Historiography (1 Viewer)

[hiiitsme]

Is there such thing as too much historiography?? I understand that finding an argument in every point is the foremost concern therefore throwing quotes in without analysis is useless but is there a limit if you are using it correctly.

For my study I pretty much have essay plans for each dot point, where each dot point has three potential arguments or points to elaborate on in context of a question and then within those points there are 3-4 pieces of evidence i.e historiography, states, special events, treaties etc. I've heard differing opinions on whether having raw statistics is mandatory which sparked my concern. So I came here. Help.

For some of these points I have three pieces of historiography but no stats however there is still an argument to be made with each therefore I am answering/taking a stance on the question. Thus my question is, would this be too much historiography? Can I be penalised for not having statistics or dates in the paragraph even if I am making an argument? Will using historiography too extensively nullify the potency of my essay because it is structured around historians work?

THANK YOU FOR TAKING THE TIME AND STAY #COVIDSAFE

 

[hiiitsme]

bump

 

[Hiheyhello]

okay rewind a second, is this regarding ‘what is history’, or the case study?

 

[hiiitsme]

modern history sorry shoulda specified

 

[Hiheyhello]

omg lmao, for some reason i assumed this was history ext

allg tho, i can still answer ur question

the thing about historiography is that you want to seamlessly integrate it throughout your argument. i’d say that you definitely need stats, dates and historians quotes in each paragraph. about 1 historian quote per paragraph is golden.

in regards to dates, my teacher loves em (learnt that through begrudgingly handing in practice essays)

if reccomend stats if they’re relevant because it helps you stand out - and honestly, you’re not gonna get marked down for using them.

this is how i like to structure my paragraphs:
1) topic sentence that is extremely argumentative, links to the question and is very concise. you can either link it to an event, a theme, or a syllabus dot point (sounds like you are doing the later). actually i’m going to quickly digress, you’re study method is actually a great technique (i’ve been using a hybrid myself), but you’ll be good to go if you’ve got a paragraphs bank.

2) i use my explaining sentence to cram in all of the context. this means will make it easier for me to avoid storytelling later on in the paragraph. this process is kinda tricky tho and involves rewriting the sentence a bunch of times untill your able to include dates, lead up events and expand on ur argument with minimal words.

3) okay use the rest of the paragraph to argue how the event/theme answers the question. if reccomend drafting ur argument foremost, and then going back and adding all your historiography to spice it up. in relation to ur question, i don’t believe that you can have ‘too much’. on the contrary, if you use historiography seamlessly throughout your argument it will provide you with a sense of authority that will make ur essay stand out.
so absolutely embellish your argument with facts, details, dates, stats and quotes, but make sure that it all supports the argument and you’ll be all g

 

[Hiheyhello]

i’m so sorry, just read over my response and my grammar in that was terrible (i’m so tired rn and answering from my phone)

if i didn’t make any sense, let me know

 

[hiiitsme]

@Hiheyhello
Didn't expect the essay but tysm it really clarified some things that had been bugging me for waaay too long. Grammar was fine lol who, cares about; that, shit.,

Just once more, do you think that you can have 'too much' of one type of evidence. I.e if I don't diversify and have a paragraph with 3 points (in which the evidence is just historiography) is that condemned by HSC markers?

Also that thing about the dates is weird??? I have never heard that before and generally just use years and sometimes months (A sin of mine but have never run into an issue). Do you think that is an eccentricity of your teacher or will I be in for a rude awakening/have gotten off scott-free thus far?

 

[Hiheyhello]

hmmm
if by diversify you mean having a evidence from a variety of sources, then i would recommend that, as it significantly balances your essay, thus elevating the mark

in terms of dates, yeah i mean it’s probably just my teacher. months and years should definitely be fine