HIS 497 Week 3 Discussion 1

Prepare: In order to successfully complete this discussion, it is recommended that you review the following sources: 

About historiography (Links to an external site.)
Finding historiographic essays and journal articles (Links to an external site.)
Historiographic Essay Manual (Links to an external site.)
How to Write a Historiography (Links to an external site.)
What is Historiography? (Links to an external site.)
Why Study Historiography with Alan Ford (Links to an external site.)

Reflect: Historiography refers to the theory and practice of historical writing. Another way to think about it is “the way that history is written,” or “the history of the history written about a topic.” As part of the research for your Final Capstone Research Project, you are examining the ways different historians have addressed the history of a particular issue—the historiography relevant to your topic. As part of this task, you are noticing that historians tend to offer varying interpretations concerning how or why almost any event happened. Your project will take into consideration this scholarship as you develop your argument in support of your own thesis.

Write: In an initial post of at least 250-300 words:

Examine two of the scholarly sources you are using in your Final Capstone Research Project.
Explain how these two historians have investigated and attempted to answer the questions your topic engages.
Distinguish between the perspectives of your authors. How do they compare or contrast? Why might these scholars have either divergent or similar interpretations? Keep in mind that the reasons for differences or similarities may be attributed to the nature of the source materials the authors are using (both primary and secondary), their methods, or the theoretical perspectives they are employing. Thus, you need to clearly explain not only each author’s thesis, use of sources, and construction of argument, but also the reasons why a given author’s approach produces a different interpretation than that of another study.
Explain how your thesis relates to the positions you are identifying in the relevant scholarship. What perspective are you bringing to the historical debate surrounding your topic?