When evaluating your essay, I will have the following criteria in mind. You should ask yourself these questions as you prepare your essay. Evaluate your completed exam draft in light of these questions, then revise it once more. 

1. Thesis: How well do you understand the material? An essay question asks you to combine information drawn from several different sources, arrange that information in an unfamiliar pattern, and draw conclusions that may be new to you. In short, you will be constructing an argument in order to answer the question. This argument should be clear to the reader. State your thesis clearly in your introduction, and be sure that it answers the question being asked. In addition, your thesis should not be a simplistic argument ("African Americans faced many difficulties in the Jim Crow period"), but a specific one that requires you to think about the material in complex ways. 

2. Structure: How well is the essay organized? Support your argument with reasons and evidence, arranged in a logical order throughout the essay. Is your organization appropriate to the question? Is a chronological or thematic approach best suited to the question? Is it clear to the reader why the essay moves from one paragraph to the other? Do you ever raise a point, drop it, and then raise it again later? 

3. Examples: Have you selected relevant material to illustrate your points? Have you made specific references to examples found in readings? Have you referred to the historical interpretations of those in the readings? Have you referred to the arguments and examples made in lecture? 

4. Writing: Are paragraphs constructed well, with topic sentences that reflect the "mini-thesis" of the paragraph? Are sentences constructed well, with proper grammar, syntax, and diction? 
 
 
 

SOME HINTS

Read the question carefully. Clarify terms that are unfamiliar; make sure you understand what the question is asking. Answer all parts of the question. 

Examine the question for hints on structure and organization. For example, if the question asks you to address the economic, political, and social ramifications of racism, you may want to organize your answer around these three themes. 

Make sure you have a good, clear thesis that answers the question. Often, student theses for essay questions are mere statements of method (as in, "by looking at the history of racial stereotyping, we gain insight into racial oppression"). A strong thesis must present the conclusions that result from such an examination (in this case, exactly what insights are gained?). 

Your thesis paragraph should clearly define your understanding of terms which appear in the question and in your answer. 

Remember, history writing moves from the general to the specific. All general claims must be supported by specific evidence. 

Do not sit down in front of the computer and begin to type. Your exam must be the product of thoughtful evaluation of the course material. The more time you put into understanding the material before you put pen to paper, the better your exam will be. Go over your notes, distilling important course themes relevant to the question. Construct an outline of your answer; this will help you develop your thesis. Most importantly, once you have completed a draft of the answer, revise it. 

In an essay, you are trying to demonstrate mastery of the course material. This means you must think both broadly and narrowly -- broadly about the course themes, and narrowly about the kinds of specific information that illustrate course themes. Your job is to demonstrate that you have attended lecture, read the course material, and understand the way it all fits together.