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HIST 471C5: STALIN AND STALINISM
Prof. Steven E. Harris
Paper proposal instructions
I. Basic instructions: Your task is to write a 2-3 page proposal for your final historiography paper. As a paper proposal, this assignment is very similar to the paper proposals for HIST 299/485, so you should first consult the History Department’s guidelines on writing paper proposals: http://cas.umw.edu/historyamericanstudies/history-department-resources/proposals/. In this paper proposal, your main tasks are to introduce the topic you intend to study for the final historiography paper; state the main question or problem you intend to examine; propose a working hypothesis in response to your question; and discuss the scholarly works you intend to review. You must also provide a bibliography.
Unlike paper proposals for HIST 299/485, however, this proposal sets out your research agenda for a historiography paper, NOT a paper for original research in primary sources. There are important elements of this proposal, therefore, to keep in mind:
1. Topic: The topic of your proposal is the historiography on an issue in Soviet history under Stalin. For example, say you choose to work on the historiography of Socialist Realism, which was the official artistic and literary style developed in the 1930s. In both your paper proposal AND your final historiography paper, your topic is NOT Socialism Realism itself, but rather the historiography on Socialist Realism – in other words, how historians have researched and written on Socialist Realism, the questions they’ve come up with, the sources they’ve used, the methodologies they’ve employed, the biases and political axes they may have wanted to grind, the conclusions and interpretations they have developed, the on-going debates in the field, and the course of future research. In short, you will tell us how the historiography shapes our understanding of what Socialist Realism was, rather than doing original research on Socialist Realism itself. To review the elements of a historiography paper, which you are at this stage proposing to write, see the History Department’s resource page for the guidelines to writing a literature review.
2. Question: The question you propose to answer has to be about the historiography. For example, you could ask the following question: what role have historians ascribed to Stalin in explaining the emergence of Socialist Realism and how does their answer to this question shape our overall view of Soviet history? Note that this is asking two questions about the historiography (i.e., about what historians have done), but NOT about Socialist Realism itself. Your task is to develop an original question about the historiography. For this reason, it is important to find review essays and review articles on your historiographical topic. Start searching for these on J-STOR and Historical Abstracts. These will help you figure out what historians have already said about your historiographical topic and allow you to develop a new question.
3. Hypothesis: Similarly, your hypothesis will be focused on the historiography. What do you think you will discover about how historians have treated the question of Stalin’s role in creating Socialist Realism? As with any paper proposal, the hypothesis is not set in stone (after all, you still have to do the research!). Instead, it should be an interesting hypothetical answer to your question, which is based on what you know now and will probably change over the course of your research until it becomes your final paper’s argument. For the proposal, go out on a limb and propose a hypothetical answer to your main question. Again, the focus has to be on the historiography, not the historical topic (e.g., Socialist Realism) itself.
4. Methodology and sources: Since this is a historiography paper you are proposing to write, your main sources will be the works by professional historians that you are reviewing. To be sure, in the final historiography paper (and maybe even in your proposal) you may discuss the kinds of primary sources historians have used and how they shape the historiography, but you yourself will not use primary sources. Your methodology will be to read, master, and condense the literature of the historical topic at issue. The minimum number of sources for your final paper is 12; a majority of these must be monographs and the remainder may include scholarly articles, including review essays and review articles. While you may use book reviews as a source, they will not count toward your minimum of 12 sources. At the proposal stage, your bibliography should contain as many of the sources you intend to use and at least the minimum 12.
II. Other requirements and resources:
1. Deadline: Tuesday, January 29. Turn in your paper proposal + bibliography as one document at the start of class.
2. Paper title: You must include a title for your paper proposal. “Paper proposal” is not a title. Instead, once you have written your paper, think of a title that captures best what you intend to research and indicates that your final paper will be a historiography paper.
3. Page length and technical requirements: Your proposal must be 2-3 pages, with 12-pt. font, double-spacing, and one-inch margins. It must include your name in the top right hand corner of the first page (no title page needed). You must include the title for your paper below your name, but it must be centered. Remember to include page numbers, but not on the first page.
4. Bibliography: Your bibliography must be part of the same document as your paper proposal and its pages numbers must continue in the sequence of the proposal’s page numbers. Your bibliography should start on a new page. The first page of your bibliography should be titled “Bibliography” or if you wish, “Working Bibliography” (minus these quotation marks). Center this title. You do not need to include your name on your bibliography.
Follow the rules in the Chicago Manual of Style on writing your bibliography. Note that each bibliographical entry is single-spaced, while there is a double space between two entries. See the Chicago Manual at: http://www.chicagomanualofstyle.org.ezproxy.umw.edu/16/contents.html.
5. Footnotes: Follow the Chicago Manual of Style rules. Note that individual footnotes are single-spaced, while there is a double space between two footnotes. Footnotes may be written in either 12-pt. font or 10-pt. font. The space taken up by footnotes does not count toward the page limit. To make sure you have not exceeded the page limit, convert footnotes temporarily into endnotes.
6. Grammar, spelling, and punctuation: It is tremendously important that you use proper grammar, spelling, and punctuation in your paper. Do not depend upon your computer to catch careless errors; your computer will fail you. Instead, ask someone to proofread your writing and read over your paper yourself several times to eliminate all errors.
7. Use of the past tense and present tense: When discussing what people did and said in the past, historians use the past tense in their writing. This holds true in a historiography paper when one discusses past events in Soviet history. However, there is more flexibility when discussing what historians have written (the real focus of a historiography paper, after all!). In this case, we typically use the present simple (e.g., “In this book, he argues that Stalin created Socialist Realism.”) or the present perfect (e.g., “She has written a book that has changed our understanding of Stalin’s role in Soviet history.” We use these tenses because the assumption is that historians’ works constitute an on-going project of research and writing on Soviet history. You may find it more appropriate to use the past tense when discussing the work of much older historiography and historians who are no longer alive.
8. Passive voice vs. active voice: Historians typically prefer to use the active voice instead of the passive voice whenever possible. This is especially true when it is clear who or what is doing or saying something. In cases when this is not clear, the passive voice may be appropriate.
9. Plagiarism and Honor Pledge: As stated in the syllabus, plagiarism will not be tolerated and any violations will be reported to the Honor Council. If you take someone else’s ideas or words and present them in your paper as your own (i.e., without proper acknowledgement of the author), you will have committed plagiarism. If you are unsure about what this means, please do not hesitate to ask me for further clarification.
Asking someone for help in proofreading your paper and critiquing your ideas is highly encouraged. However, another person cannot write your paper for you. This is unauthorized assistance and an honor violation.
Include the Honor Pledge and sign it on the last page of your paper.
10. Writing Center: Use the resources of the Writing Center to improve your writing on this and other papers. Schedule appointments well ahead of the paper deadline. Visit their site at: http://academics.umw.edu/writing-fredericksburg/.
11. Grading criteria: Your paper will be graded according to the following criteria:
a) content of your paper (50%), which includes your ability to define the historiographical topic, pose an interesting question, offer a hypothesis, and discuss sources in such a way that shows you have already done substantial research.
b) grammar, spelling, punctuation; active vs. passive voice; verb tense (25%)
c) form, structure, and clarity in your writing (25%), which includes technical criteria (e.g., page length, font size, spacing, footnotes, bibliography), good organization of your paper, and clarity in your writing.