C:\history\paper\bracket.3
1. Original Thesis. An original thesis is supposed to be a thought-provoking viewpoint, which you state boldly, and can support with historical evidence. Do not just hand me a laundry list of all the things wrong with South American prisons, explain to me how you think they should solve their problems. Do not just describe how hieroglyphics were used in ancient Egypt, give me your opinion on why they were important, and what role they played in the development of a written alphabet. Viewpoint history is in vogue; biography is not. If you must write a biography do not give me a book report on when he was born, where he was born and what his hobbies were in grade school. Tell me his proper place in history, explain why his policies succeeded and why his triumphs made a lasting impression on the progress of mankind. / Main Ideas:
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As these are supposed to be your own ideas, rather than copies of something somebody else said, they need to be specific and original. The best way to do this is to put together factors in an original way, support your case, and initiate a new line of scholarly debate. For example, Frederick Turner’s famous Frontier Thesis said that the frontier was a liminal zone where democracy flourished, and after America’s Western Plains had been settled there was no longer a safety value for pioneers, free-thinkers and prairie democrats.
Another way to create an original thesis is to apply a general theory to a specific situation. If you agree with Turner’s thesis, you might personalize it and make it your own by applying it to your state. If you said that in 1975, after Alaska’s frontier was settled, there was no longer a safety value for pioneers, free-thinkers and prairie democrats, just like Frederick Turner predicted, then you have an original thesis. If you state that in 1915, after Colorado’s mines had been depleted, the rivers and streams hunted out and trapped out, that Colorado’s pioneers, free-thinkers and prairie democrats had to move to the virgin land of Utah, just like Frederick Turner predicted, you have an original thesis.
Likewise, you can create an original thesis by listing elements. History and Memory scholars state that the past is complex and filled with discordant voices. They predict that most scholars re-imagine history by simplifying the past, and selecting those voices which support their political messages and ignoring the rest. When I state that: selective memory, simplifying the past and socio-economic bias cause the difference between scholarly memories and the participants’ recollections, during the Japanese Evacuation and Relocation, I have stated an original thesis provided no one else that I know of has listed those three criteria as part of their thesis and I did not read this in a book somewhere.
A final way to draft an original thesis is to make a comparison, which nobody else has made. If I state: President John F. Kennedy’s patience, as indicated by his waiting to find the smoking gun that Adlai Stevenson presented to the UN, his flexibility and finally his selection of the least intrusive means to accomplish his twin goals of avoiding nuclear was and removing nuclear missiles during the Cuban Missile Crisis highlights George W. Bush’s current failures in the Invasion of Iraq when he jumped the gun, by not waiting for the UN inspectors to find any weapons of mass destruction, he inflexibility and his choice of an armed invasion as one of the most intrusive means to accomplish his goals, I have created a run on sentence, but one that contains an original thesis.
I can also combine these methods to create an original thesis. Logic, diplomacy and individual acts of leadership created everyday cooperation at the Amache Relocation Center, whereas emotion, polarization and gossip created resentment, alienation, distrust and ostracism at the other nine camps.
2. Quotations. All quotations are not created equal. In general I think that there are two three basic types of statements in historical works. The first is an original thesis statement, which is described above. / Main Ideas:
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The second type of quote is a bland or general position statement. It is helpful to know that John Lewis Gaddis believes that the Soviet Union is an evil empire and it is interesting to note James McPherson’s opinions on slavery. However those are just opinions, conclusions and position statements. They tell you what arguments he intends to make and what their analysis of the situation is.
The third type of statements are hot quotes. They are the specific and interesting facts which Gaddis and McPherson use to prove their points.
a) The "American sphere of influence would arise there largely by consent, but that its Soviet counterpart could sustain itself only by coercion. The resulting asymmetry would account, more than anything else, for the origins, escalation, and ultimate outcome of the Cold War." John L. Gaddis, We Now Know: Rethinking Cold War History (Oxford, England: Oxford University Press, 1997), 17.
Note: This is a good thesis statement. Chapter One contains the origins of this asymmetrical relationship. Chapter Two contains the escalation of this bipolar world and its consequences, and Chapter Three contains the ultimate outcome of this confrontation and its historical significance.
b) "The number of deaths resulting from Stalin’s policies before World War II, it is now agreed in both Russia and the West, was between 17 and 22 million--substantially more than twice the number of Hitler's victims in the Holocaust." John L. Gaddis, We Now Know: Rethinking Cold War History (Oxford, England: Oxford University Press, 1997), 8.
c) "Washington subordinat[ed] economic to geopolitical objectives . . . The United States sacrificed immediate economic gains to invest in long-term geopolitical stabilization [through Lend-Lease and the Marshall Plan]." John L. Gaddis, We Now Know: Rethinking Cold War History (Oxford, England: Oxford University Press, 1997), 196.
d) "For the Brenton Woods-Marshall Plan synthesis did more than anything else to ensure that the global economy did not crash as it had in the 1930s; by the 1960s it was prospering as never before. To take a single example, world steel production increased from 106 million metric tons in 1947 to 265 in 1955 to 505 in 1965; but the American share of it decreased from 54% to 39% to 26% in those same years." John L. Gaddis, We Now Know: Rethinking Cold War History (Oxford, England: Oxford University Press, 1997), 194.
e) Slaves married and raised large families. Most slave owners encouraged this process, in part because abolition of the African slave trade after 1807 made them dependent on natural increase to meet the labor demands of an expanding cotton kingdom. James M. McPherson, Battle Cry of Freedom: The Civil War Era (New York: Oxford University Press, 1988), 37.
f) Recent studies of slave marriages have found that about onefourth of them were broken by owners or heirs who sold or moved husband or wife apart from the other. The sale of young children apart from parents, while not the normal pattern, also occurred with alarming frequency. James M. McPherson, Battle Cry of Freedom: The Civil War Era (New York: Oxford University Press, 1988), 38.
3. Bracketing Quotes. Bracketing hot quotes reminds of three simple rules that my high school and college debate coaches used to drill into our heads. Tell them what you are going to say, say it and then tell them what you said. Sandwich your hot quotes between slices of bread.
Historical Writing / Rhetoric, Speech
a) Introduce your quote / Tell them what you are going to say
b) Hot quote / Say it
c) Analyze your quote / Tell them what you said
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Introducing your quote is a multi-function task. A) You want to preview what is going to be said, b) transition from one point to another, c) develop ideas, d) help make your points, e) You want to provide background information to help your reader understand your quote, such as qualifying the source, explaining circumstances behind the quote, and setting up your quote by providing background information such as when it was said, by whom and under what circumstances, and f) preview how this next point helps build your case.
Hot Quotes. See above.
Analyzing your quote is also a multi-function task. A) You what to indicate whether you agree with the quote or not, b) what you think the importance of your quote is, c) explain how this idea builds your case, d) Explain the importance of this quote e) explain how this proves your point, and f) begin transitioning to your next point.
4. Comparison. Compare the two ways of supporting your arguments. If you choose a bland general quote, then you state: I am right and John Gaddis, who is a well-respected Professor of History, agrees with me. / Main Ideas:
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If instead, you chose the hot quote method, then you state: The Marshall Plan provided an indication that Americans were more concerned about the world’s economy rather than their own economic self interest. John Gaddis, the Robert Lovett Professor of History at Yale University, states:
The Brenton Woods-Marshall Plan synthesis did more than anything else to ensure that the global economy did not crash as it had in the 1930s; by the 1960s it was prospering as never before. To take a single example, world steel production increased from 106 million metric tons in 1947 to 265 in 1955 to 505 in 1965; but the American share of it decreased from 54% to 39% to 26% in those same years.[1]
Gaddis’ point is that the Marshall Plan boosted German and Japanese economies, in part by rebuilding their steel industries. While this policy boosted the world economy well beyond the dip caused by the Great Depression of the 1930s, it had a deleterious effect upon the United State’s own market share.
Which method do you think is stronger? Which method do you think provides a more convincing case for your readers? Quoting bland position statements or citing specific factual evidence?
5. Bracketing Paragraphs. Paragraphs are introduced by topic sentences, which tell your reader what you intend to prove, what your thesis is, explains how you are going to develop your ideas, outlines what points you are going to make, and describes your original contributions to historical scholarship. / Main Ideas:
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Supporting paragraphs are like hot quotes. Professor Fritz Fischer says that you want to use their evidence to prove your points.
Paragraphs are followed my mini-summaries which explain to the reader how your evidence proves your points, how you developed your points, and what is the importance of your ideas.
6. Word Choice. W.C. = Word choice. I did not like your substitution of “Head Dude” instead of President John F. Kennedy. I would prefer to see the blockade described as innovative and effective rather than as “way cool.” / Main Ideas:
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A much more basic word choice problem involves the failure to use synonyms, which are found in many word processing programs and thesauruses.
“Because the Access Powers had ingenious decoders who could decode any American message . . . Unfortunately for the allied forces, the speed at which they Japanese could decode was costing thousands of lives.”
Not only does repeating the same word over and over again bore the reader, it also fails to advance your argument. At the simplest level if the reader does not understand the word “decode” then repeated it over and over again is hammering in a point, which they do not understand. If the reader understands the word, then repeated it over and over again does not advance your case. If you prepare three or more synonyms for each repeated word and vary them, you make the reader think. How is one synonym like the other word and how is it different? Does the same point apply to both words? If yes, then you expand your case. If no, then you have chosen the wrong synonym.
Because the Axis Powers had ingenious code-breakers, who could decode any American message . . . Unfortunately for the allied forces, the speed at which they Japanese could transcribe and interpret those secret messages was costing thousands of lives.
Additional synonyms to consider for decode are: decipher, make sense of, interpret, translate, and crack the code. Correct usage of each synonym fosters understanding and forces an active reader to consider the different nuances and connotations that each synonym carries.
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[1] John L. Gaddis, We Now Know: Rethinking Cold War History (Oxford, England: Oxford University Press, 1997), 194.