Writing Instructions for History 262

The first thing you should do is take a look at my WRITING TIPS FOR ONLINE HISTORY STUDENTS . Much of the information and there will apply to your writing in this course.

For each film group, of which you will select one for your reporting, you will submit two brief essays, 2-3 pages each. The length is relatively unimportant, so if you can say what you have to say in fewer pages, or if you need more, that's not a problem. You should have something substantial say, and that should dictate the length paper rather than any arbitrary requirement.

All essays should be submitted as an attached file or mailed to me at the Extended Learning Institute (address below) or in an email as an attached file. Do not include your essay in the email message itself. Be sure that your name is in the file attachment. You do not need a cover page in your essays as they are brief, but at the top of your essays put your name, History 262, my name, and the date. On your first line, centered, put a title, probably the title of the film followed by the word 'background' or the title of the film followed by the word 'review'. (Examples: Hoffa: Background; Thirteen Days: Review). If you want to be more creative, good.

ELI mailing address:
J. Sage, History 262
NVCC Extended Learning Institute
8333 Little River Turnpike
Annandale, VA 22003-3796

All papers should be in a regular font, 10 or 12 pitch, double spaced, with one-inch margins all around, and no extra spaces between paragraphs. If you know how to do it, put a header or footer on each page with your name and page number. (I get hundreds of papers every semester, and having your name on every page of your essay is good practice that helps me keep from losing track of papers.)

All standard rules for academic work should be observed. That means acknowledging all sources, putting direct quotations in quotation marks, and citing the sources of your information. Especially useful for this course are the information sources that you used in writing your critiques and background. If you cite a film review, try to include the URL where you found the review or appropriate publication data, such as the newspaper, magazine, etc., including date, title, reviewer's name, and so on.

For any background information the URL would also be helpful. For example, if you review the film “Hoffa,” you would probably want to go to the Teamsters Union web site and find some information. Then provide the URL in your paper. Such information will be useful, as I can direct future students to good resources and provide a broader information base for this course.

The way to copy a URL is simply to place your cursor in the address line of the page that your viewing, which is at the top of your browser window. Select the entire URL by clicking inside the address bar to select the address, the use Edit-->Copy (or CTRL_C) and then go back to your paper and paste Edit-->Paste (CTRL-V). That is much simpler and more accurate than trying to type a long URL.

If you use any books or magazines, please provide the traditional information on those. You can find details in my writing for history web page.

I'm not trying to make this difficult, and I will not be fussy over details of the rules cited above as long as you make a reasonable attempt to provide information on your sources. No penalties for honest mistakes. However, you should be sure that you are using your sources properly, that is to say, acknowledging them where credit is due. The important thing here is the information, not the format, but as you are all college students and will probably be doing more of this, there's nothing wrong with learning the way to do it properly.

History 262 Home | Updated August 28, 2004