The National 5 Assignment

History2015/2016

• During S4 you will complete an assignment in history

• This is an essential part of the course – you cannot pass Nat 5 History without it

• The assignment will be worth 25% of your final grade (20 marks)

• It could substantially improve your final grade, based on how much work you put into it

• The assignment will take the form of an essay• On the day you may use a 200 word plan to

help you• The assignment will be sent to the SQA for final

marking – your teacher will not be responsible for giving your mark

Steps for the Nat 5 Assignment

1. Choose your topic2. Choose your essay question from the selection3. Collect evidence for your essay from at least two

sources – books, past papers, websites, diary entries etc

4. Collect information for the body of your essay – from class notes and books

5. Identify historiography – historians’ opinions on your topic

6. Start writing your essay in a structured way – your teacher will help with this

7. First draft to teacher8. Complete resource sheet9. Learn essay10. Write essay under exam conditions (1 hour)

Plan for the essayWeaknesses of the

Weimar

1.Stab in the Back 2.Treaty of Versailles3.Problems with democracy4.Spartacist Revolt5.Hyperinflation 6.The Great Depression

Appeal of the Nazis

1. The Munich Putsch2. Nazi Party policies3. Propaganda/

Presentation of the Nazi party

4. Hitler’s leadership skills

5. Nazis compared to the Communists

Rise of the Nazis – choosing a questionChoose three headings from added value research sheet – the three

you are most interested in.

1.2.3.

Out of these I have chosen to focus on __________ because ____________.

Step 1: I can choose, with minimum support, an appropriate historical question

Acceptable question stems;• To what extent did…• How important was…• How significant was…• How far can it be argued that…

Step 1: I can choose, with minimum support, an appropriate historical question

Acceptable question ends• Helped the Nazis achieve power in

1933?• Allowed the Nazis to come to power

in 1933?• Facilitated the rise of the Nazi party?• Caused the Nazis to take power in

1933?

N5 AssignmentThe Essay is worth 20 marks. Where do those marks come from?

Introduction – 2 marksMain body of the essay – 14 marksConclusion – 4 marks

It makes sense to write the body of the essay first.  

The body of the essay• This contains 5 key things;

• Knowledge – how much do you know about the topic? I.e. Facts.

• Analysis – can you explain why the facts you have are relevant? I.e. Explanation

• Evaluation – can you decide which factors are less/ more important than others and why?

• Sources (2) – can you use quotes from historians to support your argument?

• Structure – can you write your essay in an organised, systematic way? i.e. clear paragraphs?

• Knowledge – how much do you know about the topic? I.e. Facts.

Example:Joseph Goebbels was in charge of propaganda and made many posters which showed that only Hitler could save German, like ‘One Last Hope: Hitler’.

Success Criteria: 3 facts for each factor

• Analysis – can you explain why the facts you have are relevant? I.e. Explanation

• _________ helped the Nazis gain support because…(use this structure)

Example:The Treaty of Versailles helped the Nazis gain support because every German hated the treaty and Hitler promised to rip it up and ignore it if Germans voted for him therefore they gave Hitler their vote.

Success Criteria: 2 examples of analysis per factor

• Balance – can you give a counter-argument i.e. a limitation

• However, …

Example:However, even though the Nazi’s policies helped them gain support in Germany they were never able to win an election and their highest percentage of the vote was 1/3, showing 2/3 of Germans still did not support the Nazis.

Success Criteria: 2 examples in whole essay

• Sources (2) – can you use quotes from historians to support your argument?

• You should quote then explain in your own words

• The quote should be relevant to the paragraph!

Example:Historian AJP Taylor said ‘only the Great Depression put the wind in the Nazi’s sails’. This means that the Great Depression greatly helped the Nazis and pushed them towards victory in elections.

Success Criteria: at least 2 sources and explanations (for any factors)

• Evaluation – can you discuss the importance of factors in relation to the question?

Simple 1m – The Great Depression was the most important reason for the Nazis coming to power.Better 2m– The Great Depression was the most important reason for the Nazis coming to power because the Nazis needed the unemployment and misery created by the Depression to gain votes as they got their highest votes of 13.7m in 1932 during the depression.Best 3m-The Great Depression was the most important reason for the Nazis coming to power because the Nazis needed the mass unemployment and misery created by the Depression to gain votes as they got their highest votes of 13.7m in 1932 during the depression, whereas during the other economic crisis of hyperinflation of 1923/24 their vote rose too, but only to 1.9 m in 1924.

Success Criteria: an example of better or best evaluation

N5 Assignment Checklist

5 factors (sheets of paper/ paragraphs)

3 facts on each2 examples of analysis/ explanations

on eachBalance on two factors ‘however..’2 sources quoted & explainedEvaluation

Topic sentences/ signposting

Para 1The first important factor in the Rise of the Nazis was …

Subsequent paragraphsAnother important factor was…

Order;Knowledge – Analysis/ Explanation – Balance (if you have it) – a Source (if you have it) – Evaluation (if you have it)

The Introduction – worth 2 marks

• You must place the issue in it’s historical context

• You also must list the factors that you will discuss in the essay and say which is the most important

• This is worth 2 marks• We will write our intros in two

parts

Context • This involves giving 3 sentences of what

was going on before the changes you will discuss – i.e. the rise of the Nazis

• You should start with ‘Before the rise of the Nazis…’ and give a bit of background

• Use the word bank below to incorporate some key events

WWI Weimar Republic DemocracyUnpopular Stab in the Back

Crises Political PartiesHitler ChangeUnhappy Weak Confusing Nazis

Example of context

Before the Rise of the Nazis, there was a lot of change going on in Germany. Germany lost the war in 1918, the Kaiser abdicated and he was replaced with a new democratic government called the Weimar government. Many people were unhappy with this government as they felt democracy was weak and confusing and the Nazis started to become more popular.

Factors – Copy and complete

There were many important reasons for the Rise of the Nazis. Although [the issue from your question] was a key factor, there were also other important reasons such as [list the other four factors you will be including.]

Context + Factors = full introduction

Example of factors

There were many important reasons for the Rise of the Nazis. Although propaganda was a key factor, there were also other important reasons such as the Treaty of Versailles, Hyperinflation, The Nazi’s policies and Hitler’s leadership. The most important factor was _____ because…

The Conclusion - worth 4 marks

• you must come to a conclusion which answers the question

• Then, you must support this conclusion with evidence.

Part 1 – coming to a conclusion

In conclusion, there were many important reasons why the Nazis came to power.Many factors such as… (list your factors without the most important) played an important role in the Nazis rise to power.However, ________ was the most important factor in the Nazis rise to power.

Conclusion Part 1 example

In conclusion, there were many important reasons why the Nazis came to power.Many factors such as the treaty of Versailles, Hyperinflation, the Nazi’s policies and propaganda played an important role in the Nazis rise to power.However, The Great Depression was the most important factor in the Nazis rise to power.

Part 2 – supporting with evidence

_______ was the most important reason for the Nazi rise to power because… (here you need to add a piece of evidence which shows why this factor is the most important.)

_______ is more important than the other factors because…(here you need to explain what makes this factor more important than the others.), making _______ the main factor in the Rise of the Nazis.

Conclusion Part 2 exampleThe Great Depression was the most important reason for the Nazi rise to power because this economic chaos in Germany causing over 6million people to become unemployed and desperate and these people voted for the Nazis in hope of a job.The Great Depression is more important than the other factors because the Weimar government managed to recover from every other crisis like hyperinflation but not from the Great Depression and also the Nazis needed unemployment and misery before people would be willing to listen to their policies and propaganda, making the Great Depression the main factor in the Rise of the Nazis.