Sorry for any for any errors, Im on my mobile.
I am a junior in college, a history major, and have been assigned a 20 page historiographical research paper about medieval western Europe.
I have never written this kind of paper before. I am a great student, pay attention in class and have tried to figure this out on my own. My professor (and this is a class wide issue) has not adequately prepared us. Yes, he has explained the history of, well history writing, but he has failed to elaborate on HOW to write a paper like this. please can anyone help. I am not asking for someone to write it for me, i just need to know what to do. I am sincere in that the professor has not been of any help at all and I just don't know what to do. Feel free to pm me if you need more info.
In a historiography paper, your goal is to look at what previous scholars have written on a specific subject. You identify what are considered the most important books and articles on the topic. Ideally, you will be able to identify specific sub-topics that scholars have focused on. You might look at how what scholars have said or what they are interested in changes over time.
John Van Engen's 1986 article "The Christian Middle Ages as an Historiographical Problem" (American Historical Review 91, no. 3) is considered a seminal work of medieval historiography. You might look at it as a guideline.
Your own focus for your paper will be much more specific than "the entire Middle Ages." I've written historiography papers on topics like "women in the German Reformation" and "Hildegard of Bingen."
This webpage includes excerpts from two historiography papers explaining what the elements are.