Oral Reports on Papers: Toward the end of the term, when students have completed first drafts of their papers, they will make formal presentations on their papers. Here the actual paper will not be read to the seminar. Rather, copies of each draft will be distributed to the class one week ahead of time for general reading, and each student will summarize main issues and lead a class discussion on the topic. As a result of discussions and possible corrections and suggested revisions, students will then prepare a final revised copy of the paper for submission on the last day of the Spring term.

Bibliographies and Thesis Statement: While researching their paper topic in consultation with the professor, the students will prepare and submit over the course of the term in the following order: (1) preliminary thesis statement and bibliography; (2) revised thesis statementannotated bibliography and outline; (3) first draft used for oral presentation; (4) final version of finished paper. The paper must adhere to proper Turabian/Chicago style and formatting. The deadlines for submission are noted in the "Reading Assignments"-page.

Sample Paper. To see a samples of papes using the required formats and styles for this term paper, including setup, margins, footnotes, endnotes, bibiography, etc., follow the links at the top of this page marked Sample Papers.

Format: All term papers should be printed in black ink on 8.5x11-inch white paper, with 1-inch margins all around. The paper must include:

1. cover page (do not repeat paper title and course information on page 1 of text);
   
2. text typed double spaced and in 12-point type (not Helvetica, Arial or any ornamental font);
3. printed page numbers on all pages except cover sheet and page 1;
4. citations (footnotes or endnotes);
   
5. separate Bibliography-page.

The cover page and the bibliography do not count toward the required number of 20-25 pages. Pagination begins on the first page of text.

Papers should be submitted in paper format only. Papers submitted electronically via e-mail or on diskette are unacceptable, since formatting changes do occur when transferring files between computers.

Style Guide. In the preparation and execution of all papers for the class, students are required to follow the style and format presented by Kate L. Turabian, A Manual for Writers of Term Papers, Theses, and Dissertations, 6th ed. (Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 1996), especially in regard to the style of block quotations, citations (i.e., footnotes), and bibliographies. This manual is a required text for this class that students should acquire, if they do not already own it.

Turabian's Manual (also called the "Chicago style") is the official style-manual of the History Department of the College of Charleston. This style is recognized throughout the world for academic writing in the Humanities and Social Sciences. If you are not familiar with this format, open the book and learn it! Do not try to "wing" it or fudge the format. Any papers that do not conform to Turabian's Manual will be graded accordingly. It is available for purchase in the campus bookstore or at any other bookstore. The Writing Lab can advise a student in a limited fashion in Turabian's format, and it also provides a Turabian style sheet (only marginally useful!).

Citations. Footnotes are required in this paper. Footnotes occur at the bottom of each page. Consult Turabian on how to format notes properly. All good word processing programs (e.g, Microsoft Word, Works, Word Perfect, etc.) can automatically number and format footnotes. You must figure out how to activate the footnote commands to create those notes. You will also need to adjust the footnote formatting options to ensure that the format of the notes conforms specifically to Turabian's style. Remember to single space within notes, but double space between each note.

Be conscientious to note the sources of all facts, thoughts, and ideas that you incorporate from other books into your paper, whether or not you actually quote them directly. Even paraphrases must be noted. As a rule of thumb, do not quote class-lecture notes. If you want to quote material mentioned in class, you must go find it in published sources among the course readings, and quote from there. If you cannot find the source among the readings, see the instructor for advice.

Use footnotes only. Do not use parenthetical references. That means you cannot put references into parentheses at the end of a sentence. Read Turabian, chapter 11 (pp. 185-213), to compare the forms and styles of citations. Turabian's Manual uses the following conventions for the contents of notes and bibliographies (e.g., p. 187):

Bibliography. The Bibliography comes at the end of the paper beginning on a separate page of its own. It is a listing of each book and article quoted or cited earlier in the footnotes or endnotes of the paper. Although you can cite a reference as many times as necessary in the notes, in the Bibliography, each work is cited only once. All the works are listed in alphabetical order according to the last name of the author.

Spelling. Form and spelling will be factors in grading the final term paper. If you are uncertain of your spelling, use a dictionary. You must proofread your paper before submitting it, and make any minor last-minute corrections cleanly in ink, if necessary!!. Given the number of preliminarty drafts the student will prepare, any last-minute handwritten additions or corrections will not be acceptable. They will lower the paper grade. If you employ a word processor, use a spell-check program. Admittedly, that will not be of help in spelling foreign names. So you will need to be conscious of spelling throughout.

Why the emphasis on form? A term paper is a means of communication. The purpose of any paper is to convey an argument as logically as possible according to standards of form that facilitate its communicative function. Form is not merely format and correct spelling but also includes the logical arrangement of an argument and the rational ordering of historical and textual data to support a particular point of view. Poor form can impede the communication of a valid point of view. When a paper cannot communicate due to a lapse of form, it has failed in its purpose.

One does not do research merely by sitting at a computer and surfing the Web. One does research by paging through books and by following sources from one footnote to another. Students should confine the bulk of their research to printed publications. However, they may also use the World Wide Web selectively to help research the paper topic. Beware! A great deal of pseudo-historical trash exists on the Web that does not conform to modern academic standards. The World Wide Web contains three types of historical materials:

1. primary sources, i.e., collections of original historical documents and inscriptions;

2. synthetical reports and essays prepared by professional historians and which are usually published in professional Web-based electronic journals;

3. idiosyncratic essays, polemical tracts, and document collections, prepared by non-professionals, dilettantes, and hobbyists that are often unreliable in content.

Sadly, the latter material [no. 3] permeates much of the historical content on the Web, and students must learn to recognize each instance of poor quality and to avoid it. Many of the primary sources on the Web [no. 1] include translations of foreign language documents into English. However, these translations can be obsolete, incomplete, or idiosyncratic. Obsolete translations are superceded by more modern accurate translations published in print.

On the other hand, many professional peer-reviewed historical academic journals [no. 2] are also published on the Web, and they are collected together into digital archives and electronic databases for easy searching and consultation. The Addlestone Library of the college subscribes to these archives and databases and many more (e.g., JStore, etc.), and they are located on the College's computers and can be searched in the College's library catalogue under the headings, "Databases" and "e-journals" (https://library.cofc.edu/search_collection/databases.html).

Students may never quote from from any general dictionaries and encyclopedias, such as Wikipedia (ugh!), Encyclopedia Britannica, etc. Of course, they may always quote freely from on-line sources found in the Addlestone Library Catalog of electronic databases and e-journals (as noted above). However, students may not quote from any public Web pages, including translations, reports, and essays without prior approval of the instructor. Each violation of this rule found in a paper will receive a 10-point grade reduction.

As you prepare essays and term papers for this course, be careful not plagiarize any of your sources. Any plagiarism, whether intentional or unintentional, whether blatant or merely inappropriate paraphrasing, cannot be tolerated. Do not paste anything from the Internet into your paper without proper citation and the instructor's authorization. To do so is plagiarism, and it has the most serious consequrences.

If you have any questions as you prepare your assignments, please feel free to ask the instructor. If in doubt about anything, quote it--even indirect quotations! The Honor Code of the College of Charleston strictly prohibits plagiarism and cheating. It includes cheating with cell phones, attempted cheating, and aiding to cheat. Students found by the instructor to commit or abet these offenses will automatically fail the course with an "F", or else they will be reported to the College Honor Board and receive an "XF"-grade ("Failure due to Dishonesty"), which will appear as such on the college transcript. Additional penalties can include suspension or expulsion from the college at the discretion of the Dean and/or Honor Board. For definitions of these offenses and explanations of sanctions, see the College of Charleston Student Handbook, pp. 11-12 (https://www.cofc.edu/about/handbook.pdf). You are responsible for informing yourself of all definitions and regulations on this subject. Ignorance is not an acceptable excuse before the College Honor Board. Protect yourself; when in doubt footnote it! For examples of proper and improper quoting and paraphrasing, see also "A Guide to Freshman English" (https://www.cofc.edu/~english/freshman_writing_guide.html), word-search: "plagiarism" and "paraphrasing." For examples of proper and improper quoting and paraphrasing, see "A Guide to Freshman English" on the English Department web pages (https://www.cofc.edu/~english/freshman_writing_guide.html).