help decide major work pls (1 Viewer)

[anondudu]

hello!!

our proposal is due soon and ive done some preliminary research, but im still a bit torn. if anyone could help me choose between them or how to refine my question, that would be greatly appreciated

i was interested in looking at something to do with:

the tulsa race massacre (1921): race relations, race prejudice affect the pov of the historian, why black revolts are so well recorded but white racial violence such as this is sort of unknown(?)
or
empress dowager cixi: how her gender has influenced the history on her, how schools in china regularly manipulate history(??) and how this impact the thinking of their society today

 

[jojosiwa123]

this is a hard one! honestly both your options are really really good. I think you just need to work on refining them into specific questions and to do that I highly recommend that you look through the HTA prize winning essays if you haven't already. I won't lie they're mostly boring af to read if you're not interested in the topic but reading through them is the best way to understand what you're doing.
also definitely get your teacher's input- a lot of students pick something their teacher specialises in bc that's the best way to gain access to resources.

with the two options you've given the tulsa case study makes the most sense to me- I feel that you've refined it a lot better whereas w/ the cixi question you instead could do something like 'the manipulation of history xyz: a case study on the empress dowager cixi'. within this broad essay you could talk about how historians manipulate facts in the historical record due to gender bias + how the methods of chinese schools affect her records. (I'm not sure if manipulation in terms of censorship was as big of an issue in the 1800s?).

the tulsa question could be: the obfuscation of white violence within the historical record: a case study upon racial biases in relation to (event)
this essay would be a lot more specific which is exactly what you want for extension history! you could focus on how early 20th century american history was written and how this affects the history of the tulsa massacre.

with both questions though make sure throughout the essay you stay focused on the topic you've chosen + the historiography- link every idea back to your event.

 

[DrLee]

anondudu, what is the suggested word-limit? If it is below 3500 words, choose a specific topic and not a broad essay question. If it is over then be careful to choose a topic that isn't too broad. The more concise the question the easier and better. The Tulsa massacre would be an interesting choice - a lot of historical arguments there

 

[jojosiwa123]

anondudu, what is the suggested word-limit? If it is below 3500 words, choose a specific topic and not a broad essay question. If it is over then be careful to choose a topic that isn't too broad. The more concise the question the easier and better. The Tulsa massacre would be an interesting choice - a lot of historical arguments there

agree! the word count is 2500 words if I remember correctly so a specific question is ideal

 

[anondudu]

this is a hard one! honestly both your options are really really good. I think you just need to work on refining them into specific questions and to do that I highly recommend that you look through the HTA prize winning essays if you haven't already. I won't lie they're mostly boring af to read if you're not interested in the topic but reading through them is the best way to understand what you're doing.
also definitely get your teacher's input- a lot of students pick something their teacher specialises in bc that's the best way to gain access to resources.

with the two options you've given the tulsa case study makes the most sense to me- I feel that you've refined it a lot better whereas w/ the cixi question you instead could do something like 'the manipulation of history xyz: a case study on the empress dowager cixi'. within this broad essay you could talk about how historians manipulate facts in the historical record due to gender bias + how the methods of chinese schools affect her records. (I'm not sure if manipulation in terms of censorship was as big of an issue in the 1800s?).

the tulsa question could be: the obfuscation of white violence within the historical record: a case study upon racial biases in relation to (event)
this essay would be a lot more specific which is exactly what you want for extension history! you could focus on how early 20th century american history was written and how this affects the history of the tulsa massacre.

with both questions though make sure throughout the essay you stay focused on the topic you've chosen + the historiography- link every idea back to your event.

wow you've worded what i want to say so eloquently, thank you so much for your detailed reply ^^

anondudu, what is the suggested word-limit? If it is below 3500 words, choose a specific topic and not a broad essay question. If it is over then be careful to choose a topic that isn't too broad. The more concise the question the easier and better. The Tulsa massacre would be an interesting choice - a lot of historical arguments there

the word limit for the proposal is 500 and for essay, 2500 - so i think going by jojosiwa123's suggestion makes the most sense. thanks for your reply!