Dr. Matt Kuefler

7. STAYING ON TOPIC AND
BACKGROUND INFORMATION

How important is it to answer each of your questions in my essay?

Very important. I develop topics for the essays that are intended not only to challenge you to look at sources critically but also to develop certain historical skills. The questions I ask when I present essay topics are not meant to form the outlines for your essays: you are expected to develop your own outlines. Rather, the questions are intended to start you thinking about some of the implications of a particular topic. The questions are also intended to lead you into challenging and sometimes difficult aspects of a particular topic. That is why I consider it important for you to address as many of the questions I ask at some point in your essay.

How can I stay on topic when I write my essays?

First, make sure that your thesis statement speaks directly to the topic. Then, as you develop the topic sentences for your paragraphs, make sure that they also relate directly to the topic at hand. If you find that one or more of your paragraphs does not seem to relate directly to the topic, you have two sensible options. The first option would be to remove it from your essay. The second option would be to justify its relationship, even indirectly, to the topic. The second option is harder than the first. You will have to find a means to explain the relevance of the information provided for a deeper understanding of the topic. Then you will have to find a way of adding that explanation into the paragraph, either into the topic sentence for the paragraph or in a second sentence immediately following.

Finally, remember to double-check that you have answered all of the questions I have asked with the essay topics, or as many as you feel that you can answer. If there is a glaring absence, some question I raise that is ignored completely in your essay, you again have two options. The first is to go back, do more research such as rereading sections of the source or sources to find answers to that question, and find a way of incorporating that information into your essay, and not only into the body of the essay but also into the thesis. This is the better option. The second option is to add a comment somewhere in the essay, perhaps in the conclusion, suggesting that while other aspects of this particular topic might be addressed, there wasn't sufficient space to do so in such a short essay. (Note that this second option will only work if your essay is already longer than the allotted length.)

How do I provide background information that may not be directly related to the topic?

There is always a place for background information if it is necessary for you to provide so that your reader understands the content or context of a particular source. In a short essay such as the ones you'll be writing for this class, no more than a paragraph of background information should be necessary. If you find that it is important to discuss the setting or basic plot of a source, the best place to do that is right after the introduction (but not in the introduction). Remember that this paragraph will also need a topic sentence, telling the reader what the paragraph is about and how it relates to the thesis. In this case, the simplest way of doing this is with a sentence that reads something like "Some background information about the source/period is important/helpful/essential in order to understand/appreciate/gain insight into" (using one of these pairs of adjectives and verbs only) and then continue with a brief rephrasing of the thesis statement. Then you have the rest of the paragraph to provide that background information.