Getting Started:

Sometimes the hardest part in getting started is coming up with a topic for your essay. Perhaps the easiest approach is to pick some aspect of the American Revolution you found particularly interesting when you studied it in school.

There are any number of very interesting characters in the drama of our revolution. George Washington, Ben Franklin, and John Adams come immediately to mind, but you might find that an essay written about a lesser known individual might be more interesting to you and, hopefully, more interesting to the judges.

Events are also appropriate so any battle of the revolution is up for consideration. An analysis of the success or failure of tactics and strategies can make for a good essay thesis. But the revolution was more than battles. John Adam’s defense of the British soldiers charged in the Boston Massacre is just one example.

If you like to “think the big thoughts” you can pursue a thesis on the ideals of the revolution. For some students this approach would be all but impossible but perhaps you enjoy philosophy and can articulate this type of topic well.

So, give it some thought. Talk to your history teacher. Do some brainstorming.

Once you get a topic you’ll need to decide what your thesis will be. Yes, it sounds like your English teacher, but in order to write a quality essay you have to know what main point you want to make. If you don’t do this, you’ll likely ramble through the essay and the judges will, having finished reading it, ask, “What was that about?”

The rest is basically research and writing. We’ll be offering some thoughts about this aspect later this fall.