Essay Practice

You and a partner should choose three questions.

For each question, go through the steps of outlining the essay.

You’ll need 6 sheets of paper and a partner. The activity listed below is for one of your three questions attempted. You’ll do this three times, once for each question you chose.

On a piece of paper:

  1. brainstorm everything you know about the subject for one minute
  2. look at your list and create two categories based on the needs presented by the question
  3. title the two categories
  4. title the whole essay

On another piece of paper, create an outline that shows:

  1. The opening sentence of each paragraph (Thesis paragraph and two main body paragraphs)
  2. a list of facts you’ll be using to prove in each of the main body paragraphs
  3. the entire opening paragraph
  4. a dash next to each fact with the significance of each

Share your work with another pair, seeing how quickly they can guess your questions.

  1. “The essential cause of the French Revolution was the collision between a powerful, rising bourgeoisie and an entrenched aristocracy defending its privileges.” Assess the validity of this statement as an explanation of the events leading up to the French Revolution. (1984-5)
  2. To what extent and in what ways was the French Revolution during the period 1789-1794 (The Reign of Terror) an attempt to create a government based on Enlightenment ideals? (1986-4)
  3. “Napoleon was a child of the Enlightenment.” Assess the validity of this statement. Use examples referring both to specific aspects of the Enlightenment and to Napoleon’s policies and attitudes. (1992-5)
  4. Identify the major social groups in France on the eve of the 1789 Revolution. Assess the extent to which their aspirations were achieved in the period from the meeting of the Estates-General (May 1789) to the declaration of The Republic (September 1792).(1996-6)
  5. How and to what extent did Enlightenment ideas about religion and society shape the policies of the French Revolution in the period 1789-1799? (2003-7)
  6. To what extent and in what ways did women participate in the Renaissance? (2003b-3)
  7. Explain why Europe saw no lasting peace in the period between the Peace of Westphania in 1648 and the Peace of Paris in 1763. (2003b-6)
  8. Identify the grievances of the groups that made up the Third Estate in France on the even of the French Revolution, and analyze the extent to which ONE of these groups was able to address its grievances in the period 1789 to 1799. (2007-7)
  9. Analyze the ways in which the events of the French Revolutionary and Napoleonic period (1789–1815) led people to challenge Enlightenment views of society, politics, and human nature. (2008-7)