Honors US History  

Your paper must include the following:

• Guiding Research Question
• Essay format
• Both Primary and Secondary Sources
• Rich details in evidence supporting your thesis which must address your guiding question.
• Use of Noodlebib note cards in the research process
• Evaluation of the effects that this event/topic had on the period in which it occurred and on future events
• Thorough documentation
• All topics must be approved.

Minimum of 8 sources in the following categories:

1. Two monographs (books) by historians or an expert in the field.
2. One journal or database articles
3. Two primary sources
4. One website (if not from one of the sources listed on this libguide, you must have an evaluation sheet included in your appendix)
5. Two other sources

No general encyclopedias are allowed as ANY of your sources.  This includes wikipedia, britannica, world book, etc.

Annotations: You are required to indicate why your source is a primary or secondary source and how it is useful to demonstrate your topic's relationship to the NHD theme, describe what aspects of this source make it reliable, explain what potential bias this source may or may not have and elaborate on what value historians would give this source. Additionally, all monographs need to contain the authors credentials.  ALL CITATIONS must be annotated.  

1. Title page and title that indicates the question that you are answering.  Clever titles also hook the reader. Use a header for each page with you last name and page number except for the title page. 
2. Follow the guidelines for the senior paper division of the National History day Contest rule book. Paper must be between 2000 and 2500 words, excluding the citations, Works Cited, and appendixes.
3. Your introduction must include the time frame, context, major points to discuss and your thesis.
4. Body of your paper must present information gained through research to support you thesis
5. Your conclusion recaps the major points and indicates the significance.
6. An annotated Works Cited (bibliography) must follow MLA format.  Sources are to be grouped under Primary Sources and Secondary Sources headings. Annotations: You are required to indicate why your source is a primary or secondary source and how it is useful to demonstrate your topic's relationship to the NHD theme, describe what aspects of this source make it reliable, explain what potential bias this source may or may not have and elaborate on what value historians would give this source.
7. ALL CITATIONS in the Works Cited must be cited in the paper.
8. All pictures, illustrations, supporting charts and graphs are to be attached in an Appendix and must be referred to in the essay. An Appendix is not required but some of you may want to use one to provide supporting, useful data that is inconvenient to just describe in the paper. Items in the Appendix are to be given number as A1, A2, etc.
9. The order of the paper will be as follows: 

Title page, outline, paper, Works Cited, appendix.  Staple the above in the upper left hand corner.

10. All graded assignments for research paper, photocopies of database articles & websites, an electronic (Microsoft Word) version of the paper on a disc, and the final hardcopy are to be turned in a sealed manila envelope.

According to the information in the NHD materials, if you want to win at NHD, you need to understand historical context. "The NHD Rule Book defines historical context as "the intellectual, physical, social and cultural setting in which events take place." And I'd throw in economic and political settings as well.  IN OTHER WORDS, HISTORICAL CONTEXT IS THE ATMOSPHERE OF THE TIME." (emphasis added)

It's not enough to be able to describe things, you need to be able to discern meaning about an events impact.  Did it change life, politics, etc.  It means reading secondary sources and finding out SO WHAT.

• Did your treaty have an impact on US relations with the Russians?  So what?
• Did the Navajo Code Talkers do a good job?  So what?
• Did The Femine Mystique cause an uproar when published? So what?

Explain the so what and you will be on your way to a successful NHD project.

The Berkeley online database username/password list for remote access is available using Edline. Select Cone Library - UD from the contents section. You will then see the word document containing the complete username/password list in contents. 

Sample topics may include the following but are not limited by:

• John Brown's Revolt Against Slavery
• Dorothea Dix and the Asylum Movement
• Television: A Cultural Revolution
• Bismarck's Reforms in Germany
• The Airplane: Revolution in Warfare
• Sit-ins and Freedom Rides: Reformers in Action

And many more.  See the full list at Sample Themes