How should I structure my History essays?

Every history essay aims to answer a question. You may be asked to evaluate the importance of one factor, or to balance the importance of many, in an historical event. Sometimes you may be asked to ‘discuss’ a statement, and form your own argument surrounding it. In every case, making your argument clear is key.

The structure of a history essay should generally be:

Introduction: Here you provide important historical context, explain the question at hand, introduce your argument, and outline the themes you will discuss in the main body of the essay that support (or contradict) your argument.

Main body: Here you dedicate a section to each theme that you outlined in the introduction, and go into detail on each. Throughout and at the end of each section, you must link it back to the question and explain why this theme contributes to your argument.

Conclusion: Here, through quick summaries, you should bring together your sections in a way that answers the question, and demonstrates your own argument. You may wish to finish by introducing another idea or argument, related to the subject of the essay, which encourages further thinking or research.