Search New York State History Day:
|
| |
 |
|
|
Home News Contest Teachers Students Parents Staff Contact Us Store
|
|
|
Selecting a Topic
| | 2008 Theme for National History Day |
National History Day Annual Theme
Your topic must be based on this year's theme, The Individual in History. When considering this topic, you may immediately think of famous people who you'd love to learn all about. The critical thing with this theme is that you can't just give the person's life story in your project. That would make it like a biography, which are usually just descriptive.
The key to The Individual in History theme is to clearly show why you feel your person changed history, either locally, nationally, or internationally. You have to make an argument regarding your person. In other words, you have to prove WHY the person is an important individual in history, not just tell WHO they were.
Pretend that you are going to present your project to a whole bunch of people who don't particularly like the person you selected. How are you going to convince them that your person made an impact on history? This should be your focus - your thesis, if you will - for your project.
Suggested Topics
New York State History Day staff will put together a list of suggested topics later this summer. In the meantime, I encourage you to pick someone in history who isn't all that well known. For example, pick a locally famous person. Go to your local library or museum and find out who the important people are in your town's history. I think you will be surprised to find some great stories in your own backyard.
Or, if that doesn't interest you, dig through your social studies book and find a name you don't know. There are plenty of people who made important contributions in history that no one knows about. Don't believe us? Check out this article from Newsweek magazine from a few months ago on the Serbian inventor Nikola Tesla: http://www.newsweek.com/id/123467 He'd make an interesting History Day project!
It is most important that you choose a topic you find fascinating. Don't hesitate to look at areas you are interested in, even if they don't appear to be historic. History can be found in science, sports, transportation, and fashion. History is not all about dead presidents and treaties. Research something you want to know about!
Learning More About Your Topic Ideas
Let's say that you decide you are drawn to the Civil Rights movement. You start looking for information in your textbook and on the internet. Woah! There is so much information that your head starts spinning! You clearly need to narrow your topic to something you can research and create a project on in a few months.
So now you head to your local library and you find a book called Eyes on the Prize: America's Civil Rights Years, 1954-1965 by Juan Williams. You find out that many people were involved in the movement over several years. Also, you find that there were several focused efforts in the fight for civil rights. A couple that really interest you are, say, the Birmingham Bus Boycott and the March on Washington. When you read a little more about them, you find that the Civil Rights movement affected and involved millions of people with multiple perspectives from all across the country.
OK, so you may not be as interested in the Civil Rights movement as we are. That's ok. The lesson is still an important one. While you are narrowing your topic, it is a good idea to jot down people, places or events that get your attention. Take these ideas to your History Day advisor or teacher. He or she may be able to help you focus in on your best topic.
Remember, you need to find an event that fits in well with the theme, has important historical significance, and can be developed into one of the project categories.
Topic Selection Worksheet
We've created a worksheet to help you direct your research. Click the link to download it to your computer: Topic Selection Worksheet. |
|
|
|
|
