10. Why-Questions

Wednesday 29 April 2020

Today you are going to begin working on answering Why-Questions…! But… before we look at Why-Questions, let’s just have a quick look at How-Far-Questions again.

1.

Recently, you wrote an answer to the following question:

“Hatred of Rasputin was the main reason for revolution in March 1917.” How far do you agree with this statement? Explain your answer. (10)

Look at the following video clip – as a brief analysis and plan for the essay:

10-mark Russian History Question. (2:09 minutes long)

2.

Next, read this as an example of an essay answer to the same question:

In March 1917 Tsar Nicholas II learnt that the army no longer supported him. He was overthrown and a Provisional Government took control of Russia. This marked the end of the Romanov Dynasty. Russia was now a democracy.

Hatred of Rasputin, main advisor to the crown, and faith healer to Alexi, was one of the reasons for this revolution. Rasputin gave poor advice to the Tsar and Tsarina. On his advice, important ministers were dismissed from government. Even military decisions were made based on Rasputin’s guidance, often with catastrophic results!

Moreover, ordinary Russians did not understand why Nicholas II associated with Rasputin, who was well known as a drunkard and a womanizer. This association damaged the Tsar’s image.

Nobles close to the Tsar disliked Rasputin’s influence and eventually murdered him, but a lot of damage was already inflicted and Tsarist rule became very unpopular.

However, there were more reasons for the 1917 March revolution. The Tsar failed to address longstanding discontent: Peasants and workers lived in great poverty and had no land of their own. Workers received low wages and were also very poor. Nobles had no say in the government.

Russia’s involvement in WW1 made conditions in Russia even worse. She suffered great defeats, which caused a loss of morale. Shortages caused inflation and increased suffering.

In addition, Nicholas and Alexandra’s incompetence brought revolution closer. Nicholas would not allow the Duma any powers to make laws. He also joined the Battlefront and left Alexandra in charge of ruling the country. She relied on Rasputin’s advice. This fuelled rumours that Alexandra and Rasputin were German spies. There were also rumours about her and Rasputin having an affair.

All these factors worked together to cause the March 1917 Revolution, and not only hatred for Rasputin. Ultimately, it was the fact that the army no longer supported Nicholas II, that was probably the most immediate reason for the Russian revolution of March 1917.

3.

Now, look at the animated explainer video that answers exactly the same question, but in video format:

“Hatred of Rasputin was the main reason for revolution in March 1917.” How far do you agree with this statement? Explain your answer. (10)

Animated Exam Question Answer. (2:50 minutes long)

4.

Now, let’s look at the requirements of a Why-Question!

5.

To help you with the structure of Why-Questions you are going to make a few animated explainer videos, using the online video tool Mysimpleshow:

What is Mysimpleshow? ( 1:07 minutes long)

6.

So, how will it work?

You need to join the Mysimpleshow Team Account. An invitation has been sent to your school Gmail account. Open your Gmail account and then follow these steps to sign up to the Mysimpleshow Team Account:

Open Account and Join Classroom. (1:57 minutes long)

7.

Next you will have to familiarize yourself with the Mysimpleshow video creation tool. For this purpose you need to watch the following videos that briefly show you how to use Mysimpleshow for the first time. (These videos include various steps in the video creation process – you may need to pause the videos as you work through each of the steps…)

This video shows briefly how to login to Mysimpleshow and how to start a new video project by giving the new video a title… (0:53 minutes long)

This video shows briefly how to upload a script (created in PowerPoint) to create a Mysimpleshow explainer video, and what needs to be done in order to edit visuals when creating the explainer video… (1:19 minutes long)

This video shows briefly what needs to be done in order to finalize the video that you have created in Mysimpleshow… (1:24 minutes long)

8.

Now you are going to practise video creation…! You are going to make a short video on “Why is the study of History Important?” You do not have to write a script for this video – I have posted a script (written in PowerPoint) for you to use. So, download the PowerPoint document that has been posted on Schoology, in “Year 11 History Course – Materials”. Then, follow the steps, as explained in the videos above, to create the Mysimpleshow explainer video. (Seeing that your are already logged into the account, you can start at “Step 2”.)

9.

Once completed, please send me a message in Schoology (use the SAME mail-thread…) to confirm that you have finished the work as set for today.

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