Understanding Historical Events: Essay Writing and the Five Ws, Study notes of History

Download Understanding Historical Events: Essay Writing and the Five Ws and more Study notes History in PDF only on Docsity! HOW TO WRITE GREAT ANSWERS The “Right” Answer vs. a “Great” Answer When you answer a multiple choice, fill-in-the-blank, or other short-answer type question, there is a “right” answer. When you write an answer to an essay question, it’s rarely useful to think in terms of a “right” or “wrong” answer. It’s more than possible to write an essay in which all the data is correct, but the essay doesn’t answer the question. Perhaps the trickiest part of responding to an essay question is understanding the question. This is sort of a chicken-and-egg problem. You have to know the answer in order to understand the question. Writing essay answers is really a process of articulating your understanding of material you have at hand. The following criteria are the basis for grading your short essays on Weekly Assignments, Discussions and Tests: 1. The information presented in the answer is relevant to the question. It’s clear that the student understood the question. You can help both me and you understand your answer by repeating the question as part of your answer. 2. There is a clear focus in the answer. At the beginning of your answer, make a simple statement to create your point of focus. Then, elaborate on it. 3. The writing uses appropriate vocabulary, grammar, and punctuation. Grades will be discounted up to 50% for poor vocabulary, grammar, and punctuation. Make friends with AskOnline if your writing skills are weak. 4. The information in the answer is correct – date, names, location, circumstances, etc. 5. The answer explains special terms (e.g., Cold War, imperialism, colonial charter, mercantilism, etc.). 6. The information in the answer is COMPLETE. The answer should include all the elements described in the box below, "How to Describe a Historical Event.” 7. The answer makes connections that demonstrate an understanding of the significance of the question to the process of historical change being studied in this class. 8. The writing is the student's own. I will stop reading when it becomes apparent that the answer is copied from any source – or if it is the work of someone besides the student. How To Describe a Historical Event A complete and meaningful description of a historical event will answer the following five questions: 1) What happened? Obviously, you need to explain the facts that you’re talking about. 2) When did the event occur? History is about time. Similar events recur numerous times throughout human history (war, plague, founding of governments, destruction of people/families/tribes, human migrations, etc…). The time of the event is a significant distinguishing feature. We might know the time of an event as a specific date (The American Declaration of Independence was published on July 4, 1776.); as a decade (The issue of slavery became critical in the U.S. during the 1850s.); as a century (The first successful English colonies were established in the 17th century.). 3) Who was involved in the event? History is a process over time carried out by people. Sometimes we know specific individuals involved in an event (George Washington implemented the first Cabinet in the U.S. government.) Sometimes a group is the most significant actor (Native American tribes created continual conflict on the western boundaries of English settlements; England and France continually waged war with each other throughout the 17th and 18th centuries.) 4) Where did it happen? Like the element of time, the location of the event is a significant distinguishing feature. The location might be a specific place (The Civil War ended when General Lee surrendered to General Grant at Appomattox, Virginia in April, 1865.); or it could be a general geographic location (Native Americans were active in the northwest until the War of 1812.) 5) Why is the event significant? Answering this is our greatest challenge. Historians call this question the “So-what? question.” Understanding the significance of an event is really what makes it historically interesting. To answer the “so-what?” question, think about questions such as: What led to this event? Did the event resolve some prior process – or start a new process? How did this event change the parties to the event (people, place, etc.)? Why are we spending time learning about this event? Some Sample Answers The following are examples of good answers based on student responses to different types of questions. QUESTION1: Describe how John d. Rockefeller organized the Standard Oil Company. Be sure to explain how Rockefeller’s organization illustrates the following concepts; vertical integration, trust, monopoly and holding company. ANSWER1: John D. Rockefeller used a variety of new techniques in organizing the Standard Oil Company. He first organized it in 1870. Over time, he grew the company through the technique of vertical integration, the use of trusts, making his company a monopoly, and creating a holding company. Rockefeller gained control in the petroleum industry by not only gaining control of refineries that transformed crude oil to finished products like kerosene and lubricant, but by also acquiring control of other facets of the petroleum industry like production, transportation, and sales to the consumer. The Standard Oil Company’s monopolistic growth was restricted by state laws in that they prohibited one company from owning stock in another. Through the creation of the Standard Oil Trust, Rockefeller exchanged with others individual company ownership in stock with trust certificates; allowing him to control the companies but not exactly owning them. After New Jersey legalized corporations to own stock in other companies, Rockefeller created the Standard Oil of New Jersey holding company for all the companies affiliated with Standard Oil in the trust. John D.