#13 Writing a Good Discursive Essay with Robyn Mowatt

04/28/20 • 94 min

In this episode we discuss how to write a good discursive history essay according to IEB assessment criteria. Robyn is an assessment specialist with the IEB (Independent Examinations Board) in South Africa. We find out why we write essays in history. We discuss the types of essays written in the IEB. We look at all the important features of a good discursive essay. We try to establish how the discursive essay links to historical inquiry in general. We analyze the whole process of essay writing from selecting the right question, unpacking the question, doing your planning, writing a good introduction, the importance of proper paragraphs, and rounding it off with a suitable conclusion. How long should my essay be? What words are important when writing this type of essay? Finally, we scrutinize the rubric for the discursive essay. Please send us your questions and suggestions to the twitter handle @WilliamHPalk.

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#12 Rise of the Russian Marxists

In this episode we pick up the story of Russia with the reign of the "Great Reformer" Alexander II and the development of the Nihilist and Populist movements. We show how discontent for serfdom and the monarchy grew and how different groups took up the struggle for a more equal society until it found a voice (and strategy) in the ideas of Karl Marx. We discuss the pathways that ultimately led to the formation of Vladimir Lenin's vanguard, the Bolsheviks. We've drawn extensively on the work of the historian Mark Steinberg @TheGreatCourses. PS: Alexander II died in 1881.

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#14 Working Conditions in Textile Factories: A Source-based Assessment

In this episode we investigate the working conditions in British textile factories during the Industrial Revolution. We base our investigation on four primary sources as a way to introduce our listeners to important history skills. We've based this discussion on Stanford History Education Group's historical thinking chart. We introduce the skills of sourcing, contextualization, corroboration and close reading. We've also provided some background knowledge on the start of cotton factories in Britain. Here we've drawn on the work of the historian Patrick Allitt. He teachers a very informative course on @TheGreatCourses.

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