Thesis Statement

Each student needs to turn in a one-page summary describing their thesis

statement and briefly discussing some important works in the literature on this topic. The thesis statement is worth 4 points. Some examples of thesis statements are:

1. Enclosures are thought to have contributed to productivity growth in agriculture, but the evidence shows that in Britain enclosures had a minimal impact.

2. Banks are thought to have spurred industrialization. The evidence generally confirms this view in Britain during its industrialization.

Literature Review

The literature review is the most important part of the course. It should be 15 pages in length (double space, 12 point font, 1 inch margins). It must contain an introduction, body paragraphs, a conclusion, and a list of references. Most importantly, you must develop a thesis statement, which identifies a topic and makes a statement about some finding in the literature.

You will need to evaluate several papers that address a topic in the literature. It usually works best to study one of the topics discussed on the reading list. In doing so, you will need to do some research and draw on papers not on the reading list. You should consult the bibliographies of the papers on the reading list, or consult the other papers of the authors on the reading list. You can also search google scholar for related papers on a topic. Try searching Enclosure Britain Agriculture and you will find many entries.

Here is the grading rubric for the literature review:

Thesis:
The thesis is clear (2 points)
The thesis is well defended in the paper (4 points) The paper maintains a focus on the thesis (2 points)

Research:
Sufficient research been done (12 points)
The literature discussed is meaningful to the advancement of the paper’s thesis (6 points) Meaningful connections being made between the presented papers (6 points)
There is meaningful and effective critical analysis of the papers (6 points)

Writing style:
The writing is clear (2 points)
The paper flows from one topic to the next and is logical (4 points)

Page Minimum (5 points)
Minus one point for every page short of 15 pages

Minus one point for exaggerated margins
Bibliography (1 point). Use MLA, APA, or Chicago style for references. Just be consistent.

Reading list you can use(first two are provided):

Boyer, George R., and Timothy J. Hatton. “Migration and labour market integration in late

nineteenth‐century England and Wales.” The Economic History Review 50.4 (1997): 697-734.

Long, Jason. “Rural-urban migration and socioeconomic mobility in Victorian Britain.” The Journal of

Economic History65.1 (2005): 1-35.

Simon, Curtis J., and Clark Nardinelli. “The talk of the town: Human capital, information, and the growth

of English cities, 1861 to 1961.” Explorations in Economic History 33.3 (1996): 384-413.

Schürer, K., and Joe Day. “Migration to London and the development of the north–south divide, 1851–

1911.” Social History 44.1 (2019): 26-56.

Important notes:

1. Please use detailed data in the papers to support your thesis instead of just summarizing

2. Besides the four papers provided on the list, please find another two papers to support your thesis.

3. Please write the thesis statement based on the instructions.