HUMN1032: Final Research Essay Project (35%) Fall 2021
Background
When does history ever end? As Belshaw discusses in chapter 1 of our textbook, it never does; historians are constantly revisiting narratives of our past, re-reading and re-interpreting them with a perspective and sensibility born of their own contemporary era.
As we have learned throughout our course, historians do more than just read about the past: they study andrememberit; they try tounderstandits significance; they develop questions andapplyframeworks to learn more; theyanalysedata andattributecausation to certain consequences; theycritiqueandevaluatehow others have already interpreted it; and then—finally!—theycreatea new history of the event, challenging us to view the same historical phenomena from a different perspective. These steps–all of which you have been developing and demonstrating throughout this course–prepare you for the type of critical thinking required to create interesting and provocative research essays at the post- secondary level.
Assignment Details: The Final Research Essay
For your final assignment in this course, you will write a research report on a topic of choice related to the history of Pre-Confederation Canada. This research essay is an opportunity for you to conduct research on a topic of personal interest and to gain more insight into the practice of historiography. For this paper, you will have to create a thesis statement expressing your interpretation and analysis of an historical event or an individual’spast actions. The essay assignment is broken down into two separate tasks: an essay proposal & outline (10%) and the final essay (25%).
Research Essay Proposal: Sunday 14 November by 11:59 p.m. (10%)
For the end of Week 10, you must submit an essay proposal that outlines your general research project. This proposal will consist of a research question, a working thesis statement, a plan of development (the supporting arguments), as well as as well as a list of three potential references.
For each reference, please include a 1-2 sentence summary of the article's purpose and central ideas.
Final Research Essay Due: Sunday 5 December 2020 by 11:59 p.m. (25%)
Your final essay must be 5-6 double-spaced pages in length (1600-1800 words) and include a minimum ofthreesecondary sources (see below for more information on sourcing). Your paper must conform to APA formatting rules and include both in-text citations and a reference list at the end of the paper.
What topic should I select for this essay?
While it is entirely up to you which topic to pursue, you may want to review some of the following general topics from our course and consider which specific aspects of this history you might wish to research:
oFirst Nations Economies and Socio-Political Organization
oTheHaudenosauneeGreatLawofPeace(Kayanerehkowa)
oTheThreeFiresConfederacy
oTheCovenantChainandTwo-RowWampum
oTheImpactsofEuropeanDiseaseonFirstNations
oThe Impacts of Christian Conversion on the nations of Wendake
oThe Impacts of the Fur Trade on the North American and Global economyo17thand Early 18thCentury Treaties between First Nations and Europeans
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HUMN1032: Final Research Essay Project (35%)
Fall 2021
oSlavery in New France and British CanadaoEnglish-FrenchImperialConflicts
oThe Fall of New France
oAcadian Culture and Society
oTheRoyalProclamationandtheTreatyofNiagara
oTheAmericanRevolutionandCanada
oTheTorontoPurchaseandUpperCanadianLandSurrenders
oTheWarof1812
oReligionintheCanadas,AtlanticProvinces,andtheNorthwest
oRebellions in Upper and Lower Canada, 1837
oMétis Communities in the Great Lakes and Northwest
oThe Robinson-Superior and Robinson-Huron Treaties of 1850
oTheDouglasTreatiesof1850-54
o19thCentury Migration and Settlement Patterns, 1815-1860
oEarlyChinese-CanadianCommunitiesinthePacificNorthwest
oAbolitionism in Canada
oThe (2nd) American Civil War and Canadian Confederation During the 1860s
Please notethat after selecting a topic, you will need to create a topic question. Please contact your instructorprior to Week 9to discuss your topic question
and possible thesis directions.
How should I develop a Topic Question?
A good research project is built upon the strength of the questions it asks. Questions are important, for they not only help us identify gaps in previous research, but also help focus our own inquiry into the topic.
When developing your topic question, consider the taxonomy of question-types provided in week 1 of the course:
0). The question is illogical or not grammatical; it is based
on a misunderstanding of the text being studied
1). The question is a fact-based question that simply requires retrieval from the text
2). The question is moral, ethical, or philosophical in nature; most often begins with ‘why’
3). The question is an attempt to understand concepts discussed in the readings
4). The question is an attempt to synthesize presented data and identify information not available in the text
5). The question is an attempt to test the validity of the premise
Which levels of questions are best suited for a research project: levels 2-3 or levels 4-5? Remember: lower-level questions are an important starting point, for they help us identify what we don’t alreadyknow. However, once we have conducted some initial research and learned more about the topic, we
Signatures on the Toronto Purchase, 1805 (image source City of Toronto Archives, Fonds 1231, Item 175)
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HUMN1032: Final Research Essay Project (35%) Fall 2021
should be more prepared to begin contesting and assessing other scholars’ theories for historicalchange.
Which sources should I use for this paper?
This paper will require you to use a minimum of three secondary sources. These secondary sources must be retrieved from peer-reviewed, scholarly publications.
TheProQuestdatabase availablethrough George Brown’sLibrary and Learning Commons has a great deal of Canadian content to choose from, including—but not limited to—the following relevant titles:
Journal of Canadian Studies Canadian Historical Review Canadian Journal of History Canadian Journal of Native Studies Canadian Woman Studies Canadian Journal of African Studies Canadian Ethnic Studies
If you are having difficulty finding appropriate source materials for your topic, please message your instructor immediately; they will be able to offer you help in finding whatever it is you seek.
If you are considering the inclusion of any primary source documents in your paper, please speak to your instructor for guidance on sourcing and referencing these types of materials.
Additional Sources
A joint publication of The University of Toronto and Université Laval, theDictionary of Canadian Biography onlineis an excellent source for historical research, with over 8,500 biographies of people associated with Canadian culture and history between the years 1000 CE and 1950. All entries in the DCB database have been researched and written by scholars working in related fields, and offer many insights into how the writing of Canadian history has changed over the past 50 years.
Formatting for your final essay
Your final essay must be 5-6 double-spaced pages in length (approximately 1600-1800 words) and written in 12 point font. Your paper must also follow all rules associated with APA Style formatting, including title page, reference list, and in-text citations; for more information on APA Style, please visit Purdue OWL’sAPA Style and Formatting Guide.
Your finished paper should also model this general format for an argumentative history paper:
Introduction (1st paragraph)
→ What historical problem are you investigating?
→ How is this problem still relevant to 21stcentury Canadian residents and citizens?
→ What have other scholars already said about this problem?
W. M. Hugh Barnett, George Brown College, 2021 3
HUMN1032: Final Research Essay Project (35%) Fall 2021
→What do YOU think about the problem? (This is where your thesis statement is required with three major supporting points)
Body Paragraphs (2ndto 7thparagraphs; a total of THREE major supporting points)
→ Topic Sentence
→ 1stNarrowing Sub-point
→ 1stPiece of Evidence (may require multiple sentences)
→ 1stExplanation
→ 2ndNarrowing Sub-point
→ 2ndPiece of Evidence (may require multiple sentences)
→ 2ndExplanation
→ Repeat format as needed
→ Concluding Sentence
Conclusion (8thparagraph)
→ Thesis Recap: what was your main argument?
→ Supporting Points Recap: what three major
supporting points were discussed and analysed?
→ Major Takeaways: why is this problem still
significant today?
→ Recommendations: what next steps should
historians take to research this problem further?
→ Final Thoughts: what parting words of wisdom will
your reader walk away with after reading your paper?
Marking Breakdown
Assignments will be graded on:
✓The strength of the topic question
✓The strength of the thesis statement (focused,
complex, and previews methodology)
✓The unity and coherence of the supporting
arguments
✓The integration of secondary source materials
✓The consistent application of APA formatting and referencing throughout
✓The effective communication of ideas through interesting and varied syntax, details, tone, and diction
W. M. Hugh Barnett, George Brown College, 2021 4