Essaying the Past

Preface to the Second Edition ixPreface to the Third Edition xiiiAcknowledgments xvIntroduction to the Student: Why Would You Look at a Book Like This? 1Part I Thinking and Reading about History 51 History: It's about Time 72 What's the Story with History? 143 The Sources of History 204 Good Answers Begin with Good Questions 295 Search Engines, Research Ingenuity 356 How to Read a Book without Ever Getting to Chapter One 44Part II Writing about History 577 Analysis: The Intersection of Reading and Writing 598 Making a Case: An Argument in Three Parts 679 Defining Introductions 7410 Strong Bodies (I): The Work of Topic Sentences 8611 Strong Bodies (II): Exposition and Evidence 9412 Strong Bodies (III): Counterargument and Counterevidence 10413 Surprising Conclusions 11114 Scaling the Summit: Crystallizing Your Argument 11815 Writing is Rewriting: The Art of Revision 12316 Putting It All Together: The Research Essay (A Case Study) 130Conclusion: The Love of History 149AppendicesA Writing an Essay: Ten Easy Steps in Review 152B Essay Varieties: DBQs, Reviews, and Comparison Assignments 154C Let's Give a Hand: Bibliographies and Footnotes 160D Credit Scams: The Dangers of Plagiarism 170E Web of Lies? Weighing the Internet 174F A Glossary of Key Terms 177G More Reading about Writing 182Index 185

Jim Cullen teaches history at the Ethical Culture Fieldston School in New York. He was previously a Preceptor in the Expository Writing Program at Harvard University. He is the author of nine books, among them Imperfect Presidents: Tales of Misadventure and Triumph (2007), The American Dream: A Short History of an Idea that Shaped a Nation (2003) and Born in the U.S.A.: Bruce Springsteen and the American Tradition (1997).