Struggling with a question/specific topic (1 Viewer)

[wrestlingfan]

Hi all,

I am currently doing my major work for His Ext, however I am struggling to formulate a possible question or specific field of inquiry with which I can base my essay around. my overarching topic at the moment is Donald Trump, its really the only "historical topic" that interests me enough to complete this project, even though it is very very contemporary. I was possibly thinking of doing something along the lines of "fake news" and "alternative facts", although I am unsure what I would actually look at. Another potential suggestion I had was looking at his abuse of historical facts and figures, but again I am unsure of the angle I would look at or where I would direct the question. Any help would be appreciated ASAP!!!

 

[Yakult1]

Hi all,

I am currently doing my major work for His Ext, however I am struggling to formulate a possible question or specific field of inquiry with which I can base my essay around. my overarching topic at the moment is Donald Trump, its really the only "historical topic" that interests me enough to complete this project, even though it is very very contemporary. I was possibly thinking of doing something along the lines of "fake news" and "alternative facts", although I am unsure what I would actually look at. Another potential suggestion I had was looking at his abuse of historical facts and figures, but again I am unsure of the angle I would look at or where I would direct the question. Any help would be appreciated ASAP!!!

Late reply, sorry.

The main focus of your history project is to focus on an issue that is historiographical in nature. So whilst Donald Trump may be your interest, you may want to think about the historiographic significance that he had on the study of history, if any at all. It is important to refer back to the 4 main questions which drive the course:

● Who are historians?
● What are the purposes of history?
● How has history been constructed, recorded and presented over time?
● Why have approaches to history changed over time?

These questions should form the foundation of your project and your research should be aimed at targeting these specific questions. You may be able to develop a question surrounding the term "fake news", something along the lines of how that term has been represented throughout time, looking at notions of historical bias and one-sided accounts which create a historical meta-narrative similar to that of "fake news". This topic reminds me of the phrase "the victors write history" so you may be able to explore that concept as well.

For question development, you should be focusing on developing a well-rounded question which, once again, targets the 4 questions outlined in the syllabus. It is probably a good idea for you to try and formulate a question with your teacher as the history project is internally marked, so you will want to make sure they are happy with your chosen question.

During these early stages of the project its important to not underestimate the amount of research you will be doing and make sure to always update your process log in order to maximise your marks for that aspect of the project. You don't want to write a killer essay and have a process log lose you 5-10 marks. The main thing you can do is give it your all and have fun during the process. Good luck!