Historian's Code

As a historian, I vow to:

• Uphold the truths of history, despite how strong the tide of popular opinion may push against them
• Use and properly cite only the most accurate and/or relevant sources in my work, be they primary, secondary, or tertiary.
• Appreciate each day in my career as a day which will become a part of history, because when the sun sets on that day, that is exactly what it will become.
• Study, learn from, and teach history in its entirety, not just the pretty or flattering parts.
• Do no harm to historical documents, books, and other artifacts.
• Regularly watch so called "historical" films and e-mail directors when they adapt the events for the sake of dramatic effect. Yes, I'm talking to you, Roland Emmerich.
• Never forget that although I may earn my bachelor's, master's, or even doctorate, I will forever be a student, learning from the past.

The Struggle

So basically I'm having difficulty picking "main" primary and secondary sources. There are SO many articles out there on the impacts of 9/11. At this point, I'm pretty sure the main focus of the paper will be how 9/11 affected the national government, its foreign policies, and how the idea of national security changed after the attacks.

As I read, I'm discovering that terrorism is really the main focus of our national security programs, and some articles even state that 9/11 shaped the entire foreign policy of the U.S., although I believe that statement to be arguable and will probably end up debating such statements in my paper. Some articles even discuss how the U.S. hasn't really changed since the attacks. According to them, a lesson was learned, but that knowledge was not applied properly. Obviously, I still have a bit of research to do, as there are literally innumerable sources on 9/11 because everyone old enough to write on the topic was alive when it happened. Everyone experienced 9/11, so it's taking me a bit longer than expected to chisel through these sources and choose which ones will be most valuable to my paper.

So I guess what I'm saying here is that, growing up in the wake of 9/11, I haven't yet found any new information per se, yet I am discovering just how many individual groups had different 9/11 experiences. Muslims, Christians, Americans, veterans, New Yorkers, and probably even cats and dogs all have articles written on the impacts 9/11 had on them. My research questions have changed from, "How did 9/11 affect America," to "How much did 9/11 really affect America?" And this question is way more interesting than I thought. On the surface, one person might say America was totally changed; turned over on its head to never be the same. Others suggest the event changed America, but Americans don't really understand those changes or don't understand what exactly that meant for America. I know it sounds vague and confusing right now, but I'm honestly just now getting into the thick of this, and I don't have many answers, but I intend to find them through my research and explain them in my paper.

Developing a Thesis

There are probably innumerable approaches to developing a thesis.

Probably the most popular and conventional way is to write a sentence or a group sentences that establish what your paper is going to be about. The problem with this method is that often it leaves you with a thesis that is too lengthy or too broad, and when writing a scholarly work, it is often difficult to mention everything that will be in your paper in your thesis.

So, another approach is that you can use your thesis to state your stance on the issue being discussed in your paper. For instance, the topic of my paper is the impacts of American society caused by the September 11th, 2001 attacks. Hence, a very basic thesis statement would be, "The terrorist attacks of September 11th 2001 caused immense impacts on American society." Of course, in the final draft I would have to describe exactly what impacts those attacks had.

Yet another way to develop a thesis is to begin with a question, then try to answer it. "Did 9/11 change American society? How? What groups, if any were impacted the most? The least?," and so on.

Lastly, some people prefer to basically write their paper backwards, almost. You can write your paper, which chisels in exactly what ideas will be in your paper, then write a thesis that blankets those ideas.