Sequencing the Writing of Essays in Pre-Modern World History Courses

Abstract

TEACHING AND LEARNING HISTORY can both be improved by the application of increasingly complex writing assignments.' Sequencing the writing of essays is especially valuable in world, or global, history where the grand sweep of human ideas and actions across time and space raises an almost limitless number of questions. The problems posed by this abundance-many of which can be turned into good essays-cannot be solved by the random assignment of those essay questions that are fancied by teachers and/ or students. Textbooks2 and methods of teaching world history may limit the number of questions but do not solve the problem of selecting the most appropriate questions during the learning process. I favor the comparative method-comparing the key institutions and the value systems of various cultures and civilizations. Whatever method is used, however, writing assignments in world history should include essays that are sequenced according to their difficulty. The sequencing model proposed here is for an introductory course in world history and is based upon seven steps of difficulty. Although it implies a theory of learning history through writing (a point to which I will return at the end of this essay) the model is the result of years of teaching courses in world history. The purpose of each step, or level, of difficulty is explained and illustrated by essay questions.3 The aim of thefirst step is to have students think creatively about historical change in the distant past about which we know relatively little. Questions posed are: