Mr. Bockelman’s Guidelines for Writing Good Mini-Themes

Below are a number of useful guidelines to follow when writing your mini-themes, and since I wrote this guide, you can be sure that I will be grading them accordingly. If you have any questions concerning these guidelines, or the papers feel free to email me or visit during my office hours.

Content (10 points):

This is your opportunity to impress me and rack up the most points for your paper and because I appreciate creativity I try to be flexible with what I take, but there are a few things to keep in mind.

1. Pick just one of the prompts and stick with it. Do not try to impress me by trying to cover all three questions in a single 1-2 page paper; you will just lose out on a lot of points.

2. Have a clearly defined thesis. It does not need to be complex or long, but I want to see somewhere within your introduction a clear statement of what your position is. Once you have defined your thesis, stick to it!

3. Make sure to cover all parts of the prompt. Failure to do so will result in points being docked for each ignored part.

4. Include some supporting details. If you make a statement in your analysis, be sure to reference whatever part of the reading supports your argument (and also include a proper citation).

5. Do not use websites such as Sparknotes or Wikipedia until you have at least read the book. I can excuse students having a difficult time understanding parts of the plot and then looking elsewhere for clarification, but these resources should never be used as substitutes for reading, nor should you draw your arguments from them. I have access to these sites as well, and if I feel that you are simply rewording them, I will act accordingly. Learning to analyze and write using your own faculties is one of the most important skills you can learn in a history course and is incredibly rewarding. Remember, you are paying to be here, get something out of it and make the effort to develop these skills.

Style and Structure (5 points):

1. Citations! This is one of the most important parts of writing any sort of history paper. I need to see that you have not only read the assigned works, but comprehend them, and that you have a basis for your own writing. This does not mean that you should simply throw in unrelated quotes from the material. I want to see citations that actually support your own works. For the most part, I am not too picky on what style of citation you use as long as you are consistent and have the page number. The exception to this is when you are using a piece of classical literature or something like a play in which the work is subdivided into separate lines, chapters, books, etc, in which case you should cite the appropriate subdivision instead of page number. For example, if you are citing from line 14 of chapter 4 of the Odyssey, then I want to see something like (4. 14), (Ch 4, ln 14). There are proper ways to do these citations, but this will settle for this class.

1A. If you have zero citations, I will automatically take off an increasing number of points as the semester goes on so be sure to do the reading, take notes/highlight if you need, and be prepared to use them.

2. Sentence structure: I will not be docking points for things such as split infinitives, dangling participles, or anything else that most people would have to look up to even know exist. I will be pointing out things that as college students should not be an issue to any of you. This means proper use of capitalization, punctuation, complete sentences, and proper use of homophones. In short, I ought to be able to read your paper and understand your content without being confused or distracted by structural errors.

2A. One of the best ways to do this is by reading it out loud once you are done, or by having a friend read it out loud to you. This is one of the most effective methods for catching errors and it works well.

3. Finally, there are some things that I will correct on your paper, but not necessarily take off points for such as ending sentences with prepositions, passive voice, contractions, or using the 1st person when writing. Normally these are things that you want to avoid when writing a paper and it is beneficial to avoid their use, but for this class they will not be counted against you.

Care of Presentation (5 points):

These are the easiest points to get and should almost be considered “freebies” as long as you do a few simple things.

1. Turn your paper in on time. Unexcused late papers automatically lose all 5 points from this section.

2. Turn your paper in with a green folder. This is for my convenience and yours as it makes it much easier to organize your work and also keep track of your old papers. Please use a skinny folder, it is incredibly difficult to transport ~40 1” binders.

3. Your paper should be a nice, clean copy. I understand that things can get chaotic inside a backpack, but I think it is fair for me to expect something that is not crumpled and covered in coffee stains. Show pride in your work.

Finally

If I make corrections on something (page numbers, including a title, stapling pages together, etc…) be sure to make those corrections on your next paper. I will not take off points for small things like this at first, but if it is a continuing issue, I will.