A Pocket Guide to Writing in History 7th or Later

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Mary Lynn Rampolla, an associate professor of history at Trinity Washington University, wrote A Pocket Guide to Writing in History in 2007. In 2015, Bedford/St Martin's printed the newest version in Boston, Massachusetts. Writing in History gives students a portable, easy to read guide to help them in writing any history assignment, specifically at the undergraduate level. The book accomplishes this by providing easy to follow and sufficient advice on historical writing, but it lacks adequate ex Mary Lynn Rampolla, an associate professor of history at Trinity Washington University, wrote A Pocket Guide to Writing in History in 2007. In 2015, Bedford/St Martin's printed the newest version in Boston, Massachusetts. Writing in History gives students a portable, easy to read guide to help them in writing any history assignment, specifically at the undergraduate level. The book accomplishes this by providing easy to follow and sufficient advice on historical writing, but it lacks adequate examples and is missing some key content.
Each chapter in Writing in History is about one aspect of good writing. It starts discussing prewriting techniques, such as knowing the right sources to use and understanding the general format of history assignments. It then moves on to the writing process, explaining the ins and outs of creating a research paper, as well as the essential foundations of effective writing. Finally, it concludes with discussion about avoiding plagiarism by correctly citing sources and making a bibliography.
This book is an incredible resource because it thoroughly explains many of the key aspects of writing in history in a clear and well organized way. It addresses most things that the average student needs to know about history, including everything from tips about writing the perfect thesis statement to explanations for creating a detailed bibliography. Throughout explaining all of this information, it still sustains the utmost clarity, making sure that the reader is never lost or unsure about the concepts that they are reading about. It does this through maintaining remarkable organization, making sure that every section has a heading and including a surplus of bulleted lists. Overall, Writing in History is an extremely useful resource because it teaches students the information that they are seeking to learn in an organized and easy to understand way.
With that being said, there are some important aspects of historical writing that the book fails to mention, and still others that it does not provide examples for. Even though it covers most topics, there are a few that it completely ignores, such as annotated bibliographies. This causes the book to fall short of explaining everything that students might need to know, and thus fail to be a comprehensive guide. In addition, it sometimes lacks useful, relevant, examples. For instance, it spends multiple pages talking about essay exams, but it does not provide any example of the way that they should be formatted. This makes it harder for the student to apply the concepts to their own writing.
Overall, Writing in History is an incredible resource for any history student, because it provides clear, extensive, and well organized advice, even though it can sometimes neglect topics and examples. In general, it gives college students a lot of relevant information that can help them in all aspects of their education, not just history. I would give this book four out of five stars, because it is well put together and extraordinarily useful.
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Fantastic Resource

This small volume is a thorough and handy guide for those involved in doing and studying history. This volume contains useful information and help for beginners and those wanting a refresher, or even an update on how to utilize many of the tools available to historians.

Good primer for introductory lower division courses on history.

Apr 18, 2019 Jordan rated it it was amazing

It's a really nice guide when you need help getting started or checking your work on assignments. It simplifies things and is just a great basic resource. It's a really nice guide when you need help getting started or checking your work on assignments. It simplifies things and is just a great basic resource. ...more

I didn't find it any more useful than the "Writing History" book we used in Historical Writing.. but it was required, so it was read. *meh* I didn't find it any more useful than the "Writing History" book we used in Historical Writing.. but it was required, so it was read. *meh* ...more

An excellent guide - I read an older version and it didn't even feel that outdated. Considering purchasing a copy for my office. An excellent guide - I read an older version and it didn't even feel that outdated. Considering purchasing a copy for my office. ...more

Feb 02, 2021 Brianna rated it liked it

Basic guide for undergraduates studying history. Nothing too crazy.

Handbook to carry with you

The book A Pocket Guide to Writing in History by Mary Lynn Rampolla provides readers with a basic understanding of the methods that should be used when writing historical documents. This book was published by Trinity Washington University in 2015. Rampolla is an associate professor of history at Trinity Washington University, she has various publications in the field, as well as a doctorate making her an expert in the field. After the seventh edition was created, it was reviewed by 221 other pro The book A Pocket Guide to Writing in History by Mary Lynn Rampolla provides readers with a basic understanding of the methods that should be used when writing historical documents. This book was published by Trinity Washington University in 2015. Rampolla is an associate professor of history at Trinity Washington University, she has various publications in the field, as well as a doctorate making her an expert in the field. After the seventh edition was created, it was reviewed by 221 other professionals, helping solidify the eighth edition. All though this book provides an excellent overview of the skills needed to write history. The weaknesses include the lack of explanation on an outline as well as the lack of inductive versus deductive reasoning.

Throughout the entire book Rampolla explains the method of Chicago style. She goes into detail by first discussing research questions, and the importance of thesis's. A thesis is indeed one of the most important parts of a paper. It explains all of the arguments of a paper in one sentence. She also discusses the demographics of a research paper, from start to finish. The book is roughly 162 pages, and analyzes the key factors in writing a research paper in Chicago style.

There are a plenty of strengths about this book including the extensive coverage in research tips. Towards the start of the book Rampolla discusses the importance of being an active reader, these can include notetaking or highlighting (which is less active). Starting off with being active can make the entire process easier. The next thing she discusses is synthesis, providing the reader with the proper techniques to learn the challenge of finding ones' own opinion. Further into the book Rampolla gives multiple tips on the key to being a successful writer while using Chicago style citations.

The weaknesses are the lack of information on an outline as well as the lack of inclusion on inductive and deductive reasoning. The most important part of a paper is an outline; this can make or break a paper. Rampolla fails to mention the importance or even details of the process of making a noteworthy outline. The book also did not include inductive and deductive reasoning. Inductive reasoning is making broad generalizations about specifics and deductive reasoning starts broad and then goes specific. This is an important thing to know for research, because it helps researchers decipher the way the research will go.

Overall Rampolla creates an extremely helpful guide to those in the beginning of their undergraduate degrees. It provides multiple tips and tricks for learning Chicago. It does have flaws, the outline issue is huge, as well as the lack of inductive versus deductive reasoning. This book earns a 4.5/5 stars due to the overwhelming amount of strengths throughout the novel.

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Also posted on Eva Lucias blog

"A Pocket Guide to Writing in History" is a short but detailed description and introduction of how the academic student deals with history: how to read it, how to understand it and why we read history.

I used this source for an exam which dealt with a specific time period of British literature. When looking into literature, one cannot avoid looking into the same historical period and what occurred. In the course we investigated many historical sources, talked about t

Also posted on Eva Lucias blog

"A Pocket Guide to Writing in History" is a short but detailed description and introduction of how the academic student deals with history: how to read it, how to understand it and why we read history.

I used this source for an exam which dealt with a specific time period of British literature. When looking into literature, one cannot avoid looking into the same historical period and what occurred. In the course we investigated many historical sources, talked about the canon and which literary pieces are considered as canon material. Furthermore, we had many discussions on why we read and how we read it.

To interesting quotes I stumbled upon in "A Pocket Guide to Writing in History" were the following:

– "The historian's goal is not to collect "facts" about the past, but rather to acquire insight into the ideas and realities that shaped the lives of men and women of earlier societies […] when we study the people of the past, what we are really learning about is the rich diversity of human experience".

– "An examination of the past can tell us a great deal about how we came to be who we are. When we study history, we are looking at the roots of modern institutions, ideas, values and problems".

Naturally, it is important to know more about our past in order to explore and examine our present and future, both sociologically, politically and historically. This short introduction to history sets the mind going and presents an easy introduction to history from an academical aspect.

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Jul 19, 2014 Christine B. rated it really liked it

A short and straightforward book about writing in History courses. It covers what a thesis is, how to go from a paper 'topic' to an argument, the use and incorporation of primary and secondary sources, and has a good guide to writing papers. It also gives good examples of citations. A colleague included it on her syllabus for a research topics class so I read through it today. I very well may end up using it in my classes. A short and straightforward book about writing in History courses. It covers what a thesis is, how to go from a paper 'topic' to an argument, the use and incorporation of primary and secondary sources, and has a good guide to writing papers. It also gives good examples of citations. A colleague included it on her syllabus for a research topics class so I read through it today. I very well may end up using it in my classes. ...more

Oct 05, 2012 Taryn rated it really liked it

Simple, straightforward and concise. Rampolla lays out everything you need to know in a logical manner, and makes the style known clearly. Easiest version of a style guide I've ever read. Absolute best version to use when writing in CMS. Simple, straightforward and concise. Rampolla lays out everything you need to know in a logical manner, and makes the style known clearly. Easiest version of a style guide I've ever read. Absolute best version to use when writing in CMS. ...more

May 26, 2012 Jewels rated it it was ok

This book is more for those people who write research papers for a living. While it goes step by step in building the paper, it also veers off on tangents that would only matter to professionals.

A must have for anyone writing in History.

This is a fun little book that I still use at times for reference.

Jan 11, 2015 Amanda rated it really liked it

It's a handy book with interesting examples. It's a handy book with interesting examples. ...more

An efficient little guide for beginning historians. I think I will adopt it for my basic course in historical methods.

I found this book rather handy in writing my 10-paged paper. It's a quick reference to write a history paper using the Chicago Manual. I found this book rather handy in writing my 10-paged paper. It's a quick reference to write a history paper using the Chicago Manual. ...more

This book is always on my desk. It is well-read, well-worn, I use it almost every day!

Doesn't fit in pocket unless you're like really obese and wear giant pants, wear cargo pants from the 90s, or you're an NBA player who is 7 feet tall. Doesn't fit in pocket unless you're like really obese and wear giant pants, wear cargo pants from the 90s, or you're an NBA player who is 7 feet tall. ...more

Required reading for MA in American History.

I read this ahead of my Historical Methods course in the Fall to get myself prepared to write more essays. It was very informative and to the point.

Very useful book if you're a History major or work with History in school. Very useful book if you're a History major or work with History in school. ...more

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A Pocket Guide to Writing in History 7th or Later

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