One of the most common weaknesses in undergraduate – and even postgraduate – writing is the “scholarship dump”: a paragraph that simply reports what historians have said, with no clear sense of why it matters. Effective historical writing doesn’t reproduce arguments; it positions itself within them. Your goal is to show how scholarship helps you think, not to recite it.

Here’s how to use secondary work in a way that feels analytical rather than derivative.

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1. Treat scholarship as evidence, not narrative

Bad scholarship use:

“Smith argues X. Jones argues Y. Brown disagrees.”

This tells the reader nothing about why these positions matter.

Good scholarship use:

“Smith’s argument assumes that conversion was primarily doctrinal, but Jones’s critique highlights how material culture complicates that model.”

Notice what changed: you’re explaining what the debate does for your argument. You’re not recounting a plot.

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2. Pull out the useful concept, not the whole argument

Most scholarship contains one or two ideas that are genuinely useful for your analysis. Extract those.

Instead of summarising 20 pages, try:

“Hines introduces the idea of ‘symbolic bricolage’ to explain mixed grave assemblages; this helps clarify why…”

You turn a whole book into a tool for thinking.

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3. Put scholars in conversation – but for a reason

You don’t need to reproduce debates exhaustively. Pick scholars whose disagreement illuminates your own point.

For example:

“Carver sees conversion as negotiation rather than rupture, which complicates Hills’s emphasis on doctrinal clarity.”

This shows:

• You understand the debate
• You can frame disagreements
• You can use those disagreements to advance your argument

It’s not name-dropping; it’s architecture.

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4. Use verbs of thinking, not verbs of saying

Summaries rely on verbs like says, states, argues, claims.

Analysis uses verbs like:

• complicates
• qualifies
• extends
• challenges
• reframes
• opens up

Try rewriting:

“Brown says that the cross was a symbol of authority.”

as

“Brown’s argument reframes the cross as a tool of political performance, shifting focus from belief to visibility.”

Stronger, tighter, and clearly analytical.

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5. Make scholarship answer a question you’ve already raised

A simple structure that always works:

1. Raise a question from your evidence
2. Bring in a scholar who helps answer it
3. Show how their answer is helpful – but limited
4. Offer your own reading

This keeps scholarship subordinate to your argument, not the other way around.

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6. Don’t be afraid to disagree – but do it with precision

You don’t need to demolish someone’s thesis; you just need to show where it stops being useful.

For example:

“Deryaee’s reading of Ardashir as the first explicitly Mazda-worshipping king overlooks earlier Achaemenid precedents; the innovation lies more in articulation than ideology.”

This is disagreement that creates clarity.

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7. End by returning to your evidence

Scholarship should push you back into the text, object, or source you’re analysing.

Try:

“Taken together, these interpretations highlight why the symbol’s ambiguity mattered. Returning to the burial context…”

Your authority comes from your evidence; scholarship is scaffolding, not destination.

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Final Checklist

Before submitting a paragraph that uses secondary work, ask:

• Am I using this scholarship or merely reporting it?
• Have I identified the idea that matters most?
• Does this debate shape my argument?
• Could a reader remove this paragraph without losing anything? If yes → revise.

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