IA Help

[bethiedrama101]

Hi Guys!

 

 

My draft for my IA is due in two weeks and I haven't started yet. I'm not really sure how I should go about tackling this essay. I don't really understand what I am meant to do and it is making it hard for me to start. If anyone could give me some tips and clarification on this I'd really appreciate it! 

 

P.S my topic is on the Rosenstrasse protest in Nazi Germany

[King112]

Well, I was told by my teacher to first get a bunch of sources, you can then narrow down your choices. I think you should take a look at a few samples. but the basic view is :

1) Introduction- talk about what exactly is going on, which are your main sources, years you are talking about

2) List of sources- just list all the sources you will use in 4) (I'll explain in a minute) and a line about each

3) evaluation- talk about the main sources you will use. values limitations, etc etc

4) IDKWHATITITSCALLED- Just talk about your question. use your sources as references and explain whats going on. Its kind of hard to explain, so take a look at a few samples.

5) conclusion- Just sum up everything

6) Sources- List of all the works cited.

 

Also, anything in 2 must be in 4 and vice versa.

Hope I helped

[Captain Jeeves]

First of all, have you read the advice thread pinned in this forum? That ought to answer a number of your questions right there. Secondly, I found it easiest to stock up on 3-7 decent sources and trawl through looking for relevant quotes. When you find one, write it down on a Google doc or a word document. Eventually you'll have a lot more evidence than you can actually use, but once you've come up with a question and/or thesis you'll be able to narrow down the important stuff. After that, outlining and writing is pretty straightforward.

 

Actually, King112, #2 ought to be a summary of evidence with zero analysis because all your analysis should be in #4. No listing of sources occurs except in your bibliography.

[Sofia.]

The history IA is like a regular essay, but with a lot of (unnecessary) formatting. Much like King112 mentioned, it is divided into parts:

 

1. Plan of investigation: where you state your RQ, method, the sources that will be evaluated in the Source Eval. and scope of the essay.

2. Summary of Evidence: the weirdest part of the IA! You list all the evidence that you will use from your sources in bullet-point form (referencing each and every fact). Quotes are acceptable, but so is paraphrasing. The SoE should be divided into parts, either thematically or cronologically. 

Ex: 

• The history IA is a weird essay.¹
• In 2014, King112 gave great advice on how to write a history IA.²
• "IDKWHATITITSCALLED."³

​The numbers would then be footnotes for referencing (if you use that system). Note that all evidence that you use in your essay must be in the SoE!

3. Source Evaluation: evaluate your two most important sources using OPVL. These sources must be by expert historians, and cannot be encyclopedias/textbooks etc.

4. Analysis: this is the "essay-part" of the IA. Use the evidence from the SoE to answer your RQ in standard essay-format. 

5. Conclusion: pretty obvious

6. Bibliography

 

The total word limit is 2000 words, excluding the bibliography and the footnotes. 

[Sceptyczka]

Actually, you don't have to write the Summary of Evidence in a bullet-point form. You are allowed to use full sentences and construct it in the same way as other parts of IA. Other than that, you've got some great advice here. Good luck with your writing! And make sure that you find the topic interesting (it will make writing much easier).

Edited November 11, 2014 by Sceptyczka