Tips for Writing College History Essays

So, you are in that college or university required history survey class and an exam is looming. You are asking yourself, "what do I do?" No need to worry, here are some tips for writing history essay exams.

With the history exam looming, there are two general situations you will find yourself in. First, you may have no idea what the subject of the examination is. This is a sticky situation. Many professors tell students what the general topic of the essay will be, but if the professor has given you no idea, you will need to to some fast thinking. What subjects has the professor spent a lot of time on? Has the professor hinted at the topic of the essay? Check the syllabus, you might be able to glean some information from there. If all else fails, contact the professor during his or her office hours (face-to-face is always best) and ask for "what to concentrate on."

If the professor has given you the general subject of the essay, things are much easier. Indeed, some professors pass out the essay question ahead of time so you can fully prepare for the test. Given you have at least a general idea about the subject, check your notes! Grab every bit of information about the subject and begin organizing it. Once you have gathered critical elements of information from your lecture notes, take a deep breath and open the textbook. It may be true that information from the textbook is not always needed when writing in-class essays, a few gratuitous facts from the book can only help your grade. Professors know what they have said, when they see information from the text, they are lead to believe you are a dedicated student who has studied--this can only help your grade.

While studying, make an outline and commit it to memory. When the test starts, write it outline down, and then you can simply write the essay from memory.

Have a clear introduction paragraph. This is the most important part of the essay. A good introduction lets the professor know where you are going with the paper. In this introduction, include a clear thesis statement! The body of the paper should use paragraphs! For some reason, many students think paragraph organization is optional--it is not. Be specific in the essay. Name names, list facts, regurgitate the professors bullet points back at him or her. Avoid like the plague wild unsupported generalizations. Examples of this might be "all Americans believed." or "the White Man said." Do not make moral judgments in the essay. History is not a process of judging peoples of the past: Consider what happened and why it happened, moral judgments are for philosophy class. Use a pen. Ink is more readable than pencil, and if it is hard to read, it is hard to grade. In the same vein, write as legibly as possible. Here is a good tip: underline all your major points and/or important facts. This, too, makes the history essay easy to read and grade. And always remember, a happy grader is an easy grader.

Finally, get to class early and organize your thoughts! Ultimately, make sure your essay is well-organized, clearly written, and logical. If you do these things,you cannot go to far wrong! Good Luck!