Writing well in history is a difficult skill to become adept at. With its 4000 word limit, the EE is a challenge for high school students. Nevertheless, by following the basic rules below and by using the documents at the bottom of the section, you should produce an engaging scholarly piece. I tell students that their draft should be 5,000-6,000 words. Heavy editing to eliminate circumlocutions and passive voice should get you below the word limit without losing your key ideas. 

History writing is about balance. Too often students are too narrative in their writing or attempt evaluation of ideas without making the debates' context to the reader. Your first responsibility is to produce something clear that uses evidence to answer your question. Sure to get an A, you will be expected to evaluate others' views on the evidence, but first you need to show you have grasped the key ideas. Remember also to cite consistently. Each paragraph should have at least three citations. For more specific guidance see the history guide above.

Too often students fail to present evidence well, which means their evaluation is nonsensical and therefore scores poorly. The rules of historical writing are simple. Each paragraph should begin with a clear topic sentence which outlines what single idea will be covered. Three pieces of evidence should then be selected to illustrate the paragraph's theme. Only one idea should be in each sentence. Use the evidence to drive your argument; don't give evidence then explain what it means. If you present your evidence succinctly, you should have space for evaluation. Evaluation means examining the veracity of the evidence in proving the key idea outlined at the paragraph's beginning. There is more specific guidance on writing evaluatively in the document below. Also below is a general template on writing an EE, an EE format that would score full marks, and a guide of mistakes markers look for.