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HIST 102 - History of the United States Since 1865 - Van Valkenburg

This guide will help you plan and complete your research paper for Ms. Van Valkenburg's class.

Preliminary Reading: Getting Acquainted With Your Topic

It's important to begin your research learning something about your subject; in fact, you won't be able to create a focused, manageable thesis unless you already know something about your topic.

What are others saying and writing about your topic? What different issues or ideas really interest you enough to focus your research on? Who is writing about your topic?

Top Picks:

Be Strategic: Create Research Questions

Creating Research Questions Why research questions? Outline the flow of your paper: introduction, body, conclusion. Create targeted search queries to quickly find the most useful sources. Track the sources you've found vs. those sources you still need to find. Sample Introduction questions 1. What is your topic? 2. Why is your topic an important issue? 3. What background information is necessary to understand your topic? Sample body questions What caused your topic? What are the effects of your topic? What are the arguments FOR your topic? What are the arguments AGAINST your topic? What is being done to address your topic? Sample conclusion questions What conclusions can you make about your topic and why have you come to those conclusions? What can you argue about your topic and why are those arguments valid? What should be done to address your topic and why? To begin answering your questions, please visit: mjc.edu/library

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Subjects: History
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