UC Santa Barbara > History Department > Prof. Marcuse > Courses > Hist 133c homepage > Web Option Handout

UCSB Hist 133C, Spring 2007
Germany since 1945 (course homepage)

Prof. Marcuse (homepage)
marcuse@history.ucsb.edu

Web Option Handout
(pdf print version)

I. Procedure & Timeline
II. Project Elements
III. Edit Markings
IV. Grammar Conventions
(& Pet Peeves)
V. Formatting Conventions
VI. Grading

I. Procedure and Timeline

If you received a B+ or better on your essay, you may opt to do the following instead of the final exam:

  • On the graded paper printout I returned to you, please describe/note in a different color pen, pencil, or marked with highlighter any changes you are making besides the small copyedits I marked on it.
  • Open & save your book essay file, naming it as follows: YourlastnameAuthorslastnameYear_075.doc. E.g.: MarcuseFulbrook2002_075.doc. [Year is the date of your book's publication; 075 stands for 2007-May.]
    If you don't use Microsoft Word, .rtf (rich text format) is ok, too. (Under File > Save as, select "type.")
  • Augment your paper with §1-§5, below. Note that §5 is especially important (lion's share of grade)!
  • Turn on the Tools > Track Changes function of Microsoft Word, and then edit your paper itself.
  • On Friday, May 25 (Tue., May 29?): Submit the marked (by me and you) printout of your essay, with a printout of the new items §1-§6, below stapled in front of it. I will edit and comment on the additional web elements, and grade the marked copy for the revised version that everyone submits.
  • Image: Try to find one image for the web page header, you may insert it into the word document , but it must also be saved as a separate file, named as follows: YourlastnameDescriptiveword.jpg [.png or .gif]. For example: MarcuseGermanflag.jpg. It must be saved and e-mailed as a separate file. A vertical format is best. If appropriate, multiple images are acceptable. Alternatively, you can make an appointment with me to scan images in my office. Be sure to bring the source book(s) with you!
  • Make any final revisions and submit an electronic copy in .doc or .rtf format, by Tue., June 5, 3pm.
    The electronic copy should be e-mailed to me as an attachment, with an image attached as well.
    Subject: 133c web: Yourname on Bookauthor's name Year; e.g.: 133c web: Marcuse on Fulbrook 2002

II. Project Elements (back to top)

Your final submission must have the following elements in addition to your book essay text:
(For examples, see the "Index page of student essays," in the menu bar on the 133c course web site.)

  1. Think of a meaningful title for your essay:
    "Descriptive Title in Quotation Marks" "A Superior Textbook for the Post-1945 Period"
    by Yourfirstname Yourlastname by Harold Marcuse
  2. Full author name, title, and (publication information) of the book(s) on which your essay is based.
    This should be in the following form (do not put each item on a separate line; I'll do that):
    Authorsfirstname Authorslastname, Title: Subtitle in Italics (CityOfPublication: Publisher, yearpublished), number of pages. UCSB call number.
    Example: Mary Fulbrook, The Divided Nation: A History of Germany, 1918-1990 (New York: Oxford University Press, 1992), 405 pages. UCSB: DD240.F85 1992.
  3. An About the author sentence or paragraph, in which you describe: yourself (major, class year, relevant interests), and (as appropriate) why you are interested in and the extent of your knowledge of German/European history (e.g. personal/family connections, previous coursework, travel). You might also say why you chose this particular book or topic.
    Example: I am a junior political science major who has been studying the formation of political parties. I traveled through Germany after I graduated from high school, and I hope to intern at the German Bundestag next summer. I chose to write about the Green party because I am interested in environmental issues.
  4. An abstract of your essay, about 150-200 words, in which you briefly describe what the book is about, and state the author's and/or your main thesis (the main point they/you make).
  5. An annotated Bibliography and Links section, with a heading, and 3 subsections: Book Reviews (with the full bibliographic information for the reviews you found--including links if available on-line), Books and Articles, and Web Sites. You should list at least two other books or journal articles on your topic, and the 2-5 most relevant links you can find. Note: do not merely take the top google results, but review at least 10 links found using several different search terms. Each link should have an annotation by you--that is, a brief description and assessment of the web page. (See examples from previous years.) [continued, over]
  6. Web page citation format: Author[if known, or site/institution], "web page title[if available]" (creation/revision date[if known]), <URL>.
    For Wikipedia articles (as a case with no author), just use Wikipedia in place of the author's name.
    You can put the URL into www.archive.org to get an approximate date.
    • For books you should include either a library call no., or amazon or google books link.
    • The text of your essay, with the corrections as noted on the hard copy. Please do not use underlining, only bold and italics (underlining is only for links). Subheadings are a great idea--try to find appropriate ones for the sections of your essay. For headings, use a separate, left-justified paragraph in boldface type.
  7. Include also the honor pledge, followed by your signature:
  8. I certify that this essay is my own work, written for this course and not submitted for credit for any other course. All ideas and quotations that I have taken from other sources are properly credited and attributed to those sources.              YOUR SIGNED NAME

III. Edit Markings (back to top)

  1. dot under a letter: change capitalization (if lower case, capitalize; if capital, should be lower case)
  2. ¶ means start a new paragraph at that point
  3. [ ] text can be deleted
  4.     (line with curl at end): delete this letter or text. (I don't like extra words.)
  5. awk. Awkward formulation, please rephrase.
  6. under some editing marks: my mistake, just leave as you had it.

IV. Grammar Conventions (& Pet Peeves) (back to top)

  1. Do not use the collective singular (with a definite article) to refer to groups; use the plural instead.
    E.g. not "the reader will notice …," but: "readers will notice." This not only indicates that not all readers are alike, but enables you to use "they" instead of having to choose between he, she and he/she. Similarly for the historian, the Nazi, the Jew, the German, etc. In general, it helps to avoid stereotyping.
    Exception: when you want to stereotype: "the common German citizen" (but still a bad practice).
  2. Place apostrophes correctly; do not use an apostrophe for pluralization (unless the word is possessive):
    One Nazi, two Nazis. That Nazi's gun; that group of Nazis' guns.
  3. Don't use an apostrophe when referring numerically to decades, e.g. The economic miracle of the 1950s.
  4. Recently, the convention for spelling antisemitism has changed: no hyphen or capitalization.
    (This recognizes that there is no such thing as Semitism.)

V. Formatting Preferences & Conventions (back to top)

  1. Pages should be numbered in the upper-right corner [ Insert > Page Numbers; select those options]
  2. The thesis statement and subheadings should be marked in boldface type.
  3. Use only italics for emphasis and titles, never underlining. Underlining is reserved to signify links.
  4. Use in-text citations (Authorslastname, page#), e.g. (Fulbrook, 23).
  5. Place punctuation marks inside the "quotation marks ," but page citations outside of the quotation marks and preferably at the end of the sentence, not right after a quotation: Thus:
    Real existing socialism was not the "third way," as Bahro defined it (Fulbrook, 218).
  6. Quotations longer than 3 lines/60 words set off as block quotations: single spaced with .5" left indent.
    [Do NOT use tabs to do this; rather: Format > Paragraph; then select Left=.5 and Special=none.]
  7. The book and book author's voice should be in present tense; historical events in past tense.

VI. Grading (back to top)

  • This project, like the final exam, is worth 25 points.
    You will receive up to 5 more points for your "about the author" (2pts) and abstract (3pts) texts.
    You will receive up to 15 more points for sources section (the list of books, articles, and links).
    You will receive 5 points when you confirm that the uploaded version meets the following standards:
    1. Your name and the essay title on the index page and in title bar of browser window are correct.
    2. All navigational and external links work (library databases [jstor, asap] should be checked at UCSB).
    3. Your online text has been proofread and has no grammar, spelling or formatting errors.

handout prepared for web by H. Marcuse on June 20, 2007, updated: 6/21/07
back to top; to UCSB Hist 133c homepage, to Courses Page; Prof. Marcuse's homepage