Hello,
I am currently writing a historiographical essay and I was wondering how much of my own opinion or voice should be in the essay. I find that I am primarily just summarizing the arguments and debates of each historian regarding the subject and not providing much analysis. Is this the wrong way to do it?
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This is entirely dependent on the essay question.
Are you being asked to survey the historiographical arc of a given topic (in which case you’d generally use a more passive tone), or are you being asked to asses the validity of how a certain topic has been treated by historians, or a group of historians, based upon the sources (for which you’d do well to come across as a little more assertive)? Or is the rubric of the question something else entirely?
For example, being asked to discuss how the historiography of the July Crisis changed over time is different to being asked to come to a conclusion on what historical school of thought you deem to be most accurate - or at least most faithful to the sources - in their analysis of it (revisionism, post-revisionism etc.)
There’s quite a bit of crossover though. It’s more to do with the topic and the question, rather than there being any hard and fast rules. Essays should be a reflection of your personality as a student, so bear that in mind too. That’s why it’s important for students to have fun writing them. They’re expressive, by their very nature.
Source: MA Modern History and former History teacher.