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Department of History

UCCS Department of History
1420 Austin Bluffs pkwy
Colorado Springs, CO 80918
(719) 255-4069
(719) 255-4068 FAX
Humanities 399: Historical Documents Paper Guidelines

A Historical Document Comparison/ Contrast Paper is a 2-3 page (500-750 word) Analysis of a two (2) Historical Documents relevant to the course materials. By analyzing historical documents on your own, you’re engaging in the same work done by historians, literary scholars, and students at the highest levels of University study. In approaching a comparison/ contrast paper, two notions are key: Description and Analysis. Although one may flow into the other (your paper should not be a "laundry list," or a list of bulleted points), without analysis you fail to make a point, and without description there is no basis for any point you may wish to make.

Always use specific quotations from the two (2) Historical Documents of your choice to support your comparison/ contrast paper.

Description may include the following (note that these are suggestions only; not everything mentioned here is required—much depends on the documents you choose):

  • When was the document written?
  • If a written document, is it handwritten or printed?
  • Was the document published? If so, when and where?
  • If a written document, what sort of language is used? Does it use figures of speech? Is the language inflammatory? soothing? dull? legalistic? poetic? Describe in detail.
  • Does the document include visual illustration?
  • Is the document primarily an illustration? If so, describe it in detail. Does it have a caption?

Analysis may include the following (note that these are suggestions only; not everything mentioned here is required or even relevant, depending on the documents you choose):

  • Does the document appear to have an intended audience? If so, whom?
  • Does the document make a point about something? Does it "take sides"? If so, how?
  • What are the most compelling points made by the document?
  • Although words and images can be used to reveal, they may also be used to conceal. Is the document hiding something?
  • Is it possible to analyze the document in terms of some of the key literary movements discussed in this class, such as sentimentality, romanticism, realism, or the Slave Narrative?
  • How can the document be analyzed in terms of the some of the key issues discussed in this class, including slavery, race, gender, sectionalism, abolitionism, and class?
  • How can the document be analyzed in terms of some the key historical events discussed in this class, such as the Fugitive Slave Law, the Civil War, or Reconstruction?

Finally, by comparing and contrasting, you note the similarities and/ or the differences between the two historical documents that you’re describing and analyzing.

A Historical Document Comparison/ Contrast Paper is your turn to contribute to the scholarship of the course.