference.com)

26

Subject-verbagreement

Thegeneralruleisthatsubjectandverbmustagree:asingularsubjecttakesasingularverb,apluralsubjecttakesapluralverb:

TheKingissuesadecree.TheFrankswereaunionofGermanictribes.

Somecombinationsofnounsandverbsareexceptionstotherule.Forexample,thenamesofsomecountriesmaybeplural,butwhentheyarethesubject,theverbissingular.

TheUnitedStatesisademocracy.TheNetherlandswasaRepublic.Similarly(andunlikeDutchusage):TheUnitedNationshasadoptedaresolution.

Mostcollectivenounscantakeeitherasingularorpluralverb:(Thegovernmentisoftheopinion....orThegovernmentareraisingtaxes...).Informalwritingthesingularverbformispreferable.Oneexceptionis‘thepolice’,acollectivenounthatalwaystakesaplural:Thepolicewerelatetoarriveatthescene.

Although‘anumberof’and‘alotof’aregrammaticallysingular,theyoftentakeapluralverbwhenthenounthatfollowsdenotesaplural,hence:

Alotofpeoplewerepresent.(but:Alotofmoneywasspent.)Onlyasmallnumberofslaveswereabletobuytheirfreedom.

Percentagesareeithersingularorplural,dependingonwhethertheyrefertoasingularorplural.

Some25%oftheGDPwasdivertedtomilitaryspending.About90%oftheresidentswereagainsttheproposedchanges.

Pronouns

Whichorwho?

‘Who’referstopeople,while‘which’referstogroupsorthings.

GavriloPrincipwasthemanwhostartedtheFirstWorldWar.ManypeopleinformerEastGermanywerekeentoreadtheirStasifiles,whichwereopenedtothepublicin1992.

ThatorWhich?

‘That’introducesanessentialclause.Essentialclausesaddinformationthatisvitaltothepointofthesentence.‘Which’introducesanonessentialclause,whichaddssupplementaryinformation.

ThebombsthatweredroppedonHiroshimaandNagasakiweredesignedtoforceJapantosurrender.Thetwobombings,whichkilledatleast129,000people,remaintheonlyuseofnuclearweaponsforwarfareinhistory.

27

Notethatessentialclausesdonothavecommasintroducingorsurroundingthem,whereasnonessentialclausesareintroducedorsurroundedbycommas.

WhichorWhat?

Whichandwhatbothrefertoachoice,but‘which’referstoachoicefromalimitedsetofoptionsand‘what’referstoachoicefromanunlimitedsupply.Therefore,bothofthefollowingexamplesarecorrect:

Weneedtoassesswhichchangesarerequired.(whichofagivensetofchanges)Weneedtoseewhatchangesarenecessary.(whatchangesfromallpossiblechanges)

PossessivePronouns

Possessivepronouns(his,her,its,their)mustagreeinnumberwiththenountheyreferto.Mostnounsthatdonotrefertopeoplearereferredtoas‘it’,using‘its’asthepossessivepronoun.Onlyshipsarereferredtoas‘she’and‘her’.

ThegovernmentanditsrelationshipwithPoland....TheUnitedKingdomischangingitstaxsystem.

Tense

SimplePastorPresentPerfect?

Historianstendtowriteaboutthepast.However,theEnglishrulesforwritingaboutthepastdifferfromtheDutchrules.Onekeyruleis:ifthesentencedescribes(orevenimplies)anoccurrenceorseriesofeventsfromaspecifictimeinthepast(whichisnowover),youmustusethesimplepast.

WRONGDuringthewar,ChurchillhascontinuedasFirstLordoftheAdmiralty.RIGHTDuringthewar,ChurchillcontinuedasFirstLordoftheAdmiralty.

WRONGHehasbeenthePrimeMinisterfrom1940to1945.RIGHTHewasthePrimeMinisterfrom1940to1945.

WRONGThatcherhassignedthecontractafewminutesago.RIGHTThatchersignedthecontractafewminutesago.

PresentPerfect

Anotherimportantruleforwritingaboutthepastis:whensomethingstartedinthepast,butitisstillthecaseorgoingon,youmustusethepresentperfect(ratherthanthepresentasmanynativespeakersofDutchtendtodo).Thewords‘yet’and‘since’(inatemporalsense)areaclearsignalthatyouneedtousethepresentperfect.

MarkRuttehasbeenPrimeMinisteroftheNetherlandssinceOctober2010.Hehasnotyettoldthefullstory.

‘For’mayalsobeacluethatyoushouldusethepresentperfect,but‘for’canalsobeusedinconjunctionwiththesimplepast.Usingadifferenttensechangesthemeaningofthesentence.

28

DavidCameronwasDirectorofCorporateAffairsatCarltonCommunicationsforsevenyears.(itisnolongerthecase)HehasbeenDirectorofCorporateAffairsforsevenyears.(hestarted7yearsagoandhestillisnow)

Present

Limityouruseofthepresenttensetothecontentofdocumentsthatcanstillbeconsultedtoday:‘Hismemoirsshow’or‘Inhisoverview,theauthormentions...’

Sometimesthepresenttenseisusedtolistaseriesofpastevents.Thisuseofthepresenttenseisknownasthe‘historicpresent’.Itgivesthenarrativeanimmediacyitwouldlackinthepasttense:‘Minuteslater,asecondplanecrashesintotheothertower.Itisclearlynoaccident,butadeliberateattack.’Althoughthistechniqueisacceptable,itsuseisfarmorelimitedinEnglishthaninDutch.Useitsparinglyandonlyforshortpassagesoftext.

IfandWhen

Ifandwhenhavedistinctmeanings.‘If’isusedtoexpressapossibility,‘when’toexpressacertainty.

Iftheywintheelection,theywilllowertaxes.(theymightlose)WhenthepollscloseinWyoming,theRepublicanswillsurelycomeoutwinners.(Thepollswillclose;therecanbenodoubtaboutthat)

Both‘if’and‘when’areusedtowriteaboutthefuture,butasyoucanseeonlythemainclausetakesthefuturetense(will).The‘if/when’clausetakesapresenttense.

IfDreeswins,hewillkeephiselectoralpromises.

Notethatwhenyouwriteaboutthepast,thedifferencebetween‘if’and‘when’isvisibleinthetensesaswell.Using‘if’,themainclausetakesapastfuturetense(would),whilethe‘if’clausetakesapasttense:

IftheConservativeshadwonthe1945elections,Churchillwouldnothavebecomeleaderoftheopposition.Using‘when’,bothclausestakeapasttense:

WhentheConservativeslost,Churchillwasrelegatedtotheopposition.

29

StyleGuide

IntroducingIndividuals

Whenyoufirstmentionapersoninyourtextbyname,itisgoodpracticetobrieflyintroducethem.Forexample:‘BritishhistorianEricHobsbawmwroteextensivelyabout....’

• Atfirstmention,itispreferabletoincludetheperson’sfirstandlastnames(EricHobsbawm).Subsequently,usetheirlastnameonly.‘AsHobsbawmargues,.....’Donotincludepeople’sacademictitlesinyourmaintext,unlessthetitleitselfispertinenttoyourresearch.

WRONG‘BritishhistorianEricHobsbawm,PhD.wroteextensivelyabout....’

• Introducingsomeoneonlybytheirfirstinitialfollowedbytheirlastname,asisstillfrequentlydoneinDutchacademicwriting(e.g.E.Hobsbawm),isnolongercommonpracticeinEnglish.

Whentouseitalics

• Italicizethetitlesofmagazines,books,newspapers,academicjournals,films,televisionshows,longpoems,plays,operas,musicalalbums,worksofartandwebsites.

• UseitalicsforwordsinaforeignlanguageandincludeatranslationorexplanationinEnglishinsquarebracketsatfirstmention:

‘TheRomanianspassedtheinformationontotheSicherheitsdienstdesReichsführers-SS[theintelligencewingoftheSSandtheNaziparty].’

• Thenamesofhotelsandfamousbuildingsarecapitalized:‘TheRitz’and‘TheFlatironBuilding’,forinstance.Thesamegoesfornamesofships,trains,aircraftandspacecraft,buttheyareitalicizedaswell:USSMissouri,Soyuz,TheOrientExpress.NotethatthetagUSSprecedingMissouriisnotitalicized.

Translation

• Donottranslatethetitlesofwell-knownnon-Englishinstitutions,books,operas,filmsandsoon,unlessthereisalreadyacommonlyusedtranslation;the‘Bundestag’and‘DerRingdesNibelungen’forinstance,requirenotranslation.‘DieZauberflöte’,however,isgenerallyknowninEnglishasTheMagicFlute.Moreobscuretitlescanbetranslatedifthewordingormeaningofthetitleisparticularlyrelevanttoyourpaper.Shouldyouneedtotranslatesuchatitle,dosoonlyatfirstmention[insquarebrackets]aftertheoriginalname.Alternatively,giveashortexplanationofthetitleornameifyouthinkthisisimportantforthereaders’understanding.See:SicherheitsdienstdesReichsführers-SS,above.

• Retaintheoriginaldiacriticsinnon-Englishpropernames,andwordsinaforeignlanguageorofforeignorigin.Sowrite‘SlobodanMilošević’insteadof‘Milosevic’,‘JóhannaSigurðardóttir’,not‘JohannaSigurdardottir’,‘façade’ratherthan‘facade’and‘ménageàtrois’insteadof‘menageatrois’.

• AlwaysusetheoriginalEnglishorexistingtranslationsintoEnglishifyoucanfindthemandincludetheseinyournotesandreferences.Ifyoumakeyourowntranslation,includetheoriginaltextinanote.DonotassumethatyourreaderscanreadFrench,German,DutchorancientGreekandLatin,andalwaysprovideatranslation.InEnglish,fewerLatinphrasesare

30

usedthaninDutch.SomeofthosethatarecommoninDutchdonotappearatallinEnglish.Forexample,‘quidproquo’and‘expostfacto’arecommoninEnglish,but‘cumsuis’isneverused.Whenindoubt,justrelyonplainEnglish.

Abbreviations

• Generallyavoidusingabbreviationsinrunningtext.Usegenerallyacceptedabbreviationssuchasetc.,e.g.andi.e.inparenthesesonly.Writenamesinfull(SecondWorldWar,notWW2).Donotusecontractions(don’t,can’t)either.

• Neverusenon-existentabbreviationsofyourownmaking(‘a.o.’for‘amongstothers’).AmongstothersisoverusedbyDutchacademicsanyway;tryusingtheverb‘include’instead:‘Atotalof53leadersincludingthePrimeMinistersofIndia,SpainandFrancewereatthefuneral.’

• Thefirsttimeyouintroduceaconceptorpropername,writeitinfull,followedbyitsabbreviationoracronyminparentheses,e.g.UnitedNationsHighCommissionerforRefugees(UNHCR).Thereafter,refertothisorganizationbyitsabbreviation.

InaparagraphwheretheacronymUNHCRappearsfourtimes,youcouldopttoreplaceitonceortwicewiththephrase‘theUNrefugeeagency,’aslongasthisalternativedescriptioncannotbeconfusedwithanyotherentitymentionedinyourtext.Similarly,manyotherbodieshaveacommonlyuseddescriptionwhichyoucanusetovaryyourprose.

• Ifyourpaperorthesisisfullofabbreviations,consideraddingalistofabbreviations.Alsorememberthatthemoreabbreviationsatextcontains,thelessreadableitbecomes.

WhentoUse‘I’

• Youmayuse‘I’whendescribingtheresearchprocess,yourpersonalinterestintheresearchoryourpersonalconclusions,i.e.inthepreface,introductionandconclusiontoyourpaperorthesis.Neveruse‘we’torefertoyourselfunlessyouarepartofateam.

Gender-NeutralLanguage

• Unnecessarygenderingofyourtextcanbeavoidedbyusinggender-neutralpronouns.Onetipistouse‘their’toreferbacktoagenericsingularnouninordertoavoidthecumbersomepossessive‘hisorher’.

Aglobalcitizenisanyonewhoseesitastheirresponsibilitytobuildasustainableworldcommunityforall.

However,Englishhasbetterwaystoavoidgenderedlanguage.Itisnolongeracceptabletoincludeadisclaimerstatingthat‘themalepronounisintendedtoincludewomen’.Usepluralsinstead.Itisoneofthesimplestwaystoavoidsexistlanguage.Ratherthanwriting‘Everyhistorianshouldtakehisresponsibilityseriously,’write‘Historiansshouldtaketheirresponsibilityseriously.’

31

BePrecise

Active,NotPassive

• Writingintheactivevoiceforcesyoutonamewhothe‘actor’isinyoursentence:theonewhoisdoingsomething.Donotmakeyourreadersguesswhoitisbywritingpassivesentences;thiswillonlyirritatethem.Assoonasyoucatchyourselfwritingapassivesentence(itwasassumedthat....),askyourselfwhodidtheassuming.Itisalmostalwayspossibletorewritesuchasentenceandturnitintoanactiveone(thegovernment,theminister,thepeopleassumedthat...).

• Bepreciseinyourwording.Doyouactuallymean‘allofthenobility’whenyouwrite‘PrinceFrederickofPrussiawasresponsiblefordestroyingtheGermannobility’?Perhapsyoumean‘partofthenobility’oreventhatFrederickmerelycurtailedtheGermannobility’spoliticalpower.

• Itisveryimprecisetoinvestnations’capitalcitieswithagency,thereforedonotwrite‘LondoninstructeditsambassadorinTheHague’or‘TheHague’ssurprisedresponse...’.WhodoyoumeanwhenyouwriteTheHague:thegovernment,Parliament,theDutchMinistryofForeignAffairs,theKing,theQueenorsomeotherpersonororganization?Themorespecificyouare,thebetter.

CuiBono?ForWhoseBenefit?

• Asentencelike‘TheTriestissuewasaboneofcontentionintherelationshipwithItaly’isveryimpreciseanddoesnottellyourreaderswhatwasactuallygoingon.Explainwhostoodtogain(orlose)andwhattheystoodtogain(orlose).Inotherwords,tellyourreadersexactlywhatwasatstake.

• Similarly,whenyouwriteabouta‘clash’ora‘conflict’,specifywhattypeofclashorconflictyoumean:military,verbalorotherwise.Anddonotforgettospecifywhoclashedoverwhat,andwhen.

• Whatareyourreaderssupposedtothinkofthefollowingsentence?‘Intheir3000yearsofhistory,theyhadtodealwiththePersians,Romans,TurksandRussians.’Whatdoesthismean?Didtheyhavethesametypeofrelationshipwithallthesedifferentpeoples?Didtheytradewiththem?Weretheyatwarwiththem?Weretheyoccupiedbythem,ordidtheylookdownonthem?

• Avoidvaguewordinglike‘Thenativeshadbeenrestlessforalongtime.’

AboutTime

• Beaspreciseaspossiblewhenyoumentionatimeortimeframe.Forexample,whenwritingaboutthe‘firstpost-warelections’,includethedateofthoseelections.

• Evenstatementslike‘along-standingconflict’or‘abriefwar’deserveclarification.Whydoyouconsiderthislong,whybrief,andwhatareyoucomparingthemto?Itisalwaysgoodtomentionhowlonganeventorsituationlasted:‘ThewarintheDutchEastIndieslastedalongtime’shouldbefollowedbyasentencespecifyingtheperiodinwhichittookplace.

32

Stylistictips

• Avoidtendentious,populisticorjournalisticlanguage.Beconsistentintermsoftone.Useformallanguage,butnotoverlyformallanguage:‘Inmyopinion....’ratherthan‘Iamoftheopinionthat...’Academicwritingcontainsneitherslang(unlessthisispartofarelevantquote),norarchaicexpressionslike‘asunder’and‘thefruitofhisloins’.Yourgoalistoinform,nottoimpress.Emphasizeclarityandavoidneedlesslycomplicatedsentencestructures.

• Explaincomplicatedconceptsandhistoricalterms;donotassumethatyourreaderswillknowwhatyoumean.

• Donotusebulletpointsandlists,asthesedonotworkinarunningtext.Bulletpointssuggestthateverypointhasequalweight.Tryincorporatingtheseintotherunningtextandyouwillfindyouhavetoprioritizeandemphasizeoneovertheother.Thiswillbenefitthelogicofyourargument.

• Varythelengthofyoursentences.Takecarenottowriterun-onsentenceswithlotsofsubordinateclauses,butalsoavoid‘telegramese’.Alwayswritefullsentences.Thesecontainatleastasubjectandaverb.Withoutaverb,youdonothaveafullsentence.

• Trytoavoidusingthesamewordintwoconsecutivesentences.Lookforsynonyms.Insteadof‘administration’use‘cabinet’,‘government’,‘ministry’,‘theKingandhisministers’,‘governmentofficials’.Beawareofpossibledifferencesinmeaningthough.‘Cabinet’isnotexactlythesameas‘governmentofficials’.ThelattermayincludeDeputyMinisters,whoarenotCabinetmembers.

• Textsthatlackconjunctionscanstrikereadersasstilted.Tounderstandyourargument,readersneedtoseethelogicalrelationshipbetweenonesentenceandthenext.Therefore,paycloseattentiontoyouruseofconjunctionsandconjunctiveadverbs.Usecoordinatingconjunctions(and,or,but),correlatingconjunctions(notonly...butalso,neither...nor)andsubordinatingconjunctions(although,because,evenif),andincludeconjunctiveadverbs(subsequently,meanwhile,therefore)whereverappropriate.

• Byusingsignposting,youcanensureyourreadersdonotgetlostinthetext.Ifyouuse‘firstly’,makesureyoufollowupwith‘secondly’,‘thirdly’andperhaps‘finally’.Ifyouuse‘ontheonehand’,startyournextsentencewith‘Ontheotherhand’.Ifyouuse‘notonly’,makesuretofollowupwith‘butalso’.

33

3.2StructuringaHistoryPaper/Thesis

Ahistorypaperorthesisgenerallyconsistsofacatchytitle,anintroduction,abodyandaconclusion.Yourtitleisimportant,butitisnormallythefinishingtouchwhichyoucompleteonlyafteryouhavewrittenandrewrittenyourtext.Writinganintroductioncanbehelpfultoprovideyourselfwithanoverviewofwhatyouaregoingtoresearch,butyouwilldefinitelyneedtorewritetheintroductionafteryouhavedoneyourresearchandwrittenthebody.Thebodyisthecoreofyourpaper.Thisiswhereyouansweryourmainresearchquestionandsubquestions.Theconclusionisasummaryofthefindingsyoudescribedinthebody;itreiteratesyourintroduction.Byadheringtothistripartitestructureyouensurethatyourresearchpaperorthesisisclearlystructured,includesallthenecessaryelementsandmeetsthecriteriaforsoundresearch.

Title

Agoodtitlebothreflectsthecontentsofyourtextanddrawsreaders’attention.Acatchytitleisusuallytheicingonthecake;youadditonceyourpaperiscompletelyfinished.

Somewritersuseacatchytitlewhosefullmeaningisnotimmediatelyapparent.Suchtitlesrequireasubtitletoclarifytheactualtopic.

Sampletitles

IngeMans,ASenseofFolly:500YearsofCulturalHistoryofFools,IdiotsandLunatics[originaltitle:ZinderZotheid(catchytitle);Vijfeeuwencultuurgeschiedenisvanzotten,onnozelenenzwakzinnigen.(subtitle:explainswhatthebookisabout)]

ConnyKristel,HistoriographywithaMission:AbelHerzberg,JacquePresserandLoedeJongontheNaziPersecutionoftheJewsintheNetherlands.[originaltitle:Geschiedschrijvingalsopdracht.(title)AbelHerzberg,JaquesPresserenLoedeJongoverdeJodenvervolging(subtitle)]

Introduction

Theintroductionservestofamiliarizeyourreaderswithyourtopic,yourthesisstatementandthetheoreticaljustificationofyourresearch.Yourintroductionmustreflecttheargumentationyouuseinthebodyofyourpaper.Therefore,someauthorswritetheirintroductiononlyaftertheyhavefinishedthebody.Inpractice,manywritersstartoutbywritinganintroductionthattheyadjustastherestoftheirpaperprogresses.This,too,illustratestheinteractionbetweenresearchandwritingaboutresearch.

Anintroductionusuallyincludesthefollowingelements:

1.IntroductionoftheTopic

Afewsentencesisenoughtofamiliarizelayreaderswiththecontextofthepaper’sthesisstatement.Thereisnoneedtogointogreatdetail.Writeenoughtointroduceyourtopicandto‘hook’non-expertreaders.

34

2.ResearchQuestion/ThesisStatement

Aftersketchingthecontext,clearlyphraseyourthesisstatement.Indraftversionsthisstatementcanbephrasedasaquestionwithsubquestions.Yourfinalversionshouldonlycontaindeclarativesentences.Itisgoodpracticetoputyourthesisstatementattheendoftheintroductionsoyoucanuseittoleadintothebodyofyourpaper.

InAPocketGuidetoWritinginHistory,6thedition,MaryLynnRampolladefineswhatathesisstatementis.Shelistsfourthingsitisnot:itisnotadescriptionofthetopic,astatementoffact,astatementofopinionoraquestion:

Athesisisnotaquestion.Althoughhistoriansalwaysaskquestionsastheyread...andathesisstatementarisesfromthehistorian'sattempttoansweraquestion,aquestionisnot,initself,athesis."WhywereMohandasGandhi'smethodssuccessfulinthemovementtoachieveIndianindependencefromGreatBritain?"isavalidhistoricalquestion,butitisnotathesisstatement. Inshort,...athesisisastatementthatreflectswhatyouhaveconcludedaboutthetopicofyourpaper,basedonacriticalanalysisandinterpretationofthesourcematerialsyouhaveexamined.

...[T]hefollowingisaanacceptablethesis:"FromthemomentthatMohandasGandhidecidedtorespondtoforcewithactsofcivildisobedience,BritishruleofIndiawasdoomed:hisindictmentofBritishcolonialpolicyinthecourtofpublicopiniondidfarmoredamagetotheBritishmilitarythananyweaponcould." –MaryLynnRampolla,APocketGuidetoWritinginHistory,6thedition,44

Hence,theresearchquestionusedearlierasanexamplewillalsoneedrephrasing:

• ‘TowhatextentwasthehighpercentageofDutchJewsdeportedduringtheSecondWorldWarduetotheprofessionalismoftheDutchcivilregistrationsystem?’

Thispreliminaryquestionneedstobeturnedintoathesisstatement:

• ‘ContrarytotheassertionsofseveralcontemporaryDutchhistorians,theprofessionalismoftheDutchcivilregistrationsystemhadlittleimpactonthenumberofJewsdeportedfromtheNetherlandsduringtheSecondWorldWar.’

Thisrephrasingisessential.Yourresearchpaperwillnotbecompleteunlessyouhavetakenthisstep.

3.TheoreticalJustification

Explaintoyourreaderswhyyourtopicwarrantsresearchbybrieflyexplainingitsacademicsignificanceinrelationtoexistingresearch.Yourjustificationexplains:

• therelevanceofyourresearch(whyisitworthwhile?);and• thefactthatyourtopic,oryourresearchquestionandmethodhavenotyetbeen

(sufficiently)researched.

Provideabriefhistoriographicaland/ortheoreticalframeworkthatbroadlyoutlinesexistingresearchintoyourtopicandsummarizesexistinginterpretations.Agapor‘blindspot’inthehistoriography

35

canbeaconvincingjustificationforyourresearchifyoucanprovideargumentswhyitisimportanttodoso.

4.MethodologicalFramework

Apartfromintroducingyourtopicandgivingthereasonswhyyouconductedyourresearch,youalsoneedtopresentamethodologicalframework:yourreasonsforusingaparticularresearchmethod,yourselectionofsourcesandthewaysinwhichyouusedthosesources.

Sometimesyourmethodologydoesnotneedmuchexplanation,forexamplewhenyourpaperisstructuredchronologically.

Donotbetooquicktoassumethatthemethodologyyouhaveusedisself-evidentorthatyouhavenotappliedanyspecificmethod.Anyexplanationofhowyoucarriedoutyourresearch,anyaccountingforyourmethodwillalmostcertainlybenefitthetransparencyofyourresearch.

Ifnecessary,youcanincludetechnicalinformationattheendofyourmethodologicalframework.Tellyouraudienceifyouhaveusedcertaincalendarsorwhyyouincludedmaps,tablesandgraphs,andhowtoreadthese.

Agoodintroductioncontainsallfouroftheseelements.Moreover,agoodintroductioniscloselylinkedtoagoodconclusion.Youdonotneedtospecifythestructureofyourpaperorthesis(‘Chapter1willdiscuss....,Chapter2willdealwith....,etc.).

36

Body

Thebodyisthecoreofyourhistoricalpaperorthesis.Thisisthemainargumentthatanswersyourresearchquestionandclearlysubstantiatesyouranswer.Makesureyourargumentiswell-structured,logicalandeasytofollowforreaders.Itcanbehelpfultodividethebodyintotwomainparts:

AContextualizationofYourTopic

Usually,thebodystartswithanextensiveintroductionofyourtopic.Therearenohardandfastrulesforhowtodothis,asthisdependsgreatlyonthetypeoftopic.Thereare,however,twomainpointsyouneedtotackle:

• Thehistoricalcontextofyourtopic,thatis,thecircumstancesyourreadersneedtoknowinordertounderstandyourargument

• Asummaryofthemainfactorsanddevelopmentsthatplayaroleinyourargument(thesecouldbethetopicsentencesfromeachofyourparagraphs)

YourMainArgument

Theactualbodyofyourtextmustexplainwhicheventstookplace,howtheychangedsurroundingcircumstances,whichfactorsexertedtheirinfluenceandhow,howthesefactorssupportedorcounteractedeachotherandsoon.Yourmainargumentshowshowthefactorspertinenttoyourtopicdevelopedandwhatthisledto.Youalsoneedtomakeclearhowyourargumentdevelopedandhowyoureachedyourconclusion.Readersshouldcomeawaywithaclearpictureofyourthesisandhowyouprovedit.Sostructureyourargumentclearly.

Paragraphs

Paragraphsarethebuildingblocksofyourtext.Ifsentencesarethesmallestunit,paragraphsarethenexttosmallest.Usingthemcorrectlywillmakeyourtexteasiertoreadandunderstand.

• Startanewparagrapheitherwithalinebreakandanindentedfirstline,orwithtwolinebreaks(addingawhitespacebetweenlines)andnoindentation.

• Aparagraphisacollectionofrelatedsentencesdealingwithasingletopic.Assoonasyouarereadytomoveontothenextidea,startanewparagraph.Avoidwritingexcessivelylongparagraphs.

Theimportanceoftheparagraphcannotbestressedenough.Theparagraphisthecornerstoneofessaywriting.Therearemanyonlineresourcesexplaininghowtowriteparagraphs.Thefollowingistakenfromwww.time4writing.com:

Thecardinalruleofparagraphwritingistofocusononeidea.Asolidlywrittenparagraphtakesitsreadersonaclearpathwithoutdetours.Mastertheparagraph,andyou’llbeonyourwaytowriting“gold-star”essays,termpapers,andstories.

A basic paragraph structure usually consists of five sentences: the topic sentence, threesupportingsentences,andaconcludingsentence.Butthesecretstoparagraphwritingliein

37

four essential elements, whichwhen used correctly, canmake an ‘okay’ paragraph into agreatparagraph.

1. Element#1:Unity.Unityinaparagraphbeginswiththetopicsentence.Everyparagraph

hasonesingle,controllingideathat isexpressedin itstopicsentence,whichistypicallythe first sentenceof theparagraph.Aparagraph isunifiedaround thismain idea,withthesupportingsentencesprovidingdetailanddiscussion.Inordertowriteagoodtopicsentence, think about your theme and all the points youwant tomake. Decidewhichpointdrivestherest,andthenwriteitasyourtopicsentence.

2. Element #2: Order. Order refers to the way you organize your supporting sentences.

Whether you choose chronological order, order of importance, or another logicalpresentation of detail, a solid paragraph always has a definite organization. In a well-ordered paragraph, the reader follows along easily, aided by the pattern you’veestablished.Orderhelpsthereadergraspyourmeaningandavoidconfusion.

3. Element #3: Coherence. Coherence is the quality that makes your writing

understandable.Sentenceswithinaparagraphneedtoconnecttoeachotherandworktogether as a whole. One of the best ways to achieve coherency is to use transitionwords.Thesewordscreatebridgesfromonesentencetothenext.Youcanusetransitionwordsthatshoworder(first,second,third);spatialrelationships(above,below)orlogic(furthermore, in addition, in fact).Also, inwritingaparagraph,usinga consistent verbtenseandpointofviewareimportantingredientsforcoherency.

4. Element #4: Completeness. Completeness means a paragraph is well developed. If all

sentences clearly and sufficiently support the main idea, then your paragraph iscomplete.Iftherearenotenoughsentencesorenoughinformationtoproveyourthesis,then the paragraph is incomplete. ... The concluding sentence or last sentence of theparagraphshouldsummarizeyourmainideabyreinforcingyourtopicsentence.

HeadingsandSubheadings

Shorterpapersrarelyhavesubheadings.Athesis,however,notonlyneedsatitle,itneedstobesubdividedanditsindividualchaptersorsectionsneedheadingsandsubheadingstoo.Liketitles,headingsserveadualpurpose;theysummarizethechapterorsection’scontentandatthesametimeattractreaders’attention.However,theyneednotbeascatchyasyouroveralltitleandrarelygetasubtitle.Theirmaingoalistoaccuratelyreflectthechapter’scontent.

Chapterscanandshouldbesubdividedintosectionswiththeirownsubheading.Subheadingsareusefultointroduceanewsubtopic.Theyprovidestructureandincreasereadabilityandunderstandability.Belowareafewpointersonsubheadings:

• Keepsubheadingsbriefandcatchy.Theirmainfunctionistoreflectthenextsection’scontent.

• Donotincludeanexcessivenumberofsubheadings.Refrainfrombreakingupyourtexttoomuch.

38

Makesureyourheadingsandsubheadingsareconsistentinlevelandlayout.Useboldand/orincreaseyourfontsizeforchapterheadingsanduseitalicsforsubheadings.Wordprocessingprogramsgenerallyhavepreprogrammedheadinglevelsthatyoucansimplyapplytoselectedtext.NotethatinEnglish-languagehumanities,itisnotcommontonumberyoursectionsandsubsections.Usually,chapters,sectionheadingsandsubheadingsaredistinguishedbylayoutandtypesetting.

Preferably,titlesandheadingsshouldbekeptshort.Leaveoutarticlesandformsoftheverb‘tobe’.Becareful,however,aboutleavingoutprepositionsastheseprovidecrucialinformationabouttherelationshipbetweennouns.InEnglish,whentwonounsarejuxtaposed,thefirstisassumedtomodifythesecond.InDutch,forexample,thesecondnounmodifiesthefirst.Thisisacommonlyoccurringpitfallfornon-nativewritersofEnglish.Example:aheadingstating‘IndictmentCommander’doesnotimplythatthesectionbelowitwillbeabouttheindictmentofacommander,butthatthecommanderisinchargeofindictments.Thecorrectwaytoheadthissectionwouldbe:‘IndictmentofCommander’.

Samplechapter,sectionandsubsectionheadings:

A.J.vanderAa:ManoftheHour(Word,heading1,chapterlevel)

DisorganizedMemories(Word,heading2,sectionlevel)

DisorganizedMemories(Word,heading3,subsectionlevel)

or

Chapter1A.J.vanderAa:ManoftheHour(Arabicnumeral,bold,14pt)

1.1DisorganizedMemories(Arabicnumeral,bold,italics,12pt)

1.1.3DisorganizedMemories(Arabicnumeral,bold,12pt)

or

1.1.3DisorganizedMemories (Arabicnumeral,italics,12pt)

Note:Numberingsectionsandsubsectionsisnotcommoninthehumanities.Itisgenerallyreservedfortechnicalpapersandtheses.Preferablyusetypographicalmeanstodistinguishheadingsandsubheading(fontsize,bold,italics).

Body(normal):

In1835,VanderAapublishedhis....(normal,12pt,preferablyTimesNewRomanorArial)

39

StructuringaChapter

Beforeyoustartwritingachapter,itpaystomakeanoutlineofthetopicsyouwanttocover.Likeyourthesisasawhole,eachchapterneedsclearstructureandcoherence.Keepthefollowinginmind:

• Definewhatthischapterisabout;makesuretheperiodandthetopicyouselectformagoodcombination.

• Trytolimityourselftoonetopic.• Distinguishbetweenmainpointsandsubpointsandtrytoeliminateirrelevancies.• Makesurethereisacoherencebetweenthevarioussectionsofyourchapter.

Apartfromthedivisionintoanintroductorysectionandthemainbodyofyourtext,thebodyitselfneedstobestructuredlogically.Roughlyspeaking,historianscanchoosebetweentwoorganizingprinciples:

• Achronologicalstructure:yourargumentdevelopsinpacewithyourtopic’sdevelopmentovertime.

• Athematicstructure:youdivideyourtopicintothemes,whichyouthendiscussconsecutively.

Infactitisadvisabletocombinethesetwostructures.Youcould,forexample,divideyourtopicintothemesandthenputtheseinamoreorlesschronologicalorder.

40

Conclusion

Yourconclusionshouldbealogicaloutcomeofyourargument.Itshouldalsoreflectyourintroduction.Ingeneral,aconclusionprovidesaconciseanswertoyourresearchquestion.Inotherwords,iteitherprovesordisprovesyourthesisstatement.Inasense,itisabriefreiterationofyourentireargumentandyourintroduction.

• Agoodconclusionisaconciseanswertoyourresearchquestion.Itsummarizesyourargumentswithoutreiteratingeverysinglelogicalstep.Itremindsyourreadersofyourthesisstatementandthetopicsyoudiscussedinthebodyofthetext.

• Bydefinition,aconclusionmaynotcontainanynewinformation.Stylisticallyspeaking,however,itisbettertoavoidverbatimrepetitionofyourphrasing.Eventhoughthecontentisnotnew,trytovarythewording.

• Aconclusionismorethanastraightsummary,however.Itshouldplacetheeventsandyourfindingsinthehistoricalcontextandtheoreticalframeworkdescribedinyourintroduction.Often,thefullimportanceofyourtopiconlybecomesclearwhenyoudrawtheconnectiontoawiderframework.

Conclusionandintroductionneedtocovermoreorlessthesameground.Theyneedtobewritteninsuchafashionthatreaderswhoonlyreadtheintroductionandtheconclusionstillgetaclearideaofyourentireargument.

41

3.3Citation

Transparencyandaccountabilityareanindispensablepartofacademicwriting.AstheChicagoManualofStyle,16thEdition(2010)putsit:‘Ethics,copyrightlaws,andcourtesytoreadersrequireauthorstoidentifythesourcesofdirectquotationsofparaphrasesandofanyfactsoropinionsthatarenotgenerallyknownoreasilychecked.’(p.655)

Anytimeyoubaseyourselfoninformationfromanexternalsource,youmustrefertothatsource.Thisenablesreaderstoseeexactlywhatyouropinionisbasedon.Italsoallowsthemtoseewhichopinionsareyoursandwhicharesomeoneelse’s.Thismakesyourresearchverifiable,whichinturnmakesitasoundbasisforotherresearcherstobuildon.

Inshort,youensurethatthedistinctionbetweenyourowninformation,opinionorthoughtsandthosefromexternalsourcesiscrystalclear.Youcandothisbyparaphrasing(partof)thesourcetext,thatis,summarizingitinyourownwords,orbyquotingthesourcetext,thatis,copyingitverbatimintheoriginallanguageandplacingitinquotationmarks(orusinganEnglishtranslationinquotationmarksandincludingtheoriginalquotationinanote).Eachandeveryparaphraseandquotationisfollowedbyareferencetoitssource.Thesereferencesmaybefootnotesorendnotes.Formoreinformation,seethecitationguidelinesincludedinthismanual.

Ifyoufailtoproperlyreferenceyoursources,youopenyourselftoaccusationsofplagiarism.Neglectingtoproperlyreferencerunscountertotherulesoftransparencyandaccountability.Itisbadforscholarlydebateandstymiesacademicresearch.

ParaphrasingandQuoting

Inyourpaperorthesis,youbuildanargumentusingyourownlogicalsteps.Thisisyourcentraltopicandthecoreofyourpaper.Youcanenliven,clarifyorsubstantiateyourargumentbycitingorparaphrasingexternalsources.Keepaneyeonhowyouuseparaphrasesorquotations,however.Donotoverdoit.Ifyouquotetoomuch,youloseyourgriponwhatyouaretryingtoconveytoyourreaders.Afterall,youarehandingoveryourvoicetootherauthors.Paraphrasingreducesthatrisk,becauseatleastyouuseyourownwords.Integratequotationsintoyourrunningtextasmuchaspossibleandkeepthemshort.Everyquotationorparaphraseisfollowedbyareferencetothesource(asanote).

QuotingProperly

Staytruetothesourcetext:

• Aquotationisaliteralcopyfromthesourcetext,includingpossiblearchaicorregionalspellings.Ifthesourcetextcontainsanerror,youmayadd[sic]insquarebracketsaftertheerror.Limityouruseof‘sic’tocasesthatcouldcauseconfusion.

• IncludeonlyEnglish-languagequotations.Ifyoursourcetexthappenstobewritteninadifferentlanguage,trytofindanexisting,publishedtranslation.Onlytranslatetheoriginalyourselfifyoucannotfindanexistingtranslation,orifyoufeeltheexistingtranslation(s)arewrongonsomecrucialpoint.Donotforgettoincludeanoteindicatingthatyoupersonallytranslatedthequote(‘mytranslation’)andtheoriginaltext.Alsoincludetheoriginalsourceinyourlistofreferences.

42

• Donotblindlytrustothersanddonotcopytheirquotationswithoutcheckingtheoriginalsource.Ifyouthinkanotherauthor’squotationisparticularlyaptandyouwanttoincludeitinyourownpaperorthesis,thentrytolocatetheoriginaltext(oraphotoorPDFofit)andquotefromthis.Onlyifyouareunabletofindtheoriginal,areyouallowedtoquote‘indirectly’andonlyonconditionyoumentionthatyouhavefoundthisquoteinsomeoneelse’swork(‘citedin...’).

• Ifyouwanttoemphasizeoneormorewordsinaquote,youcanitalicizethem.Endthequotebyadding[myitalics]insquarebracketsorbyadding[myitalics]tothenoteaccompanyingthequote.

Usethecorrectformat:

• Quotesthatareintegratedintorunningtextarealwaysenclosedindoublequotationmarks:“...”

• Singlequotationmarksareusedtoenclosequotationswithinquotations:“.‘..’.”• InBritishEnglish,itismorecommontousesinglequotationmarks(or‘invertedcommas’)for

quotationsanddoublequotationmarksquotationswithinquotations:‘““‘.• Acolonisusedtointroduceaquotationofmorethanonecompletesentence,whilea

commaisusedtoseparateanintroductoryphrasefromaquotationofonesentenceorless.

AsFDRputit:"ThisgreatNationwillendureasithasendured,willreviveandwillprosper.So,firstofall,letmeassertmyfirmbeliefthattheonlythingwehavetofearisfearitself."

AsFDRputit,"[T]heonlythingwehavetofearisfearitself."

• Usebracketsaroundthefirstcapital(orlowercaseletter)toindicatethattheoriginaltextstartedwithalowercaseletter(orcapital).

Originalquote:“Learningfromexperienceisafacultyalmostneverpracticed.”BarbaraTuchmanwrotethat“[l]earningfromexperienceisafacultyalmostneverpracticed.”

• Ifyouquoteacompletesentence,theperiod(orquestionmarkorexclamationpoint)thatendsthesentenceinenclosedwithinthefinalquotationmark,asfollows:AsGerritsenputit,“Thisisthebestway.”

• Ifyouquotejustaphrase(incompletesentence)andmakeitpartofyourownsentencestructure,thepunctuationbelongstoyoursentenceandgoesoutsideofthequotationmarks,asfollows:JansenagreeswithGerritsen,whohadarguedthatit“wasthebestway”.

• Ellipsis:ifyouwanttocondenseaquotebyleavingsomethingout,usethreeperiodsordotsinarow,separatedbyextraspaces:...Donotusesquarebracketstoenclosethedots.

• Ifforreasonsofclarificationyouwanttoaddsomethingtoaquote,enclosethisinsquarebrackets,asfollows:Oneprofessorcomplained,“Thehours[university]teachersareexpectedtoworkhavegrownexponentiallyoverthepastdecade.”

• Quotationsofmorethanthreelinesarenotincorporatedintotherunningtext,butformattedasblockquotationssetofffromtherestofthetext,withoutquotationmarks.Blockquotationsaresetoffby:

43

o insertinganextralinebreakaboveandbelowthequotationtocreateextrawhitespace;

o indentingalllinesfromtheleft;o usinga1ptsmallerfontorsingle-spacingthetextwhilemaintainingthesamefont

sizeasthebody;o Ifyourblockquotationitselfcontainsaquotation,thisisreflectedbytheuseof

doublequotationmarks.

44

Notes

Notesarenumberedpiecesofinformationyouhavechosennottoincludeinthemaintext.Youincludenotenumbersinyourtexttorefertothisinformation.Theextrainformationinyournotesiseitherdocumentaryorexplanatory(substantive).Documentarynotescontaininformationaboutthesourcesyouusedandgivereaderstheopportunitytocheckthefactsandopinionspresentedinyourpaperorthesis.Substantivenotescontaininformationthatdoesnotfitintoyourmainargument.Trytolimitsuchnotes.Itisactuallynotsuchagreatideatoburdenyourreaderswithinformationthatfallsoutsidethescopeofyourpaper.

Themainconcerninannotationisthatitiscomplete,consistentanderror-free.Carelessannotationrendersyourargumentuntransparent,unverifiable,unconvincingandhenceuselesstootherresearchers.Moreover,ifyoudonotmakeclearwhenandwhereyouareusingsomeoneelse’sresearchoropinions,youarecommittingplagiarism.

IfyoufollowtheguidelinesinthisResearcher’sManual,youwillendupwithconsistentandcorrectnotesandreferences.ThissystemisinlinewiththeChicagoManualofStyle,16thedition(CMOS),today’sinternationalyardstickforannotationinthehumanities.CMOSisasystemthatiswellsuitedtobothtextualandarchivalsources.

Outsideofourdepartment,youarefree(andsometimesrequired)touseadifferentsystem.Afterall,therearenouniversalannotationprinciples.Eachdisciplineandeachjournalcansetitsownrules.Andwithineachdiscipline,therulesmaydifferfromcountrytocountry.However,theyallsharetheunderlyingprincipleoftransparencyandaccountability.

WhentoUseNotes:

• whenquotingorparaphrasingasource;• whenincludinginformationnotconsideredgeneralknowledge;• whenincludinginformationyourreadersmaywanttocheck.

WheretoPutNoteNumbersandNotes:

Notenumberscomeattheendofasentence,oratleastattheendofaclausethatneedsareference,outsideallpunctuationmarks.Incaseofquotations,notenumbersareincludedimmediatelyafterthequote.

Notesarenumberedconsecutivelyinpapersandtheses.Indissertationsandbooks,notenumberingstartsanewineverychapter.

Notesareincorporatedeitheratthebottomofthepage(footnotes)orattheendofyourpaperorthesis(endnotes).

WhatShouldBeIncludedinaNote?

Adocumentarynotecontainsallinformationnecessarytofindboththesourceitselfandtheinformationtherein.Theorderandlayoutofthisinformationisstandardized(seeCitationGuidelines)

45

MandatoryElements:

• Author:firstandlastname(s)ofauthor(s)oreditor(s);ifunavailable,thenameoftheinstitutionresponsibleforpublishingthetext.

• Title:fulltitle(i.e.titleandsubtitle,separatedbyacolon).NotethattitlesmustbecapitalizedinEnglish.

• Editor(s),compiler(s)ortranslator(s):firstandlastname(s)ifmentionedonthetitlepage.• Edition,ifnotthefirst(e.g.‘2ndedn’or‘3rdrev.edn’).• Series:ifthetextispartofaseries,includetheseriestitle.• Factsofpublication:Place:publisher,year.Notethecolonafterplace.• Pagenumber(s):ifapplicable.• Electronicpublications:URLorDOI(digitalobjectidentifier)foronlinepublications;

descriptionofthemediumused(DVD,CD-ROM)inothercases.

HowtoFormataReference

Youfirstneedtosortyoursourcesintopublicationsandallothertypesofsources,suchasarchivaldocuments,photographs,interviewsandsoon.Therearemanydifferenttypesofpublications,butthereisastandardannotationformatformostofthem.Othersourcescanbeanything,whichcomplicatesstandardization.Archiveshaveoftendevisedtheirownpreferredannotationmethod,whichyoucanadopt.Youcanusuallyfindthisontheirwebsite.

WheretoFindData

Forbooks,compilationsorcollectionsofsources,lookatthetitlepage(orpageiii)andthecopyrightpageratherthanthecover.Thatiswhereyoucanfindallthedatayouneed.Journalsoftenhaveatitlepagetoo.Whendealingwithjournalarticles,usethetitleaspublishedabovethearticle,nottheoneinthetableofcontents.

Usetheexactinformationonthetitlepageorthearticle’sactualtitle.Usetheexactspellingevenifthatdeviatesfromyourpreferredspelling(e.g.‘behaviour’insteadof‘behavior’).Otherwise,yourreaderswillnotbeabletoidentifythepublicationyouarereferringto.

Thesamegoesforauthors’names.AlthoughEnglishhasapreferencefor‘firstnamelastname’,manyDutchauthorsareidentifiedbytheirinitialsandlastname.Copywhateverisonthetitlepageanddonotabbreviatefullnamesorexpandinitialsonyourown.Peoplemayhaveinitialsyouwouldnotimmediatelyexpect(R.(Richard)forDick)ormaybeusinganabbreviationyouwouldnotimmediatelyrecognize(DaisyforM.(Margaret)).

FortitlesinlanguagesotherthanEnglish,keepthefollowinginmind:

• IfyouaredealingwithabookorarticleinaforeignlanguagethatusestheLatinalphabet,usetheexactinformationonthetitlepageoratthetopofthearticle,followedbyanEnglishtranslation[insquarebrackets],ifappropriate.

• NotethatEnglishcapitalizestitles.Maintaintheoriginalcapitalizationintheoriginaltitle,butcapitalizeyourEnglishtranslation,ifsupplyingone.Forexamples,seeSampleCitations.

46

Titlesofbooksandjournalsareitalicized.Titleandsubtitleareseparatedbyacolon,unlesstheoriginalusesaperiodasisthecaseinDutch.Titlesofarticles,memorandaandothernon-independentpublicationsarenotitalicized,butputbetweendoublequotationmarks.

HowtoFormataNoteorReferencetoaPublication

Firstofall,determinewhattypeofpublicationyouaredealingwith:

• Bookwithasingleauthor(i.e.monograph);• Bookwithtwoormoreauthors;• Bookwithoneormoreeditors;• Article(writtenbyoneormoreauthors)inaneditedbook;• Journalarticle;• Articleinaperiodical;• Articleonawebsite;• Collectionofsources;• Sourcewithinacollectionofsources;• Volume(book,collection)inaseries;• ...

>>Formoredetails,seeCitationGuidelines

47

CitationGuidelines

• Thereisaspecificnotationforeachtypeofpublication(book,journalarticle,onlinepublication,etc.)whenreferredtoinanote(seealsoSampleCitations)

• AllpublicationsmentionedinyournotesarealsocollectedinyourBibliography.Abibliographycontainsthelastnamesoftheauthors(inalphabeticalorder),followedbytheirfirstnameorinitials,separatedbyacomma.Whenabookhastwoormoreauthors,onlythenameofthefirstauthorisinverted,becausethisisthenamethatdeterminesitsalphabeticalplaceinthelist.Thereisnoneedtoinvertnamesinnotes,asthesearenotorderedalphabetically.

• Ifyourefertothesamepublicationmorethanonceinyournotes,usethefulltitleinyourfirstreferenceonly.Useashortenedreferenceinallsubsequentnotes.o Atfirstmention,includetheauthor’s/editor’sname,fulltitle,publicationfactsandpage

number.o Thesecondtime,useonlytheauthor’slastname,ashortenedtitleandthepage

number(s).o Whenreferringtothesameworkintwoconsecutivenotes,yoursecondnotecanbe

evenshorter.Justtype‘Ibid.’followedbythepagenumber(ifdifferentfromyourearlierreference),separatedbyacomma.

Inshort:

• Firstreferencetopublicationindocumentarynote:infull.• Secondreference:shorttitle(andpagenumber(s))• Referencetosamepublicationinconsecutivenotes:‘Ibid.’(plusnewpagenumberif

applicable).• Asinglenotecancontainreferencestovariouspublications.Useasemi-colontoseparate

individualpublications.Neverfollowonesentenceorclausebyseveralnotenumbers,becausethismuddlestherelationshipwiththesource.

• Toindicatethattheargumentyouarequotingisthesubjectofdebateorthatopinionsvaryinthepublicationsyouarequoting,use‘Confer’,orrather‘Cf.’,inthesenseof‘compare’.

48

Plagiarism

AccordingtotheonlineMerriam-WebsterDictionary,plagiarismis“theactofusinganotherperson'swordsorideaswithoutgivingcredittothatperson”.TheonlineOxfordDictionariesdefineplagiarismas“thepracticeoftakingsomeoneelse’sworkorideasandpassingthemoffasone’sown”.Inthefieldofhistory,youarealwaysdealingwithotherpeople’sideasandpublications.Itisadvisable,inevitableeven,thatyouuseotherpeople’swordsandideas.However,youneedtoconsistentlyandaccuratelyattributethesewordsandideastotheiroriginalauthor.Bewaryoftheslipperyslopefromquotingandparaphrasingtoplagiarizing.

AvoidingPlagiarism

Toavoidplagiarism,includeareferencetothesource(eitherdirectlyinthetextand/orinanote)eachandeverytimeyouquote,paraphraseorusesomeoneelse’sideasorfacts.Createanote

• whenyouquotesomeone’swrittenorspokenwordsverbatim;thisrequiresyoutoplacethequotationbetweenquotationsmarksorsetitofffromthetextinsomeother(typographical)way(e.g.blockquotationsareindentedfromtheleft);

• whenyouparaphrasesomeone’swrittenorspokenwords;• whenyouusesomeoneelse’sargumentsorideas;• whenyouincorporatefactsorfactualoverviewsthatarenotcommonknowledge.

HowtoPreventPlagiarism

• Makesurethatyou‘stayincharge’ofyourowntextandthatyouincorporateotherpeople’smaterialintoyourownargument.Often,plagiarismisaconsequenceofbeingtoodependentonthesourcesyouuseandthelanguageusedinthosesources.Ensurethatyourownargumentandyourownideaswinoutoverotherpeople’swordsandideas.Stayincontrolofthestructureandchoiceofwordsinyourtext.

• Alwaysusequotationmarkswhencitingsomeoneelse’swords,phraseorclause.Dothisevenwhenyouarejustjottingdownanoteorsummarizingsomeone’sideas,takingcaretoalsowritedowntheauthor’snameandthesource.Plagiarismisfrequentlycausedby(inadvertently)confusinginformationyouhavegatheredfromothersourceswithyourownthoughts.

• Alwaysuseyourownwordswhentakingnotesorphrasingotherpeople’sideas.Trytouseyourownwordsforwhatyouhavereadattheearliestpossiblestage,soimmediatelyafterreadingtheinformation.Thisalsoapplieswhenyoutranslateaforeignwriter’sideasintoEnglish.Ifyoufindthishardtodo,tryreadingaparagraphorasectionandthensummarizeitwithoutlookingatthetext.Thencheckwhetheryoursummarycoversthecontentoftheoriginal.

• Alwaysusequotationmarkswhenyoucopyandpastefromadigitalsource,evenifyouare‘justtemporarily’puttingitinyournotes.AlwayscopytheURLorsomeothersourceinformationfromthesourceandaddittothecopy-pastedtextinyournotes.

• Whenparaphrasing,takecarenottochangejustafewwords.Itismuchbetterpracticetorephrasethewholeideainyourownwords.Donotforgettocompareyourownwordstotheoriginal.

49

3.4Layout

Whenyouhavewrittenyourlastword,itistimetoputonthefinishingtouches.Makesureyourpaperorthesislooksneatandthateverythingistraceable.

Layoutandgraphicdesignisamatteroftaste,butthereareafewkeyrequirementsanytextyouhandinhastomeet:

• Font:TimesNewRomanorArial12pt.,doublespaced(Note:Doublespacingleavesyourteacherroomtomakecomments).

• Pagesetup:papersizeA4,printedeithersingle-sidedordouble-sided.Leftandrightmarginapprox.3cm(1.25“),topandbottommarginapprox.2.5cm(1”)

• Yourtitlepagemustinclude:o headline-capitalizedtitleand,ifapplicable,subtitle,separatedbyacolono yournameandstudentnumbero yourhomeaddressandemailaddresso typeofthesisorpaperandforwhichclass(includecoursenumber)o submissiondateo nameofyourteachero numberofwordso pagenumberso divisionintochaptersand/orsectionso tableofcontents(forthesesonly)

TableofContents

Atableofcontentsismandatoryforalmosteverysubstantialtext.Onlypapersshorterthan5pagescandowithoutatableofcontents.

• Puttheheading‘TableofContents’atthetopofthepage.• Donotincludethetableofcontentsitselfinyourtableofcontents,sodonotmakea

separateheadingandpagenumber.SimplystartyourIntroductiononpage2.• Atableofcontentsincludeschapterheadings,sectionheadingsand,optionally,subsection

headings.WhenusingWordheadings,youcanautomaticallycreateatableofcontentsthatiseasytoupdatewhenyoumakechangestothebodyofthetext.

• Thenumberinginyourtableofcontentsshouldbeconsistentwiththenumberinginyourtext.Donotnumbersectionsandsubsectionsinyourtableofcontentsifyouhavenotdonesoinyourtext.

• Atableofcontentsconsistsofalistofchapterheadings,sectionheadings(andsubsectionheadings),followedbythe(rightaligned)pagenumberthatmarksthestartofthechapter/section/subsection.

50

Bibliography

Abibliographyisalistofalltheliteratureyouconsultedforyourpaperorthesisplusallothersources,suchascollectionsofsourcesandunpublishedsources,ifany.Haveyourbibliographyreflectthesedifferentcategories,preferablybysubdividingitintodifferentsectionsheaded‘Sources’,‘CollectionsofSources’and‘Literature’.

Abibliographyincludesthesameinformationasthenotes,butformattedslightlydifferentlyandwithtwoimportantexceptions:

• Unlikenotes,thebibliographyliststhelastnameofthe(first)authorfirst,followedbyacommaandthefirstnameorinitials.Additionalauthorsarelistedinthe‘normal’order(firstnameorinitials+lastname).

• Unlikenotes,abibliographydoesnotincludepagenumbersunlessreferringtoarticlesinjournalsorcollections(seeSampleCitations)

Arrangetheauthors’namesinyourbibliographyinalphabeticalorder.Ifyoucannotfindanauthor’s(orinstitution’s)name,usethefirstwordinthetitlethatisnotanumberoradefiniteorindefinitearticle(‘a’,‘the’).

• Usehangingindentstomakeauthors’alphabetizedlastnameseasiertofind.• Whenincludingmultipleworksbythesameauthor,onlyusetheirlastnameonce.Usethe3-

emdash(—)toreplaceauthorsoreditors’nameswhoholdmultiple,successiveentriesinyourbibliography.

Listcollectionsofsourcesalphabeticallywhereverpossible.Again,gobyauthor’snameor,ifnoneisavailable,thefirstwordinthetitle(nonumbers,‘a’or‘the’).

Groupyourarchivalsourcesbyarchiveandliststhosearchivesinalphabeticalorder.Ifyouareusingsourcesfromalimitednumberofarchivalcollections,youcouldalsolistthesourceschronologically.

Startyourbibliographywithabriefoverviewofabbreviationsofperiodicals,archivesandnewspapers.

IllustrationsandTables

Photographs,Maps,Charts,GraphsandTables

Photographs,maps,charts,graphsandtablescanmakeusefulsupplementstoyourthesis.Someinformationcanbequitedifficulttoputintowordsorcanbemademucheasiertograspbymeansofavisualsummary.Keepinmindthatallillustrationshavetoberelevanttoyourargumentandkeepwhateverimagesyouareusingasclearandconciseaspossible.

• Anyandallillustrationsmustbeaccompaniedbyacaptionandacredit.Numberyourphotographs,maps,graphsandtables,andincludealistofcreditsattheendofyourthesis,ifnecessary.

• Preferablydrawatopographicalmapyourself,oradaptanexistingmap.Limittheinformationonthemaptowhatisindispensableforyourargument.Ifyouuseanexisting

51

map,clearlyindicatewhereyouhavefoundtheoriginalandincludethisinformationinyourlistofcredits.

• Usemapsfromtheproperperiod.Avoiddrawing16thcenturymigrationflowsonamapshowing20thcenturynationalborders.

Graphsandtablesareusedforquantitativedata.Makesuretheyareclear,spaciousandeasytoreadatfirstglance.Alwaysaccompanytablesandgraphswithcaptions.

Appendices

Appendices(singular:Appendix)includecopiesofarchivaldocuments,illustrations,graphs,tables,figuresandthelike.

Thesameprincipleappliestoappendicesthatappliestoillustrations:useonlyifnecessaryforclarifyingyourargument.Askyourselfwhethercopies,graphs,andthelikeshouldbeincludedinthebodyofyourtextoraddedasanappendix.Usethefollowingcriteria:

• Relativelyconciseitemsthatsupportthedevelopmentofyourmainargumentshouldpreferablybeincludedinthemaintext.

• Itemsthatillustrateaminorpoint,orthathaveabearingonseveralsectionsinthebodyshouldbeappended.

Whateveryoudecide,alwaysprovidecleartitlesorcaptions,credits(sources)andpropernotesforeachofthesematerials.

Appendicesareincludedattheendofyourpaperorthesis.Donotforgettoincludetheminyourtableofcontents.

52

4. Presentation

4.1PreparingYourPresentation

Presentationsrequiregoodpreparation.Theyarefundamentallydifferentfromapaperorthesis.Abadpresentationisanordealforthespeakerandtheaudience.Agoodone,however,enlightenstheaudienceandhelpsthemunderstandtheconclusionsdrawnfromtheresearch.Belowyouwillfindsomepointersthatcanhelpyouprepareagoodpresentation.

Beforeyoustart,askyourselfwhatyouraimis.Themostcommonaimsaretransferringinformation,receivingfeedbackandtestingthevalidityofyourconclusionsthroughdebate.Onceyouhaveestablishedwhichgoalyouaimtoachieve,thinkaboutthetypeofpresentationneededtoaccomplishthis.Areyougoingtotalkaboutyourwholepaperorthesis,orzoominononeparticularaspect?Thebestapproachdependsinpartontheallottedtime.Keepalltheseconsiderationsinmind.

Startbywritingdownwhatyouwishtoconvey.Therearemanywaystoprepareinwriting.Somepeoplewriteouttheirwholestoryfrombeginningtoendandbringthattothepresentation.Othersusejustanumberofkeysentencesorkeywords,andsomeevenlearntheirentiretextbyheart.

Itisbesttopracticeyourpresentationseveraltimesbeforetheactualevent.Thishelpsyoutakesomedistancefromyourwrittenversionandenablesyoutotalkaboutyourresearchmorelooselyandconfidently.Practicingwillteachyouwheretopause,whentoswitchtothenextslide(ifyouusethem)andwhentoaskyouraudienceaquestion.Bringyourwrittenversiontotherealpresentationasa‘crutch’.

53

4.2Structure

Apresentationcannotconveynearlyasmuchinformationasapaperorthesis.Youraudiencehastooshortanattentionspantotakeitallin.Therefore,youneedtokeepyourkeymessageforemostinmind.Toensureyouraudienceremembersyourkeymessage,youmustbeabletoexpressyourhypothesisandconclusioninthreesentencesorless.

Thebeginningofyourpresentationiscrucial.Startingoutbysaying‘Mypresentationisgoingtobeabout...’or‘Iwanttotalkabout...’isfartoopredictable.Itisimportanttocaptureyouraudience’sattentionrightfromtheoutset.Therefore,youarebetteroffbeginningwithacaptivatingimageorquote,oraclear,provocativequestion,andthenlinkingthistoyourtopic.

Aliveaudiencecannotrewindorturnthepagebackandreadyourstoryoveragain.Therefore,thestructureofyourpresentationmustbecrystalclear.Deliveryourkeymessage(yourhypothesisandconclusion),moveontocontextandexamples,andthenreturntoyourkeymessage.Thisensuresthatnoonewillmissthecoreofyourpresentation.

Beexplicitaboutthestructureofyourargument:‘Thisraisesthreequestions.Thefirstoneiswhether.....,etc.’Alsobuildinmomentswhereyouexplicitlyrecapwhatyouhavejustargued:‘Ijustdiscussedtwowaysinwhich....NowIwanttomoveonto....’

Rememberthepowerofrepetition.Itisatoolyoucanusetoorderyourpresentation,anditservesyouraudiencetoo.Repetitionensuresthatinformationsticks;youraudiencewillcomeawayrememberingyourkeymessage.Obviouslyyoushouldtakecarenottooverdothis.

Dependingonthegoalofyourpresentation,youcanmaketimeforfeedbackfromtheaudienceorfordebate.

Tosupportyourstructure,youcanuseavisualelementlikeacopyofanimportantarchivaldocument,TVimages,photosorobjects.Youcanwriteordrawsomethingonawhiteboard,handoutcopiesofadocumentoruseaslidepresentation.

Endyourstorywithamemorableclosingstatementinwhichyousummarizeyourkeymessageoncemoreand,ifpossible,indicateitswiderimplications.Forexample,ifyouareplanningtowriteanotherpaperoryourthesisonthistopic,youcoulddescribewhichaspectsyouareplanningtoresearch.Neverendbysaying‘Well,that’sall.’Ifyouhavelittletoadd,atleastshowgratitudetowardyouraudience:‘Thankyouforyourattention.’

54

4.3PresentationSkills

Bepreparedandstaycalm.Makesureyouareintheroomearlyenoughtochecktechnicalaidswellbeforeyouhavetobegin.

Thinkaboutwhenyouaregoingtodistributeanyhandoutsyoumaybeusing.Oncegivenahandout,youraudiencewilllikelystartreadingthisandstoppayingattentiontowhatyouaresaying.Therefore,youshouldtellyouraudiencewhentheinformationonthehandoutisgoingtobediscussed,ortellthemtheywillreceiveahandoutsummarizingthemainpointsafteryourpresentation.Thiswillreassurethemthattheywillnotmissanything,sotheycanfocusonyourpresentation.

Adoptacomfortableyetauthoritativepose,preferablystandingandfacingyouraudience.Mindyourpostureanddonotputyourhandsinyourpockets.Ifpublicspeakingdauntsyou,makesureyouhavesomethingtoholdontowithonehand,forexample,arostrumortable.

Neverreadtextverbatimfromapieceofpaper;presentyourstory‘impromptu’orbyheart(seePreparingyourpresentation).Makesureyouknowthestorysowellthatyoucantellitwithouthavingtoresorttoyourwrittenversion.Thisversionisforyoutofallbackonincaseyoulosetrack.

Donotspeaktooquickly.Besuretoenunciateclearly.Lookatyouraudience,notatthefloorortheceiling.Itmightbehelpfultofindafocalpointjustoveryouraudience’sheads.

Checkyourwatchortheclocknowandthen;donotexceedyourallottedtime.Otherwise,youraudiencemightcomeawaywiththeideathatittook‘forever’insteadofrememberingyourkeymessage.

Usequotationssparingly;peoplequicklystoplistening.Ifyoudousethem,selectshortquotesorexcerptsthatexemplifyyourpoint.Alwaysannouncethatwhatfollowsisaquotation.UseonlyEnglishquotes(translateforeignlanguagequotesintoEnglishifnecessary)andmakesurethatyouknowhowtoreadthemwell.

Donotcramyourpresentationfullofdates.Wheneveryouuseadate,makeclearwhyyouareusingit:“In1869,sojustfortyyearslater,thegovernment...”.

Explaincomplicatedconcepts,usinganetymologicalexplanationorsynonyms,forexample.

Humorworkswellinpresentations,butyourbasicstoryneedstobeseriousandacademic.Takecarenottoappearlaconic,cynicalorindifferentaboutyourtopic,becausethiswillbackfire.Ifthepresenterdoesnotevenconsiderthetopicimportant,thenwhyshouldtheaudience?

Leavesomepausesinyourpresentation.Takeabreathorasipofwater,orchangeaslide.Graduallybuildupyourargument.Donotbeafraidtoremindyouraudiencewhythethingsyouaretellingthemareimportantorinteresting.

Beawarethattheaudiencemayaskquestions.Thinkaheadoftimewhatthesemightbeandhowyoucouldanswerthem.Answerfullywithoutaddingtoomanydetails.

Considerendingwithahypothesisoraquestionfordebate.

55

4.4PresentationSoftware

PresentationsoftwaresuchasPowerPointandPreziareagreataidforgivingapresentation,buttheyarenotmandatory.BelowyouwillfindafewpointersontheDo’sandDon’tsofusingpresentationsoftware:

• Lessismoreindigitalpresentation:donotincludetoomuchtextperslide(8linesisalot)anddonotusetoomanyslides.

• Thefirstslideofyourpresentationincludesyournameandthetitleofyourpresentation.• Useeffects,animationandsoundssparingly.Yourspokenwordsarethecoreofthestory;

everythingelseisanaid.• Writeshortsentencesorkeywords,notfullsentences.Thispreventsyoufromhavingtoread

theslidewithyourbacktotheaudience.• Givevisualsspace:usethefullscreen.Enlargerelevantdetails.• Ifyoudonothavearelevantimageortextforpartofyourpresentation,makesurethe

screenisblanktoo.Insertablackslide(orpresstheletterbortheperiod<.>duringyourpresentation).Otherwiseyouraudiencewillremainmentallystuckonthepointyoucoveredinyourpreviousslide.

• Alwaysbringahardcopyofyourpresentation,oratleastofthekeyslides.Yourpresentationshouldneverbedependentonwhethertheprojector,digitalscreenorcomputerisworking.

• Thelastslideshoulddisplayyourhypothesisoryourquestionfordebate.Ifnot,projectsomethingneutrallikeablackscreen,yournameoralistofreferences.

• ConsultGoogleVideoand/orYouTubeforpresentationtipsandmanygoodpointersonhowtousepresentationsoftware.

56

5. Examples

5.1ResearchQuestions

SampleResearchQuestions

Note:Inpractice,researchquestionsareoftenpartlydescriptiveandpartlyexplanatory.Sometimestheyarepartlyhypothetical.

Bearinmindthatbeforecompletingyourpaperorthesis,youneedtoturnyourresearchquestionintoaclearthesisstatement(see3.2,2.ResearchQuestion/ThesisStatement).

Descriptive(providinganoverview):

• ‘Whatwerethemotivesandmethodsoftheeditors-in-chiefofthe19thcenturyBiographischWoordenboekderNederlanden[BiographicalDictionaryoftheNetherlands]?’

• ‘HowdidDutchnewsweekliesandpamphletsreportonwomen’ssuffragebetween1860and1920?’

• ‘HowdidtheRepublicrespondtoJonathanSwift’ssatiricalliterature?’

Explanatory(explainingsomephenomenon):

• Whatwerethecauses/consequencesof<anevent>?• Howdid<aperson>influence<anevent>?• ‘WhatcausedtheIrishPotatoFamine?’• ‘WhywasLouisNapoleonKingofHollandforonlyfouryears?’• ‘HowdidGillesSchotel,aneditor-in-chiefofBiographischWoordenboekderNederlanden

[BiographicalDictionaryoftheNetherlands],contributetotheprofessionalizationofDutchhistoriographyinthelate19thcentury?’

• ‘HowdidDutchphilologistsNicolaasHeinsiusandIsaacVossiuscontributetotherealizationofthescientificidealformulatedbyQueenChristinaofSweden?’

Hypothetical(testingwhetheratheoryisvalid)

• ‘IsthemarriageofJohanvanOldenbarnevelttoMariavanUtrecht(1575)anexampleofmarriageas‘atooltomanagesocialcapital’asformulatedbyLuucKooijmansinhis1997Dutch-languagepublicationVriendschapendekunstvanhetoverleven[FriendshipandtheArtofSurvival]?’

Comparative(comparingandcontrastingnations,periods,phenomena)

• ‘Whatsimilarities,ifany,existbetweenthediscomfortaboutsocialmoralityinbourgeoiscirclesasvoicedinthelate19thcenturyeditionsofDutchliterarymagazineDeGidsandthelate20thcenturydebateaboutsocialcohesionintheNetherlands?’

Historiographical(trackinghowahistoriceventhasbeenportrayedandassessedovertime)

• ‘HowdidDutchProtestantsinthe18thand19thcenturiesviewthestoryoftheGorcummartyrs?’

57

• ‘HowhastheattitudeoftheDutchduringtheSecondWorldWarbeenportrayedandassessedoverthepast50years?’

Statistical(lookingforacorrelationbetweenhistoricalphenomena)

• ‘Whatwastheratioofwomentomenworkinginthe17thcenturybooktradeintheNetherlandsandBritainandwhatdoesthisimplyaboutthepositionofwomeninthebooktradeinthosetwocountriesatthattime?’

NOTE:Ifyouintendtouseastatisticalresearchquestion,youneedtobewellversedinstatistics.Youneedtoknowexactlywhatresearchmethodisrequiredandwhichcriteriayouaregoingtoapply.Itisunethicaltochangethesecriteriaoverthecourseofyourresearch.Ifthemethodyouoptedfordoesnotwork,theonlyrightcourseofactionistohalttheresearch,findanewmethodandrephraseyourresearchquestion.Tonarrowthechancesofsuchasetback,itisbesttocarryoutsomepreliminaryresearchusingalimitedyetrepresentativepartofthematerial.Thiscanhelpyouphraseanappropriateresearchquestion.

Avoidresearchquestionslikethese:

• Whatwouldhavehappenedif…..?(youwillneverfindout)• Whowas…..?(boundtobecomeabiographydevoidoffocusoranalysis)• Whatarewetothinkof…?(anattempttodescribeaconsensusthatwillneverbereached;a

veryimprecisequestiontoo)

58

5.2SampleCitations

SampleCitations

Publishersmayusedifferentstyleguidestoformatnotesandbibliographies(seealsothegeneralinformationonnotes).English-languagepapersandtheseswrittenfortheDepartmentofHistoryandArtHistoryatUtrechtUniversityshouldfollowtheChicagoManualofStyle,16thedition.

Thefollowingexamplesprovidesomesampledocumentarynotesreferencingdifferenttypesofpublications,andsamplebibliographicalentries.Whenindoubt,consultTheChicagoManualofStyle(UniversityofChicagoPress,16thed.).OtherextremelyusefulresourcesincludePurdueOnlineWritingLab(CMSNBSamplePaper)andKateL.Turabian’sAManualforWritersofResearchPapers,Theses,andDissertations(7thedn).Whenformattingnotes,payspecialattentiontothefollowing:

• orderofinformation(author,title,place,publisher,dateofpublication)• capitalizationinEnglishtitles• commas,spaces,periods,colons• italics,quotationmarks,parentheses,brackets• standardabbreviationslike‘Ed.’‘Eds’(noperiod),‘etal.’

Referencetype

BOOKS:

1. Bookwithoneauthor(monograph)2. E-book(fromlibraryorwebstore)3. Bookwithtwoorthreeauthors4. Multivolumework5. Volumeinaseries6. Editedbook(oneormoreeditors/compilers)

ARTICLES:

7. Article/titledchapterinaneditedbook8. Journalarticle9. Articleinaspecialissueofajournal10. Articleinperiodicalorothermedia11. Onlinearticle(otherthanviaJSTORorthelibrary’selectronicjournalsubscriptions)

OTHERSOURCES:

12. Collectedworks13. Parliamentaryproceedings14. Unpublishedmaterial15. Dateorplaceofpublicationunknown

PRIMARYSOURCESANDAUDIOVISUALMATERIALS:

16. Collectionsofsources

59

17. Sourcewithinacollectionofsources18. Archivalsources19. Audiovisualmaterials

60

Books

1. Bookwithoneauthor(monograph).

Note,fullcitation:

BarbaraTuchman,ADistantMirror:TheCalamitous14thCentury,(NewYork:RandomHouse,2014[1978]),128.

Note,shortenedcitation:

Tuchman,DistantMirror,169.

InBibliography:

Tuchman,Barbara.ADistantMirror:TheCalamitous14thCentury.NewYork:RandomHouse,2014[1978]

2. E-book

Note,fullcitation:

Austen,Jane,PrideandPrejudice(GoogleBooks,2008),153(Chapter20).

IntheBibliography,includethetypeofe-bookasfollows:

Austen,Jane,PrideandPrejudice.NewYork,2007,Kindle-e-book.Austen,Jane,PrideandPrejudice.NewYork,2008.PDFe-book.Austen,Jane,PrideandPrejudice.NewYork,2008.MicrosoftReadere-book.Theprintedversionwouldbe:Austen,Jane,PrideandPrejudice.London:PenguinBooks,2002.

Note:

• Becausee-booksmayhaveunstablepagination,itiswisetorefernotonlytopagenumbersbutalsotochapternumbersorotherlocationnumbers(e.g.JaneAusten,PrideandPrejudice(NewYork2008)Kindle-e-book,Chapter23).

• Ifyouhaveaccessedapublicationonline,alsogivetheURLorDOIandthedate(e.g.JaneAusten,PrideandPrejudice,(2008,https://books.google.nl/books?id=aFbCdW8CcuAC&hl=nl&source=gbs_book_other_versions,accessedOct.30,2015).

61

3. Bookwithtwoormoreauthors

Note,fullcitation:

LiamP.UnwinandJosephGalloway,PeaceinIreland(Boston:StronghopePress,1990),45.

Note,shortenedcitation:

UnwinandGalloway,Peace,45.

InBibliography:

Unwin,LiamP.andJosephGalloway.PeaceinIreland.Boston:StronghopePress,1990.

Notethatonlythefirstauthor’snameisinverted,becausethebibliographylistssourcesalphabeticallybylastnameofthefirstauthor.

Whendealingwithabookwithfourormoreauthorsoreditors,listonlythefirstauthor,followedby‘etal.’(Latinfor‘andothers’).

Note,fullcitation:

J.Evansetal.,EqualSubjects,UnequalRights:IndigenousPeoplesinBritishSettlerSocieties(Manchester:ManchesterUniv.Press,2003),20.

Inthebibliography,listalltheauthorsasfollows:

Evans,J.,P.Grimshaw,D.Philips,andS.Swain.EqualSubjects,UnequalRights:IndigenousPeoplesinBritishSettlerSocieties.Manchester:ManchesterUniv.Press,2003.

4. Multivolumework

Note,fullcitation:

LoedeJong,HetKoninkrijkderNederlandenindeTweedeWereldoorlogI,Voorspel[TheKingdomoftheNetherlandsintheSecondWorldWar,Vol.1,Prelude],(TheHague:Staatsuitgeverij,1969),345.

Note,shortenedcitation:

DeJong,HetKoninkrijkI,345.

InBibliography:

DeJong,Loe.HetKoninkrijkderNederlandenindeTweedeWereldoorlogI,Voorspel[TheKingdomoftheNetherlandsintheSecondWorldWar,Vol.I,Prelude].TheHague:Staatsuitgeverij,1969.

NotethatinEnglish‘De’and‘Van’areconsideredanintegralpartofalastname.Therefore,inanalphabeticallist,allnamesstartingwith‘De’arecategorizedunderDandnamesstartingwith‘Van’arelistedunderV(whereasinDutchthesenameswouldbealphabetizedunderthesecondpartofthelastname).

62

5. Workinaseries

Note,fullcitation:

JoachimHopp,UntersuchungenzurGeschichtederletztenAttaliden[ResearchingtheHistoryoftheLastAttalids],Vestigia,BeiträgezuraltenGeschichte,no.25(Munich:C.H.Beck’scheVerlag,1977),115.

Note,shortenedcitation:

Hopp,Untersuchungen,115.

InBibliography:

Hopp,Joachim.UntersuchungenzurGeschichtederletztenAttaliden[ResearchingtheHistoryoftheLastAttalids].Vestigia,BeiträgezuraltenGeschichte,no.25.Munich:C.H.Beck’scheVerlag,1977.

Notethattheseriestitleandthevolumenumberarenotitalicized.

6. Editedbook(oneormoreeditors/compilers)

Note,fullcitation:

JohnC.G.RöhlandNicolausSombart(eds),KaiserWilhelmII:NewInterpretations,(Cambridge:CambridgeUniv.Press,1982),175.

Note,shortenedcitation:

RöhlandSombart(eds),KaiserWilhelmII,175.

InBibliography:

Röhl,JohnC.G.,andNicolausSombart(eds).KaiserWilhelmII.Newinterpretations.Cambridge:CambridgeUniversityPress,1982.

Notethatforeditedvolumes,youfollowtheeditor’snamewith(ed.)(or(eds)formorethanoneeditor)

63

Articles

7. Article/titledchapterinaneditedbook

Note,fullcitation:

A.AgnesSneller,“ReadingJacobCats,”inWomenoftheGoldenAge:AnInternationalDebateonwomeninSeventeenth-centuryHolland,EnglandandItaly,ed.ElsKloek,NicoleTeeuwenandMarijkeHuisman(Hilversum:UitgeverijVerloren,1994),23.

Note,shortenedcitation:

Sneller,“ReadingJacobCats,”23.

InBibliography:

Sneller,A.Agnes.“ReadingJacobCats.”InWomenoftheGoldenAge:AnInternationalDebateonWomeninSeventeenth-centuryHolland,EnglandandItaly,21-34.EditedbyElsKloek,NicoleTeeuwenandMarijkeHuisman.Hilversum:UitgeverijVerloren,1994.

Notethatadocumentarynotereferstotheindividualpagenumber,whilethebibliographyreferstothechapter’sfirstandlastpage.

Alsonotethedifferencebetween‘in’(note)and‘In’(bibliographicentry)and‘ed.’(note)and‘editedby’(bibliography).Notethereisnocolonafter‘in’.

8.Journalarticle

Note,fullcitation:

AaronJ.Cohen,“‘OurRussianPassport’:FirstWorldWarMonuments,TransnationalCommemoration,andtheRussianEmigrationinEurope,1918–39,”JournalofContemporaryHistory,49(2014):4,629-651

Note,shortenedcitation:

Cohen,“RussianPassport,”631.

InBibliography:

Cohen,AaronJ.“‘OurRussianPassport’:FirstWorldWarMonuments,TransnationalCommemoration,andtheRussianEmigrationinEurope,1918–39.”JournalofContemporaryHistory,49(2014):4,627-651.

Whenreferringtojournalarticles,includethefollowing:

• Volume(here:49);• YearorMonthYearinparentheses(here:(2014)or(October2014)),followedbyacolon;Ifajournalis

paginatedconsecutivelyacrossavolumeorifthemonthorseasonappearswiththeyear,theissuenumbermaybeomitted.

• Numberoftheissue(here:4),followedbyacomma;• Pagenumbertowhichthenoterefers(here:629),orfirstpage-lastpageofthearticleinthebibliographic

entry(here:627-651).

64

9. Articleinaspecialissueofajournal

Note,fullcitation:

MargaretJeanHay,“Queens,ProstitutesandPeasants:HistoricalPerspectivesonAfricanWomen,1971–1986,”inCurrentResearchonAfricanWomen,specialissue,CanadianJournalofAfricanStudies22(1988):436.

Note,shortenedcitation:

Hay,“Queens,”439.

InBibliography:

Hay,MargaretJean.“Queens,ProstitutesandPeasants:HistoricalPerspectivesonAfricanWomen,1971–1986.”InCurrentResearchonAfricanWomen,specialissue,CanadianJournalofAfricanStudies22(1988):431–447.

10. Articleinperiodicalorothermedia

Note,fullcitation:

FerryBiedermann,“Damascusbrengtzichzelfopnieuwschadetoe”[DamascusHurtsItselfAgain],Volkskrant,July13,2005.

Note,shortenedcitation:

Biedermann,“Damascus.”

InBibliography:

Biedermann,Ferry.“Damascusbrengtzichzelfopnieuwschadetoe”[DamascusHurtsItselfAgain].Volkskrant,July13,2005.

Ifyouhaveaccessedanewspaperarticleonline,givetheURLofthesiteyouusedandthedateyouaccessedit(seeOnlinearticle)

11. Onlinearticle(otherthanviaJSTORorthelibrary’selectronicjournalsubscriptions)

Withauthor:

ChristinaLarner,“WitchBeliefsandWitch-huntinginEnglandandScotland.”HistoryToday31(1981)2,http://www.historytoday.com/christina-larner/witch-beliefs-and-witch-hunting-england-and-scotland#sthash.hCZLvwLr.dpuf,accessedonOct.30,2015

Noauthor(useinstitutioninstead):

KoninklijkeBibliotheek,“Dossierafschaffingslavernij(1863).”[1863AbolitionFile],lastmodifiedJune13,2007,http://www.kb.nl/dossiers/slavernij/slavernij.html,accessedonNov.11,2009.

Note:whenreferencingonlinearticles,includetheauthor’sname(ifknown),dateofpublicationorlastmodification,URLandaccessdate.

65

OtherSources

12. Collectedworks

Note,fullcitation:

SigmundFreud,“TheInterpretationofDreamsI(1900),”inTheStandardEditionoftheCompletePsychologicalWorksofSigmundFreud,Vol.4(London:HogarthPress,1953),325-326.Trans.JamesStrachey,AnnaFreud,AlixStracheyandAlanTyson.

Note,shortenedcitation:

Freud,“InterpretationofDreams,”327.

InBibliography:

Freud,Sigmund.“TheInterpretationofDreamsI(1900).”InTheStandardEditionoftheCompletePsychologicalWorksofSigmundFreud,Vol.4.London:HogarthPress,1953,320-370.Trans.fromtheGermanbyJamesStrachey,incollaborationwithAnnaFreud,assistedbyAlixStracheyandAlanTyson.

13. Parliamentaryproceedings

Referencetoaplenarydebate,fullcitation:

VerslagderhandelingenvandeTweedeKamerderStatenGeneraal(hereafter:HTK)[ParliamentaryProceedings,HouseofRepresentatives],1952-1953,3529.

VerslagderhandelingenvandeEersteKamerderStatenGeneraal(hereafter:HEK)[ParliamentaryProceedings,Senate],1952-1953,1256.

Referencetoaplenarydebate,shortenedcitation:

HTK1955-1956,3524.(OrHEK1952-1953,1256).

Referencetoadebateondraftlegislation,fullcitation:

HTK1953-1954,Bijl.A,3200-VIRijksbegroting,nr.13,MemorievanAntwoord(hereafter:MvA)[App.A,3200-VIStateBudget,No.13,MemorandumofResponse]31.

Referencetoadebateondraftlegislation,shortenedcitation:

HTK1953-1954,Bijl.A,3200-VIRijksbegroting,nr.13,MvA,33.

Note:

• Youcouldalsoincludewhereyoufoundtheserecords(e.g.www.statengeneraaldigitaal.nl),butifyouhavedownloadedPDFs,youhaveactuallyusedaprinted(orprintable)versionandthereisnoneedtoincludetheURL.

• Parliamentaryproceedingsareanexceptionallyrichsource,particularlybecausetherearesomanyappendicestodraftlawssupplyingin-depthtreatisesonkeysocialissues.

• Mostforeignparliamentsalsopublishtheirproceedings.Forexample,FoodSecurityActof1985,HR2100,99thCong.,1stsess.,CongressionalRecord131,pt.19:26641.(note)orFoodSecurityActof1985.HR2100.99thCong.,1stsess.,CongressionalRecord131,pt.19:26581-26655.(bibliographicentry).

66

14. Unpublishedmaterial

Note,fullcitation:

JaccoPekelder,“Hetklapwiekenvandenpruisischenarendbovenonzehoofden.Bismarck,PruisenenNederlandindeNederlandsepublicistiek,1862-1871”[ThePrussianEagleFlapsItsWingsOverhead:Bismarck,PrussiaandtheNetherlandsinDutchJournalism],(Master’sthesisintheHistoryofInternationalRelations,UtrechtUniversity,1992),27.

Note,shortenedcitation:

Pekelder,“Klapwieken,”27.

InBibliography:

Pekelder,Jacco.“Hetklapwiekenvandenpruisischenarendbovenonzehoofden.Bismarck,PruisenenNederlandindeNederlandsepublicistiek,1862-1871”[ThePrussianEagleFlapsItsWingsOverhead:Bismarck,PrussiaandtheNetherlandsinDutchJournalism].Master’sthesisintheHistoryofInternationalRelations,UtrechtUniversity,1992.

15. Dateorplaceofpublicationunknown

Noplace:

TienjarigbestaanderCongregatievandeEerwaardeZustersUrsulinenteBergenN.H.KortegeschiedenisdezerCongregatieenprospectussen(n.p.,1908),7.

Nodate:

J.Visser-Roosendael,Delagehoek(Haarlem:n.p.,n.d.),18.

Whentheplaceofpublicationorthepublisherisnotidentified,use‘n.p.’inanote(‘N.p.’inthebibliography)instead.Whenthedateofpublicationisnotknown,substitute‘n.d.’and‘N.d.’inthenoteandthebibliographyrespectively.

67

PrimarySourcesandAudiovisualMaterials

16. Collectionofsources

Originalauthoridentified:

LouisNapoleon,Gedenkschriften[Memoirs],ed.WimZaal(Amsterdam:Singel,1983),190.

Nooriginalauthor(bibliographicentry):

BronnentotdegeschiedenisderLeidscheUniversiteitVII[SourcesontheHistoryofLeidenUniversity,Vol.7].EditedbyP.C.Molhuysen.RijksGeschiedkundigePublicatiën.TheHague:MartinusNijhoff,1976.

Collectionofsourcesaspartofaseries(bibliographicentry):

OfficiëlebescheidenbetreffendedeNederlands-Indonesischebetrekkingen,1945-1950V,July16-Oct.281946[OfficialDocumentsConcerningDutch-IndonesianRelations,1945-1950].EditedbyS.L.vanderWal.RijksGeschiedkundigePublicatiën,Kleineserie41.TheHague:MartinusNijhoff,1975.

17. Sourcewithinacollectionofsources

Report(note):

JohanGijsbertKarelVerstolkvanSoelen,“RapportoverdebuitenlandsestaatkundederNederlanden”[ReportonDutchForeignRelations],(Jan.23,1829),inGedenkstukkenderalgemeenegeschiedenisvanNederlandvan1795tot1840,negendedeel,tweedestuk,ed.H.T.Colenbrander,RGP(TheHague:MartinusNijhoff,1917),458.

Letter(note):

LetterfromWellingtontoKingWilliamI,December30,1815,inSupplementaryDespatchesandMemorandaofFieldMarshallArthurDukeofWellington,ed.A.R.Wellesley,SecondDukeofWellington(London:JohnMurray,1872),624-625.

Pamphlet(bibliographicalentry):

RoteArmeeFraktion.“DasKonzeptStadtguerilla”[TheConceptoftheUrbanGuerilla].InRoteArmeeFraktion,TexteundMaterialienzurGeschichtederRAF.Ed.ID-Verlag(Berlin:ID-Verlag,1997),27-48.

Note:Referencinghistoricaldocumentscanbecomplicated,evenwhentheyhavebeenincorporatedinacollectionofsources.Themostimportantruleistobeconsistentandtomakesurethatreaderscantracethematerialsyouarereferencing.

68

18. Archivalsources

DutchMinistryofForeignAffairs(notyetstoredintheNationaalArchief[DutchNationalArchives]:

ArchiefministerievanBuitenlandseZaken(hereafter:ABZ),1965-1974,2129,MemorandumdatedJan.2,1973,DirectieEuropa/Midden-Europa(hereafter:DEU/ME).

NationaalArchief(NA,[DutchNationalArchives],formerlyAlgemeenRijksarchief(ARA)[DutchGeneralStateArchives]:

NationaalArchief,TheHague,(hereafter:NL-HaNA),2.05.242,DutchembassyinRomania(Bucharest),1955-1974,catalognumber86,letterdatedSept.12,1961,fromAmbassadorJ.H.Zeeman,Budapest,toMinisterofForeignAffairsJosephLunsinTheHague.

Privatearchivalinstitution:

HamburgerInstitutfürSozialforschung,SammlungUlrikeMeinhof(hereafterHIS,Me,U),015,005,letterdatedDec.9,1976fromWolfgangWiedenmann,studentpastoroftheEvangelischeStudentengemeindeHamburg,toRechtsanwaltKlausCroissantinStuttgart.

Privatearchives:

ArchivesoftheStichtingPariteit(housedatBenBuskes,Utrecht,hereafter:PariteitArchives),File11AMediaIV,draftversionofPieterdeLange’sinterviewwithBenBuskes,Springof1989.

Note:Archivesoftenhavetheirownclearinstructionsonreferencing.Followthesewhereverpossibleinthecontextofyourresearchpaperorthesis.

19. Audiovisualmaterials

Soundrecordings(vinyl,CDorotheraudiocarriers)(note):

MortSubite,“IchliebeUlrike”(1980),I’mSureWe’reGonnaMakeIt:DutchPunkrock’77-’82,compilation,6486-2,Epitaph,n.d.,AudioCD.

FilmorTVrecording(DVD,VHS,orothervisualcarriers)(bibliographicalentry):

ParadiseNow.DVD.DirectedbyHanyAbu-Assad.VolkskrantFilmfestivalseries.Amsterdam:A-film,2006.DS91781.

Note:

• Referencestendtobetoanexcerptofaconcert,filmorotheraudiovisualrecording.Locatetheexcerptasaccuratelyaspossible,forinstancebyincludingthetimecodes(2’30”-4’15”)orachapternumber(e.g.,Ch.2).

• Whenreferencinganonlinerecording,takecaretoincludetheURLandallotherinformationnecessarytolocatetherecording,aswellastheaccessdate.

69

5.3Bibliography

SampleBibliography

ListofAbbreviations:

Sources:GAM GemeentearchiefMaastrichtNL-HaNA NationaalArchief,TheHague

Collectionsofsources:RGP RijksGeschiedkundigePublicatiën

Journals:TvG TijdschriftvoorGeschiedenisDNE DeNegentiendeEeuw

Bibliography

Sources

NL-HaNA.2.05.242.DutchembassyinRumania(Bucharest),1955-1974.Catalognumber86.LetterdatedSept.12,1961,fromAmbassadorJ.H.Zeeman,Budapest,toMinisterofForeignAffairsJosephLunsinTheHague.

RoteArmeeFraktion.“DasKonzeptStadtguerilla”[TheConceptoftheUrbanGuerilla].InRoteArmeeFraktion,TexteundMaterialienzurGeschichtederRAF,27-48.EditedbyID-Verlag.Berlin:ID-Verlag,1997.

CollectionsofSources

OfficiëlebescheidenbetreffendedeNederlands-Indonesischebetrekkingen,1945-1950V,July16-Oct.281946,[OfficialDocumentsConcerningDutch-IndonesianRelations,1945-1950].EditedbyS.L.vanderWal.RGP,Kleineserie41.TheHague:MartinusNijhoff,1975.

Literature

Austen,Jane.PrideandPrejudice.NewYork,2007,Kindlee-book.

Biedermann,Ferry.“Damascusbrengtzichzelfopnieuwschadetoe”[Damascushurtsitselfagain].Volkskrant,July13,2005.

Cohen,AaronJ.“‘OurRussianPassport’:FirstWorldWarMonuments,TransnationalCommemoration,andtheRussianEmigrationinEurope,1918–39.”JournalofContemporaryHistory,49(2014):4,627-651.

DeJong,Loe.HetKoninkrijkderNederlandenindeTweedeWereldoorlogI,Voorspel[TheKingdomoftheNetherlandsintheSecondWorldWar,Vol.I,Prelude].TheHague:Staatsuitgeverij,1969.

Evans,J.,P.Grimshaw,D.Philips,andS.Swain.EqualSubjects,UnequalRights:IndigenousPeoplesinBritishSettlerSocieties.Manchester:ManchesterUniversityPress,2003.

70

Foucault,Michel.“TheMeansofCorrectTraining.”InTheFoucaultReader,188-205.EditedbyPaulRabinow.NewYork:Pantheon,1984.

—.“Panopticism.”InTheFoucaultReader,206-13.EditedbyPaulRabinow.NewYork:Pantheon,1984.

Freud,Sigmund.“TheInterpretationofDreamsI(1900).”InTheStandardEditionoftheCompletePsychologicalWorksofSigmundFreud,Vol.4.London:HogarthPress,1953,320-370.TranslatedfromtheGermanbyJamesStrachey,incollaborationwithAnnaFreud,assistedbyAlixStracheyandAlanTyson.

Hay,MargaretJean.“Queens,ProstitutesandPeasants:HistoricalPerspectivesonAfricanWomen,1971–1986.”InCurrentResearchonAfricanWomen.Specialissue,CanadianJournalofAfricanStudies22(1988):431–447.

Hopp,Joachim.UntersuchungenzurGeschichtederletztenAttaliden[ResearchingtheHistoryoftheLastAttalids].Vestigia,BeiträgezuraltenGeschichte,no.25.Munich:C.H.Beck’scheVerlag,1977.

ParadiseNow.DVD.DirectedbyHanyAbu-Assad.VolkskrantFilmfestivalseries.Amsterdam:A-film,2006.DS91781.

Pekelder,Jacco.“Hetklapwiekenvandenpruisischenarendbovenonzehoofden.Bismarck,PruisenenNederlandindeNederlandsepublicistiek,1862-1871”[ThePrussianEagleFlapsItsWingsOverhead:Bismarck,PrussiaandtheNetherlandsinDutchJournalism].Master’sthesisintheHistoryofInternationalRelations,UtrechtUniversity,1992.

Röhl,JohnC.G.,andNicolausSombart(eds).KaiserWilhelmII:NewInterpretations.Cambridge:CambridgeUniversityPress,1982.

Sneller,A.Agnes.“ReadingJacobCats.”InWomenoftheGoldenAge:AnInternationalDebateonWomeninSeventeenth-centuryHolland,EnglandandItaly,21-34.EditedbyElsKloek,NicoleTeeuwenandMarijkeHuisman.Hilversum:UitgeverijVerloren,1994.

Tuchman,Barbara.ADistantMirror:TheCalamitous14thCentury.NewYork:RandomHouse,2014[1978].

Unwin,LiamP.andJosephGalloway.PeaceinIreland.Boston:StronghopePress,1990.

Visser-Roosendael,J.Delagehoek.Haarlem:n.p.,n.d.

71

5.4TableofContents

TableofContents

Introduction 4

1.ArtdealersintheNetherlands1600-1800 7

·Streetmerchants,marketsandfairs(subheadings) 9

·Professionalartdealers 11

2.Amsterdam.FatyearsontheBreestraat 27

·RembrandtinAmsterdam 27

·Saskia’stestament 30

·HendrickjeStoffels’firstyearsinAmsterdam 32

·HendrickjeStoffelsasamodel 36

3.HendrickjeStoffelsandRembrandtvanRijn’simage 45

·Rembrandt’simageinthe18thand19thcenturies 46

·FromsavingGracetopassivevictim 49

·Legaltrickorfinancialneed? 54

Conclusion 58

Appendices 60

A: OverviewofdocumentspertainingtoHendrickjeStoffels 60

B: Namesof17thcenturyfemaleartdealers 62

C: ListofprofessionspracticedbyAmsterdamwomeninthe17thcentury

Bibliography

64

67

72

5.5Synopsis

Samplesynopsisbasedonthefollowingresearchquestion:

‘HowdidtheprofessionalizationofDutchhistoriographyinthelate19thcenturyinfluenceGillesSchotel,aneditor-in-chiefofBiographischWoordenboekderNederlanden[BiographicalDictionaryoftheNetherlands]?’

Introduction

Whydoesthistopicdeservetoberesearched?(justification)

Whichliteratureandwhichsources,ifany,willyouuse?

Whatisyourresearchquestion?

Whattheoreticalframeworkandmethodologywillyouuse?

Summaryoftopicsyourpaperwilldealwith

Chapter1

GillesSchotel’sbiography

ProvideashortbiographyofGillesSchotel:whenwasheborn,whatdidhedobeforehebecameeditor-in-chiefofBiographischWoordenboekderNederlanden?

Chapter2

Historiographyuntil1850

Whatwasitlike?Whatsortofpeoplewerepracticinghistoriography?Whatwaspublishedandinwhatmedia?Washistoriographyacoherentacademicdiscipline?

Chapter3

BiographischWoordenboek

ListwhatinformationyouwillneedaboutBiographischWoordenboek

Chapter4

Historiographyafter1850andBiographischWoordenboek

Historiographymaturedintoanacademicdiscipline.Whateffectdidthisprofessionalizationhave?HowdidacademichistoriansviewBiographischWoordenboek?

Conclusion

Yourconclusionsummarizesyourargument(includingsubtopics)andinsodoinganswersyourresearchquestion.

73

Obviously,whenyoudraftyoursynopsisyoudonotknowalltheanswersyet.However,youdohavesomeinformationaboutyoursubtopicsandageneralideaofwhattheanswertoyourresearchquestionisgoingtobe.Usethisknowledgetofillinthesynopsistothebestofyourability.Then,takeyoursynopsistoyourinstructoranddiscusswhetheritseemslikeaworkableplan.

Note:asynopsismaychangeoverthecourseofyourresearchproject,eitherbecauseyoufindnewinformationorbecauseyoucannotfindtheinformationyoufeltyouneeded.Newinformationmayevenshednewlightonyourresearchquestion,orchangetheoutcomeyouhadpredicted.Insuchcases,yousimplyneedtomakethenecessarychangestoyoursynopsis.Thisisnotasignoffailure;asynopsisisnomorethanafirstattempttogetagripontheresearchyouwillconductandthepaperorthesisyouareabouttowrite.