PROCESS
Home Introduction Task Process Evaluation Credits Conclusion Glossary
The
Process through which you will go to complete this assignment has nine steps:
1. Know how you will be evaluated
2. Acquire general background information
3. Learn about
your witness
4. Assign group tasks
5. Prepare oral testimony
6. Prepare your exhibit
7. Present your testimony
8. Become a juror
9. Write your closing arguments
10. Take part in a class discussion
1. KNOW HOW YOU WILL BE EVALUATED
Before you begin your actual work,
read through this entire process and take a
look at the evaluation rubric. This will help to give you a
"big picture" of the
job ahead and of how your work will be evaluated.
2. ACQUIRE GENERAL BACKGROUND
INFORMATION
Before you begin to gather information
about the specific witness to which your group has been assigned, make sure that
you have a good understanding of the complicated events leading up the Russian
Revolution. Review any class notes you have taken as well as reading what
your textbook has to say about this event. EVERYONE should read the
information on the following website and complete the exercise at the end:
http://www.bbc.co.uk/education/modern/russia/russifla.html
Here are some other good sites from which you can find helpful general background information
http://www.departments.bucknell.edu/russian/chrono2.html
This is set up in time line format, with some good links to other sites.
http://www.russia.net/history/rt.html
This
is a good short overview, with background all the
way back to 1825.
http://www.historyguide.org/europe/lecture5.html
This is the first of three detailed but understandable
lectures on the
Russian Revolution.
As you look at these websites, keep in mind that you will need primary documents and images to include with your testimony and exhibit (your PowerPoint). Save images and documents that might apply to your witness!
3. LEARN ABOUT YOUR
WITNESS
Each group has been
assigned one of following witnesses. Read as much as you can about your
witness, both through the links listed above and below and through print resources in your
classroom and the library. As a group, complete the witness information
sheet so that everyone is very familiar with your witness's story.
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TSAR
NICHOLAS II The last of the Romanov Tsars, Nicholas II was the leader of Russia during World War I and when the 1917 revolutions happened. Look for more information, documents and images of Nicholas in the documents of the Alexander Palace here. For a good general overview of his life, look at the following: |
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TSARINA ALEXANDRA http://www.spartacus.schoolnet.co.uk/RUSalexandra.htm http://www.alexanderpalace.org/palace/mainpage.htm
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ALEXANDER KERENSKY Kerensky, a socialist, became involved in the Provisional Government of Russia after the March 1917 abdication of Nicholas II. In July of 1917, he became the government's Prime Minister. His handling of Russia's involvement in World War I eventually made him unpopular with many in Russia. Read more about him in these good websites: http://www.snu.edu/syllabi/history/f96projects/russianrev/story2.htm |
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VLADIMIR LENIN http://www.spartacus.schoolnet.co.uk/RUSlenin.htm
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LEON TROTSKY A true communist with a very colorful past, Trotsky worked closely with Lenin and others to bring about the second (November) Revolution. He then went on to lead the Red Army to victory in the civil war against the Whites. Find out more about him at these sites: http://csf.colorado.edu/mirrors/marxists.org/archive/trotsky/bio/index.htm http://www.spartacus.schoolnet.co.uk/RUStrotsky.htm
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RUSSIAN WORKER Although Russia lagged far behind Western Europe in its progress toward industrialization, Russian industrial workers in Petrograd and Moscow played important roles in both the March and November Revolutions of 1917. Your witness will be an industrial worker from one of these cities. He or she has no specific name; you may name her or him if you wish. Testimony should consist of a recounting of a typical industrial worker's experiences as well as what is known about Nicholas's response to workers' demands for better conditions. Read more about the situation of the Russian worker in the years before the Revolution in the following locations: http://www.pbs.org/greatwar/interviews/figes4.html http://www.spartacus.schoolnet.co.uk/RUSsoviet.htm
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RUSSIAN PEASANT By 1918, Russia was still largely an agrarian nation; the majority of people were peasants. Your witness will be a Russian peasant who has been involved in some way with events up to 1918. She or he has no specific name; you may name him or her if you wish. Testimony should consist of a recounting of a typical peasant's experiences in the years before 1918, as well as what is known about Nicholas's response to peasants' demands for "land and bread." Read more about the situation of the Russian peasant in the following locations: http://www.spartacus.schoolnet.co.uk/RUSpeasants.htm http://www.historyhouse.com/in_history/russian_peasant/
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| JOHN REED An American socialist and journalist, John Reed was in Russia when the second Russian revolution took place. He wrote about the events in his well-known book, Ten Days That Shook the World. Reed's testimony should include a recounting of his observations of events leading up to the November Revolution. This would include interviews with people who may have been aware of the actions of Nicholas and other members of the Russian nobility and ruling class. Read more about John Reed in the following locations: http://www.spartacus.schoolnet.co.uk/Jreed.htm
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RUSSIAN SOLDIER: VETERAN OF WORLD WAR I Russia's involvement in World War I was a factor crucial to the success of the Russian Revolution. Your witness will be a soldier who experienced one or more of the battles in which Russia was involved. He has no specific name; your group may name him if you wish. His testimony should consist of a recounting of some of his experiences in battle and of what he knows of the actions of Nicholas and of Kerensky during the war. Read more about Russia's involvement in World War I in the following locations: http://www.spartacus.schoolnet.co.uk/FWWrussiaA.htm
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4. ASSIGN GROUP TASKS
Once everyone in your group is very familiar with the story of your witness,
you may divide your tasks in order to prepare the testimony of your
witness. Remember that at the trial, Nicholas will be accused of having
committed crimes against the Russian people. Each group needs one person
to perform each of the following tasks:
Prosecuting Attorney:
Your
job will be to prepare questions of your witness that are designed to make
Nicholas II look
guilty.
Think about any ways in which Nicholas's actions may have harmed your witness or
a group of
people about whom your witness cares. Think also about how to weaken anything
the witness
has to say about Nicholas that might be good. Use the prosecuting
attorney's guide
for writing
good questions for help with this. On the day of the "trial," you may
hear testimony
from other
witnesses about which you will want to ask your own witness, so remember that
the more
knowledge you have about your topic, the better off you'll be. Also,
remember as you
prepare your
questions that although you are in the same group as the defense attorney, you
are also in
competition with him or her: you are trying to build a case against
Nicholas, while
your teammate
is trying to build a case for him.
Defense
Attorney:
Your job will be to prepare questions of your witness that are designed to make
Nicholas II look
innocent. Think about why your witness might support any of Nicholas's
actions. Think
also about
how to weaken anything the witness has to say about Nicholas that might be bad.
Use the
defense attorney's guide for writing good questions for help with this. On the
day of the
"trial," you may hear testimony from other witnesses about which you
will want to ask your
own witness,
so remember that the more knowledge you have about your topic, the better off
you'll be.
Also, remember as you prepare your questions that although you are in the same
group
as the
prosecuting attorney, you are also in competition with him or her:
you are trying to build a
case for
Nicholas, while your teammate is trying to build a case against him.
The
Witness
Your job will be to portray the witness when it is time for testimony to be
presented. You
must familiarize yourself with the questions that will be asked of you and know
your story
very well.
You will be expected to use direct quotations from primary documents as part of
your
testimony. You should work closely with both the defense and the
prosecuting attorneys
as they write
the questions that they will ask you. You may also work with the
exhibit
specialist to
find good images and documents that will help you to tell your story. On the
day
of the
"trial," you may hear testimony from other witnesses about which your
group's
attorneys
will want to ask you, so remember that the more knowledge you have about
your
character, the better off you'll be.
The Exhibit Specialist
Your job will be to put together the exhibits that will be presented along with the oral testimony of your witness. This exhibit should include at least TWO items from among the following:
photographs letters
paintings excerpts from memoirs
maps other important documents
an "artifact" (a recreation of an object closely associated with the testimony of your witness)
You will, of course, work closely with the other members of your group to choose the items that will be entered as exhibits, but it is up to you to decide how these items will be displayed. You may put them into a brief (2-3 slide)
Powerpoint presentation, or you may mount them on posterboard to pass among the "jurors." Whatever method you choose, your exhibits should include thorough written descriptions.
5.
PREPARE YOUR ORAL TESTIMONY
Using the information from the
guides described above, the witness and attorneys should work together to
prepare the oral testimony. Remember that the witness will be questioned
twice: once by the prosecution and once by the defense, so you need to
work together closely to coordinate the questions asked, and to
work in the exhibits that are being prepared by the other member of your group. At
the same time, the prosecuting and defense attorneys are working against
each other, because each is trying to prove either Nicholas's guilt or his
innocence through the testimony of the same witness. Your grade on
this segment of your work will be based on how well you are able to convey basic
information about your witness while also conveying two conflicting points of
view of him or her.
6.
PREPARE YOUR EXHIBITS
As the oral testimony is being
prepared, the exhibit specialist may begin work on the exhibits. You must stay in
close communication with the other members of the group so that the relevance of
the items you choose is made clear in the witness testimony. If you choose
to put the exhibits into Powerpoint format, print out a hard copy to hand in at
the end of the presentation.
7.
PRESENT YOUR TESTIMONY
On the due date assigned by your
teacher, your group will present the testimony of your witness. After the
testimony is presented, the group should hand in for evaluation:
*Witness's
information sheet (include quotations from primary documents used during testimony)
*Prosecuting
attorney's questions
*Defense attorney's
questions
*Printout of your
PowerPoint slides OR mounted exhibits
8.
BECOME A JUROR
On the day of testimony, you will wear
two hats. When you are not presenting your own group's witness, you will
act as a "juror" whose job it is to listen carefully to the testimony
of all the other witnesses. You should take notes to help you remember
what was said, using the juror's notes handout as a guide. You will then
use what you have learned to answer the question: Is Nicholas II guilty of
crimes against the Russian People? You will be asked to vote on Nicholas's
guilt or innocence, and on his punishment, based on the testimony you have heard.
9.
WRITE YOUR CLOSING ARGUMENT
Now that all of the witnesses have
been deposed, you must pull together all of the evidence you have heard and
write a closing argument in which you summarize and argue the major points of the case
from the point of view of either the prosecution or the defense. As you
write this essay, you will remain in the year 1918, pretending that you don't
know what happened next.
The question you must consider in your argument is: "Is Nicholas II guilty of committing serious crimes against the Russian people, and do the goals of the Bolsheviks then justify his execution?"
You may choose to write your argument from the point of view of either the prosecution (guilty) or the defense (not guilty), depending on how you weigh the evidence you have heard and on what you think about the goals of the Bolsheviks and events of 1917-1918.
Please follow these guidelines as you write
your essay:
Standard, multi-paragraph format
Honors: 600-900 words; CP1: 500-800 words
Discuss at least three main arguments in support of your
thesis
Consider specific evidence presented by at least three witnesses at
Nicholas's "trial"
Consider the original goals of the Russian communists and
events of 1918
Please refer to the essay
evaluation for more information about how your essay will be graded.
10. TAKE PART IN
A CLASS DISCUSSION
After having looked at the events which followed the summer of 1918, we will
conclude our lesson by engaging in a discussion about the events that will focus
on the question: "Was the execution of Nicholas II
justified?" We will also discuss how the Russian Revolution
(especially the execution of the Romanovs) fits into the pattern of revolutions
that we have studied. You will be expected to participate in this discussion to
further demonstrate your understanding of the events surrounding the Russian
Revolution.
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