NHD Thesis Assignment Student Name:

Topic/Title: Word Count:

Use the lines below to write your thesis. Papers that were messy or difficult to read will be returned to be

rewritten. This can affect due dates and grades depending on them.

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NHD Thesis Writing

What is a thesis?

In your National History Day project, it is your opening paragraph. It is the first

thing people read about your topic on your website. It is a summary of what your pr0jectis trying to prove or analyze. A historical interpretation, supported by evidence. A

roadmap for your project.

Characteristics of a thesis:

0 discuses significance

0 more than just facts

0 specific

0 connects to the theme

SIGNIFICANCE MORE THAN FACTS

Discusses “so what?”

Why is your topic important in history?

'.W’E§umu ,

I “Jackleob'sn brok"Jackie Robinson was a I e

.. the color barrier. making itgreat baseball player. possible for African

Americans to play

professional sports."

SPECIFIC

Uses the facts to come up with your

own idea about why your topic is

important.

.. . j "The United States gained

George Washington was its independence fromthe first. president of the 1, Great Britain because of

United States i George Washington's

military leadership."

FOCUSED.Addresses a specihc topic and makes an argument

about a specific impact in history.

" “Martin Luther King. Jr.

changed everyone'slives forever."

Tips:Don’t use first person.

Don’t ask questions in your thesis.

Don’t use present tense.

Avoid using “should” in your thesis.

"Martin Luther King. Jr’s ‘I

Have a Dream’ speech

; brought national attention

to the Civil Rights

Movement."

Watch out for “what ifs.” Focus on what actually happened.

Ask yourself these questions when you think you have your thesis written:

1. Is it clear what the project will be about?

2. Is it about something in the past that is important?

3. Is there only one main idea?

4. Does it reflect the theme, Triumgh & Tragedy in History?

5. Why is it important to history?

e

m“ societyIn ronporaltnn w-rhKentUCkyHiStOi'yDay

Developing a thesis statementThere are no hard and fast rules for thesis—statenlent \Nriting, but here are a couple of

guidelines to ease students' path.

Keep it short. Thesis statenlents should hover between 4-0—60 Words. Too short, andthere's not enough information to explain the argument. Too long. and too many details

have been included. Plus. if the students are creating an exhibit, and they only have 500

student—cornposed words to use, it doesn‘t make sense to use up 100 of those x-vords onjust the thesis.Include all five “PS. The thesis is the first thing the viewer reads, so we should know

immediately the who-what—xvhere—Vvhen. and also the why—is—this—important.Include the thenle words. judges and teachers need to knowv how the topic relates to

the theme, especially if the topic is obscure, extremely narrow, or isn't immediately clear

in its connection to the theme words.

Leave facts out, put arguments in. bile don't need to see every detail of the topic in the

thesis. Leave those for the project itself. What Hie need to see in the thesis is the student's

argument, or the point he/she is trying to make.Write, revise, research, revise. Students should not use the hrst draft of their thesis

statenrent, but instead should revise based on feedback, go back to their research or

conduct new research to make sure the thesis is accurate, and then revise once more.

A thesis statement explains what you believe to be the significance and impact of your

topic. Your opinion ofyour topic should be guided by your research. National History Day

says that a good thesis statement should:

. Addresses a narrow topic;

Explains what the researcher believes to be the historical signilicance of the topic;Connects your topic to the National History Day theme-

The steps below, borrowed from Wisconsin History Day's A Student Guide to National

History Day. provides easy to follow guidance on developing a thesis statement that relatesto the National History Day theme.

Step 1: “Immigration to Milwaukee."

This is not a thesis statement yet because it doesn't address a specific, narrow-v issue related

to immigration to Milwaukee. What will the project examine? Health and sanitation in

immigrant neighborhoods? Labor issues? The polka? There are thousands of immigration

topics that a historian could research about Milwaukee. This topic needs to be narrowed

quite a bit before it can be used to build a thesis.

Step 2: “Lizzie Black Kander and Jewish immigration to Milwaukee from 1880-1920."

kentuckyjunior

—historicalsociety

.n (oopemtnn Wm. KentuckyHistoryDay

This is a nice and narrow topic, but it's still not a thesis. This phrase expresses no opinion

and makes no argument about the significance of Kander and ] ewish immigration.

Step 3: "Lizzie Black Kander used her cooking classes and The Settlement Cookbookto teach Milwaukee's Jewish immigrants about American culture."

This sentence is close to a thesis statement, but it isn't quite there yet. The researcher now

shows an opinion about the purpose of Kander’s work, but still doesn't tell us why the topic

is significant. What effects did The Settlement Cookbook and her cooking classes have?

How did Kander’s actions change the lives of Jewish immigrants?

Step 4: “Through her cooking classes and The Settlement Cookbook, Lizzie BlackKander introduced Milwaukee's Jewish immigrants to American culture, helping

them assimilate and avoid ethnic discrimination.”

We have a winner! This thesis looks at a narrow topic, expresses an opinion, and evaluates

the significance of the topic. A History Day proiect based on this thesis statement would

discuss Kander’s work and show evidence that she helped immigrants assimilate and avoid

discrimination.

“kentuckyjunior

Q —historicalE. society.nmopmiskknkKentuckyHistoryDay

Sample Statements: Do's and Don’ts (From Revolution, Reaction, Reformin History Theme)

Don’t: Martin Luther was born in 1483. He started the Reformation. (Fact)

Do: Beginning in 1517, Martin Luther reacted against Roman Catholic religious practices,

especially the sale of indulgences, corruption, and the emphasis on salvation through goodworks. Luther's Reformation succeeded in igniting a religious revolution, creating a new

sect of faith, and later bringing change to the Roman Catholic Church.

Don't: Emiliano Zapata wanted land reform. Want to know why? (Fact/Rhetorical)

Do: Under the banner “Reform, F reedom, Law and Justice" Emiliano Zapata commanded

revolutionary forces in southern Mexico to uplift agrarian peasants through land reform.Zapata's role in the Mexican Revolution helped foster a new constitution in 1917 whichwas later used to redistribute property to the nation’s rural poor.

Don't: Franklin D. Roosevelt created the New Deal. Read more below. (Fact/Incomplete)

Do: In response to the stock market crash of 1929. President Franklin Delano Roosevelt

initiated a revolutionary "New Deal." This government reaction brought reform to the U.S.

banking system and helped get Americans back to work. Roosevelt's goal of restoring

@ economic stability would go unmet, however, until the country mobilized for war.Don’t: Without Norman Borlaug‘s Green Revolution. billions of people would have died.

(“What if?” history that cannot be supported with evidence)Do: Beginning in 1944, Dr. Norman Borlaug conducted research surrounding disease-

resistant wheat varieties. His successes in agricultural reform sparked the Green

Revolution in several developing nations struggling with starvation. Reaction to Borlaug’s

work has been mixed as farming practices have accomplished higher yields while also

undermining small scale farms and presenting negative environmental impacts.

Don't: Adolph Hitler was an evil man that killed a lot of lows. (Opinion)

Do: International reaction to the atrocities of the Holocaust led to a reform of the Law of

Armed Conflict through the Geneva Convention of 1949 to include the protection of civilian

persons in a time of war. The Fourth Geneva Convention laid the groundwork for

international humanitarian law and is used to regulate and enforce war time crimes even

today.

All information has been adapted from National History Day MN: Short Sweet and to the Point Thesis Statements0 and National History Day Alaska: Developing a Thesis Statement;