Some considerations for papers in HHS 126.

Essays should have the following components:

1. Header information.
This should include your name, the date, and the title of the essay. The title should be a succinct summary of the subject of the essay. You don't need to include a cover page (I see these as a waste of paper).

2. Introductory paragraph.
This paragraph should introduce the reader to the subject or subjects of the essay. It should pose the central dilemmas or questions that you will address in the essay. It should feature a thesis statement (otherwise known as an argument or hypothesis) that summarizes your interpretation of the subject matter. In other words, the introductory paragraph should introduce how your essay will have the two key ingredients of historical writing: argument and evidence.

3. Body paragraphs.
These paragraphs are the core of your essay, where you get into the details of your topic. Each paragraph should begin with a topic sentence that indicates and/or summarizes the paragraph's contents. Each paragraph should be coherent, well-developed, and closely and clearly related to the essay's main thesis. Your paragraphs also should discuss the evidence that you are using and cite the sources of this evidence.

4. Concluding paragraph.
This paragraph should summarize what you have discussed in the essay. It should convince the reader that the evidence discussed in the body of the essay supports the assertions made (or answers the questions posed) in the introduction.

5. Citations.
You should use MLA style citations, which means you should cite your sources in the text in a way that corresponds to your Works Cited list. (Make sure you understand the different components of a citation, particularly for a website.) You may also, alternatively, use the Chicago Manual of Style Citation Guide.

6. Honor Code.
Every assignment you turn in at Stevens needs to have a signed declaration that you have abided by the Stevens Honor System. Plagiarism, defined as the "act of stealing and using the ideas, writings, or inventions of another as one's own" or as "taking passages, plots, or ideas from another and using them as one's own" is unacceptable and violates the letter and spirit of the Honor System. I will report any violations to the Honor Board and urge them to prosecute violations aggressively.

Good writing is a process that is the result of time, hard work, and lots and lots of re-writing. The best ways to improve your writing are to practice and to consult with your professors and with experts in the library and in the Writing and Communications Center.

I am happy to read and comment on drafts of your essays, within the bounds of reason and the constraints of time.

There is abundant information available online that describes how to write well. See for example:
- http://www.stevens.edu/cal/wcc/resources.php
- http://www.unc.edu/depts/wcweb/handouts/index.html
- Anyone who writes regularly--this includes every college student and most professionals--should own and consult regularly a copy of Elements of Style (now in its fourth edition) by William Strunk, Jr. and E. B. White.

Here are some clues to interpreting my handwritten comments on papers:
- pv = passive voice. This is bad.
- awk = awkward phrasing or bad word choice. This is bad.
- you should not use the following words under any circumstances: great, huge, extremely, truly, inevitable, "throughout history," "being that."
- a check or underline is good!
- no cover pages please.
- When referring to the Internet, please use a capital I to indicate a proper noun.

Any essays turned in late, within one week after the due date will be penalized 1 letter grade. After one week, the penalty will be 2 letter grades; two weeks late is 3 letter grades, and so on.