Essay Writing Phase: Was the 20th Century a Period of Progress?

Part of the ActiveHistory 20th Century Research Project.

Essay Writing Phase: Was the 20th Century a Period of Progress?

Students are now in a position to write their essay on the key question “Was the 20th Century a Period of Progress?”. In the simplest way, they can write the essay in two main sections: positives and negatives. A more sophisticated approach could arrange ideas in a table like this before writing up the findings.

Theme Ideas Evidence of things getting better Evidence of things getting worse
Where? Which particular countries / continents / places?
When? Which particular decades?
Who? Which type of people? (e.g. by race, sex, class)
What? Which area of life (e.g. science/technology, culture/arts; politics, economy)?

The detailed ActiveHistory rubric / markscheme for History Projects is very useful at this stage; also available is a custom-made markscheme for this project.