France AOS 1: Movements, Ideas, Leaders & Events Preparing your students for SAC 1

France AOS 1: Movements, Ideas, Leaders & EventsPreparing your students for SAC 1 Luke Cashman Penleigh & Essendon Grammar School Luke.Cashman@pegs.vic.edu.au

Purpose of today’s talk • What are the four tasks teachers can set? • Which task to set for SAC 1 and why • How to write SACs • What conditions to set • How students could approach certain types of questions • Practice tasks • Sample responses • How to grade SACs • General hints & tips for teachers & students [if we get time]

Options for SAC 1 • Analysis of visual and written primary source documents • Argumentative Essay • Research Report • Historiographical exercises Teachers may choose the order of the assessment tasks Source: VCE History Study Design October, 2009), p135

Points to consider when setting the task for SAC 1 • The VCAA examination • Section A – Short answer questions (x2); document analysis • Section B – Document analysis; Argumentative essay • Advice for students - Two options: • Decide during reading time based on questions and documents • Decide at some stage during the year (the earlier the better) • The key: France AOS 2: Historiography or essay? • The nature of the task dictates (to an extent) how students prepare • Reduces students’ preparation load prior to the exam • If students prepare diligently, questions and unseen documents should not worry them • Decide early in the year so preparation time can be used more efficiently

Preparing for SAC 1 • Task: a. Primary visual and written document analysis (as per Section B of the exam) OR b. Research Report (as per Section A of the exam) General tips for setting the SAC: • As close to the relevant VCAA exam task as possible – use key phrases and stems • Completed under exam conditions (time; unseen; no cheat sheet) • Number of tasks or questions - depends on available time

SAC 1, Option 1: Document analysis task • Select documents from different sections of the Area of Study:* • Chronology • M.I.L.E. • Select two [or more] primary sources: one visual; one written (visuals need to be VERY clear)* • Set questions as per exam task • Questions a & b (2 marks each) • Short; comprehension-style; draw attention to key parts of the document • “Identify…”

SAC 1, Option 1: Document analysis task Question c (6 marks) • Can ask the students to: • Put the documents in its historical context • Discuss what factors contributed to the document’s production • Weight the significance of the event, leader, movement or document • Key phrases: • “By quoting from the extract, and using your own knowledge, explain…” • “By referring to specific parts of the visual, and using your own knowledge, explain…”

Type “c” questions • RUUP: Read; Underline; Understand; Plan. • Spend about 10 minutes on this question. • The first sentence MUST answer the question rather than simply repeat it. • The next few sentences should expand on the first by discussing in some detail three examples. • It is a good strategy to relate abstract political, social or economic concepts to particular social groups & movements and their particular grievances or desires.

Type “c” questions continued… • Use signposting clearly and effectively to differentiate between your points and help the assessor allocate marks.* • It is imperative that you refer directly to the source at some point. Quote from written sources or describe a particular element of a visual source. • Be as specific as possible in the demonstration of your historical knowledge (movements, ideas, leaders, events, dates, policies, laws etc). • Word limit: approx 150 words • If given, stick to the timeframe in the question. (In other words, swim between the flags)

Sample Question c response I: c. By quoting from the extract, and using your own knowledge, explain the ideas and events which influenced the noble deputies on 4 August 1789. (VCAA exam, 2011) A variety of impulses, both self-effacing and self-interested, governed the nobles’ actions on the Night of Patriotic Delirium. First and foremost, the nobles were motivated by a desire to abolish ‘those title-deeds which humiliate the human race’. This was evidence of patriotic self-sacrifice amongst the nobility – giving up one’s privileges for the benefit of the nation. Secondly, some nobles were no doubt terrified by the prospect of peasant uprisings called the ‘Great Fear’ and the threat they posed not only to property but also the nobles’ safety. Relinquishing feudal dues, which were eventually made redeemable, was a relatively cheap way of protecting the real source of their wealth and, more importantly, their lives. Finally, the nobles were shamed into renouncing their social status by the bourgeois deputies who arranged for the liberal-minded Duc d’Aiguillon and the Viscount de Noailles to dramatically call for the abolition of feudal privileges. (Word count: 148 words)

Sample Question c response II: c. By referring directly to the representation, and using your own knowledge, explain the range of economic burdens placed on the peasantry of France prior to the outbreak of Revolution in 1789. The peasantry faced an overwhelming range of fiscal and economic responsibilities during the Old Regime. The most onerous were the land rents which, due to population increase throughout the eighteenth century, had risen sharply. While the first two estates, and many towns, enjoyed tax exempt status, the peasants bore the full weight of the taille, vingtieme and the gabelle, all of which had increased due to France’s involvement in foreign wars. This is represented in the document by the First and Second Estates crushing the old peasant with the weight of their privileged status. Dues such as champarts, lods et vents and banalities, fees for use of wine presses, mills and ovens, were also payable to the peasants’ feudal lords. The steep rise in bread prices in the 1780s, due largely to a series of bad harvests, placed another burden peasants. In essence, the heaviest financial burden fell on those who could least afford to pay. (158 words)

SAC 1, Option 1: Document analysis task • Question d (10 marks): • Evaluate the usefulness of the document in providing a useful/reliable understanding of the factors that contributed to the development of a revolutionary situation • Discuss the point of view of the source (quote or discuss an aspect of a visual) • Bring in historians who agree and disagree with the source • Key phrases: • “Evaluate the usefulness of this documentin understanding…” • “Evaluate how reliable this representation is in providing…” • “In your response quote parts of the document and refer to different views of the Revolution of 1789.” • “In your response refer to specific parts of the visual and to different views of the Revolution of 1789.” • Ensure that Questions c and d are sufficiently different

Type “d” questions • RUUP: Read; Underline; Understand; Plan. • Spend about 15 minutes on this question. • After studying the source, decide whether you think it is reliable or useful. This will be based on your understanding of the topic or event. • The first sentence MUST comment on the reliability or usefulness of the source. • Explain briefly what the source says about the particular topic or event. • It is imperative that you refer directly to the extract. Quote from written sources or describe a particular element of a visual source.

Type “d” questions • Discuss specific historians or contemporary points of view that agree with the source. • Discuss specific historians or contemporary points of view that either disagree with the viewpoint offered by the source or offer a different explanation. • Discuss events or facts that challenge the validity of the source. • Use signposting throughout to indicate where viewpoints differ or concur (Similarly; on the other hand; however etc). • Summarise your findings in the final sentence. (Therefore, while this representation…) • Word limit: approx 250 words

Type “d” questions • Remember: • Spell and use the terms ‘bias’ and ‘biased’ properly. • A document is not unreliable or useless because it is a primary source. • Similarly, an extract is not useful or reliable because it is a secondary source • Avoid “black and white” assumptions about reliability and usefulness • Take each document or extract on its own merits and evaluate its merit in terms of the question. • Stick to the timeframe given in the question (swim between the flags)

Sample Question d response I: d. Evaluate how useful this extract might be in providing an accurate representation of revolutionary ideas and leaders who shaped the Revolution to 4 August 1789. In your response quote parts of the extract and refer to different views of the Revolution. (VCAA exam 2011) While this extract from Mathiez is quite useful in understanding what motivated the liberal nobles, it does not discuss a sufficiently broad range of leaders and ideas. Mathiez explains the nobles’ impulse for patriotic self-sacrifice and the bourgeois deputies’ insistence that this be done for the “fatherland”. This sacrifice was limited, however, as the feudal dues could be “redeemable” for a “money payment”. Regardless of genuine extent of their propensity for self-abnegation, the nobles’ actions on the Night of Patriotic Delirium effectively brought to an end centuries of feudalism. Simon Schama notes that the nobility played a leading role in the Revolution; their obstruction of Louis’ tax reform program on the basis that only the “Nation” had the right to make decisions regarding state finances is evidence of this. In his “What is the Third Estate?” (January 1789) the Abbé Sieyès made a much more aggressive call for the end of feudal and ecclesiastical privilege. His passionate claim that the first two estates were parasitic was, according to Doyle, the “most eloquent expression” of “bourgeois fury”. For Marxist historians such as Soboul and Rudé, the desire for liberty and equality also motivated the bourgeois deputies of the Third Estate. Their demand for a constitution and the separation of state powers, expressed in the Tennis Court Oath (20 June 1789), was instrumental in demolishing the absolute monarchy of France of the old regime. Therefore, while Mathiez’ account helps us understand the significance of the noble deputies, the role played by other leaders and ideas must also be considered. (256 words)

Sample Question d response II: d. Evaluate to what extent this representation presents reliable evidence of the range of causes of the French Revolution. Refer to other views in your response. While this source is quite useful in understanding the grievances of the peasants prior to the Revolution, it says nothing about the frustrations of the urban workers and the bourgeoisie. As Lefebvre has noted in his studies on the peasantry, this group faced a range of crippling financial burdens such as land rent, the taille and the champart. The taxes and dues, along with their resentment at the feudal system, were important factors in the long-term causes of the Revolution. These are all symbolised on the cartoon by the burden placed on the old peasant by the two privileged orders. Rudé’s research on the urban workers, on the other hand, reveals a range of grievances including rising bread prices, stagnant or declining wages and high unemployment. These factors contributed to episodes of urban unrest such as the Reveillon riots and the storming of the Bastille. For the French middle class, their grievances with the old regime were ideological rather than material. In his “What is the Third Estate?”, the Abbé Sieyès outlined the ideas of liberty, fiscal and legal equality, and demanded that the Third Estate be recognised as the sovereign body of France. This diagram accords with the view of Marxist historians, such as Soboul, who argue that the Revolution was a class struggle between the progressive Third Estate and the reactionary privileged classes. Revisionist historians such as George Taylor and T. C. W. Blanning ,however, see grievances as ideological rather than class based. They point to the existence of the liberal nobility and curés who sought to reform the French state. Therefore, while this representation reveals the grievances of the peasantry, other sources are required to gain a more balanced picture of the origins of the revolution. (275 words)

Useful resources • The following are good sources for visual and written documents: • Past VCAA exams • Past Insight and HTAV exams • D.I. Wright (ed), The French Revolution: Introductory Documents, St. Lucia: University of Queensland Press, 1974. • J.H. Stewart, A Documentary Survey of the French Revolution, New York: Macmillan, 1964. • Fielding and Morcombe, The Spirit of Change: France in Revolution, NSW: McGraw-Hill, 2003. • Richad Cobb, Voices of the French Revolution, Topsfields: Salem House, 1988.

SAC 1, Option 2: Research Report • Two possibilities: 1) Traditional research report (See example)* 2) Short answer questions (as per the exam)*: • Useful group activity: cluster questions by topic; have each group develop “generic” response to similar questions • Three or more questions (depending on time) • From different sections of the Area of Study (in the chronology and M.I.L.E.) • Students should include three or four points • Must include historians’ views (not in the exam, though) • Looking at the role and impact of key social groups is a good way to structure a response

Short answer questions • Approx 250 words per question • RUUP: Read, Underline, Understand, Plan • Stay within the timeframe given in the question (swim between the flags) • Similar in a sense to “c” questions in document analysis • The first sentence must answer the question directly; the historiographical debate can be outlined here • Three or four points that develop the main idea; an historian can be linked to each main idea (eg: Doyle & politics; Rudé & urban workers; Soboul & bourgeoisie) • Use signposting to connect or differentiate ideas • Include specific detail: groups & movements; individuals; key events (dates); the impact of ideas and ideologies; policies and documents/speeches

Short answer questions • Focus: explain “how” a movement, leader, idea or event “contributed to the development of a revolutionary situation”, or “explain their importance/significance” • The matter of “how” can be address by including the word “by” in the first sentence • Use words that highlight causal role of an event, person etc: ‘catalyst’, ‘highlighted’, ‘intensified dissatisfaction’, ‘polarised’, ‘popularised’, ‘articulated’, ‘stimulated; ‘led to’, ‘contributed to’, ‘crucial factor in.’ • How and why key groups withdrew their support for the regime • What mistakes or errors were made by the old regime (eg poor decisions; failed attempts at reform; increased political repression; weak leadership) • How and why particular groups challenged the political and social basis of the old regime • The contribution of ideas and abstract constructs like social and political structures can be discussed in terms of the grievances and expectations of key social groups.

Sample short answer response I Using three or four points, explain the importance of the storming of the Bastille in the development of the French Revolution between July and August 1789. Provide evidence to support your answer. While all historians of the French Revolution agree that the storming of the Bastille was an enormously significant event, they focus on different aspects. For Marxists such as Rudé, the storming of the Bastille represented a pivotal moment in the classic model of the bourgeois revolution. Professional journalists such as Desmoulins urged the crowd to arms from the Palais Royale while the petit bourgeoisie, small shop owners, actually assaulted the fortress on 14 July. Doyle, on the other hand, focuses on key political events. He argues that the fall of the Bastille symbolised to Louis XVI that he had lost control of his capital city and key units of the army. When he agreed to withdraw the troops stationed around Paris and grant a constitution, the centuries-old absolute monarchy came to an end. Lefebvre’s work on the peasantry demonstrates that the Great Fear was partly caused by the news that the royal dungeon had fallen to the Parisian crowd. The peasantry feared a combined royal-aristocratic backlash for their humiliation in Paris and assumed that brigands had been hired to destroy the crop that was ripening in the fields. When this failed to occur, the peasants turned on their local feudal lords. The destruction caused during the “Great Fear” convinced the nobles to relinquish their privileges in the Night of Patriotic Delirium on 4 – 5 August. Finally, Schama sees the bloodshed of the 14 July as the essence of Revolution. The use of violence to achieve political ends would, he argues, only accelerate in the following years. Overall, then, the fall of the Bastille had a wide-ranging effect of the political and social fabric of France of the old regime. (282 words)

Sample short answer response II Using three or four points, explain how the King’s responses to revolutionary ideas contributed to the further development of a revolutionary situation in France between 1788 and 1789. Provide evidence to support your answer. Historians are unanimous in their view that Louis was a poor leader at the best of times and a disaster during the tumult of a revolution. He was weak when he should have been strong and stubborn when he should have yielded. After being cornered by the bankruptcy crisis and the intransigence of the Assembly of Notables and Parlement of Paris, Louis was forced to call for the Estate-General (August 1788). McPhee argues that Louis’ decision to call the Estate-General for May 1789 signalled the collapse of his reign as he was essentially admitting that he could no longer rule his nation alone. Additionally, by inviting his subjects to vent their grievances in the cahiers de doléances, Louis raised the hopes and expectations of millions that reform would be genuine and profound. Also, his silence on the issue of whether voting would be by order or by head was, according to Rudé, was a great error. The Third Estate assumed that the aristocracy and clergy would use this structure to defend their privileges. When the Third Estate deputies, and their allies from the privileged orders, demanded a constitution, Louis retaliated by holding a séance royale (23 June 1789) whereby he attempted to nullify the Tennis Court Oath. This convinced the Third Estate that reform within the system was impossible; revolution was the only answer. Louis responded by calling thousands of troops into the Paris/Versailles area. As Schama notes, Louis’ heavy-handedness, along with the untimely sacking of Necker, inadvertently sparked the storming of the Bastille. Therefore, in spite of his best efforts, Louis’ responses to the attacks on the political and social structures of France of the old regime facilitated the development of a revolution. (286 words)

Assessing SAC 1 • Mark per question rather than globally against the criteria • VCAA requires a grade out of 50 for each; convert the scores with Excel • Sample responses in the Assessor’s Report are a good way to gauge the relative performance of your students • Ask students for permission to copy & distribute good samples • Best samples are those done under exam conditions • Avoid using current students’ work if possible; anonymous • Type up if possible; warts and all • Have students “grade” samples and justify their decision (good empathy exercise)

General hints and tips I • Think about what you want your students to write: how can they best demonstrate their knowledge and understanding of the Revolution? • Attempt the task yourself first (in full or point form) • For students: • Neat hand-writing (legible) • Be succinct and fluent (to the point, understandable and enjoyable!!!) • Answer the question – focus on key words • Use signposting (eg firstly, secondly, thirdly, however, on the other hand etc)* • Use reading time well (also thinking time)

General hints and tips II • For students: • Be time-aware and disciplined in the SAC • Get used to the layout and format of the SAC • Genuine practice tasks completed under examination conditions (e.g. time) • Use specific facts and information • Avoid vague remarks like: “met the needs of the people” or “made the French happy”

General hints and tips III • For students: • If you use extra writing space, indicate this and the question being continued CLEARLY • Know the chronology of key events and dates • Understand the chain of cause and effect • Be able to work backwards from an event so you can discuss causes • Use all the lines given but know when to stop • Speak to your teacher as often as possible • Read, read, read & write, write, write

France AOS 1: Movements, Ideas, Leaders & Events Preparing your students for SAC 1