Introduction:
-hook your reader
-give a brief overview of the theme and question, explaining why it matters
-clearly state your thesis

Body:
-logically organize the key evidence that supports your thesis (explain to your reader how
you arrived at your answer/argument)
*Tips on presenting evidence:
-Explain if a better understanding of the time period (zooming in/out, more context)
helped you arrive at your argument.
-Explain if a comparison to other events/times/places helped you arrive at your argument.
-Explain if you arrived at your argument by testing generalizations and assumptions made
by other historiansdid you re-categorize, ask why when no one else did, etc….
-If you are making a new claim, explain how the work of other historians was lacking; if
you are using another historians claim, explain why their particular claim is more
convincing to you than the arguments presented by other scholars.

Conclusion:
Restate your thesis, but using stronger more complex description that can only be
understood by the reader now that they have all of the evidence.

Final Draft of the Research Paper: Technical Requirements
(You are not required to submit rough drafts of the paper or any checkups on the actual
paper itself.)
– 7 sources (these must be scholarly, peer-reviewed sources. If in doubt, check with me. You may use additional sources beyond these 7 if it useful for your paper. Your textbook and Course Reader articles do not count towards the required 7 sources.) USE THESE TWO:
D’Emilio, John. Intimate Matters: a History of Sexuality in America. University of Chicago
Press, 2013.
Solomon, Richard. “Sexual Practice and Fantasy in Colonial America and the Early Republic.”
IU Journal of Undergraduate Research 3.1 (2017): 24-35.
– 6-8 pages (this does not include the title page or bibliography); the formatting needs to be Times New Roman 12 pt. font, double spaced; standard 1 inch margins Please do not use block quotationsthis is a short paper, and you should not be quoting anything that extensively. Paraphrase more than you quote.
– Academic Citations: use whatever academic format you are comfortable with. MLA, APA and Chicago (also known as Turabian) are the most familiar and straightforward.
– Of course include a proper bibliography. You need to pay careful and considerable homage to the source of your knowledge; even when its just an idea and not specific words that you are borrowing from another scholar, give credit where it is due.