ÁùºÏ±¦µä

It is my goal to highlight the ways in which writing samples from past courses I’ve completed demonstrate my writing, research and analysis abilities and proficiency at a college level. Since taking the equivalent of English 102 at another institution, I transferred to the University of ÁùºÏ±¦µä, Reno as a history major and have continued to improve and polish my writing skills. I have attached these three essay examples as they demonstrate different writing styles and techniques.

I’ve found that research and analysis are the most important aspects when it comes to studying history, so I’ve focused on developing those skills as well as my writing. My research and analysis skills demonstrate the specific task of “framing complex research questions or problems.” For my thesis essay, “Pirates and the State,” I began my paper by asking the question, “Were pirates religious?” After completing a comprehensive outline, I soon realized it wasn’t such a simple question and I might need to change directions. I now wanted to ask the question, “Why do pirates appear religious? What’s happening behind the scenes?” After meeting with my professor and discussing my topic, he suggested that I expand my thesis to answer these questions. I re-wrote my first 10 pages and took my next draft in a completely different direction. I began to tell the pirate’s stories to explain why pirates appear to be religious. Through the research I completed for my thesis paper, I learned to go beyond the surface and look deeper by expanding my thesis statement and providing clear examples from sources that help my argument. My thesis makes the argument that there is more going on behind the scenes and is proven by contextualizing historical events, trials and the dying last words of pirates side by side to show a bigger picture.

To begin, I first found a journal from the reverend at Newgate - a prison in London which held some of history’s most well-known pirates. I also looked into transcripts from different trials and researched concurrent major events that were happening at the time. For example, in Captain William Kidd’s case, I looked at secondary sources showing alternative interpretations of major events during his lifetime. I also explained how trade relations between the Moghul empire and the British Empire were shaky and with this additional context in mind, I went back to analyze the pirate’s last word that the Newgate reverend recorded. Captain Kidd’s last words were a prayer and a warning to other pirates that they don’t have a chance against the state. My research and analysis of these texts shows that there was more going on behind the scenes than a pirate who turned religious at his execution. Not only was I able to research a topic I found fascinating, but I was also able to show the correlation between pirate and state relations which took months of in-depth research, analysis and editing.