Some Suggestions About Organization and Style in the Thoughtpiece Essay

There is no one correct or model way to write the thoughtpiece essay. An important element of the assignment is the independence and originality that you display in developing your own themes and organizing concepts. That said, an engaging and sophisticated response to this assignment is likely to have many, if not all, of the following traits. It will have a vivid, plausible, and original thesis. This thesis will consist of an argument that will not have been obvious to the reader but will, rather, have to be proven in the paper itself. It will have a clear but integratively complex organization and argumentation structure. It will engage intelligently, critically, and respectfully with the most important issues raised by the database project and with the projects contributors. The best essays will avoid simplistic generalizations about the characteristics of "THE North," "THE South," "THE antebellum period, THE gilded age, THE Whigs, etc. (A good test to ask is whether any such statements are still true when applied equally to every occupation, class, race, gender, geographic sub-region, religion, or political affiliation within each region or group you are describing.) The best essays will avoid unreflectively treating specific individuals as being synonymous with their respective regions, political parties, denominations or other groups, though you may pose the question of representativeness explicitly. The best essays will show signs of engagement with the full range of entries in the project, and with the issues of historical interpretation and source criticism the project encompasses. See the syllabus description for more information about the papers technical requirements.

Stylistic Recommendations

Below I have listed some personal preferences about style and grammar. Using your word processor's search function it should take no more than thirty minutes to check and correct any problems before turning in the final draft.

Write concisely.
Avoid passive constructions such as "it was," and "it has been." You must tell who is doing the thing you describe.
Like strong seasonings, quotations should be used sparingly.
Do not use "I" in formal writing. Declarative sentences are more effective. We can assume from the essay format itself that this is your own viewpoint. Eliminating I statements will also reduce your word count.
Sentences that combine commentary with precise descriptive information are a plus.
Strive for gender-neutral phrasing.
Do not start sentences with the word "however."
The following words or expressions are powerless or inaccurate. Do not use them:

obviously
in terms of
certain, certainly
basically
"on a ____ basis"
feels, felt
in-depth
deals with, dealt with

dominate (adjective), when you meant dominant
"Succession" when you meant "secession."
"State's Rights" when you meant "state rights"
"Democrat Party" when talking about Democrats before 1994.
Centuries and decades ("the 1700s," "the 1860s") are plurals, not possessives. Do not use an apostrophe for these.
Always use the past tense when describing events in the past.
Be accurate in your terminology and avoid sweeping overgeneralizations about groups, regions, etc. Terms such as THE South, or THE North, are almost always more simplistic than a thoughtful scholarly analysis will sustain.
Do not use terms such as Negro, Nigger, Yankee, Redneck, Colored, Scalawag, Carpetbagger, Cracker, Pollock, Yid, White Trash, Redskin, Rebel, Gringo or similar labels that carry an implied viewpoint, that are outdated, or that are pejorative, insulting, or just plain bigoted.
Avoid qualifiers. Words such as "somewhat," "literally," and "definitely." are right out.
Do not use parenthetical footnotes. The same rules for citation and footnoting in the furmanwiki assignment also apply here.
Bold and clever interpretations are always a plus. If you got these from someone else, you must cite your source, of course.