French Revolution EE Help

[Sam :)]

To what extent was the French Revolution successful in achieving its goals?

This might be too broad. I LOVE the French Revolution, though, it is my favorite topic ever. What can I do to narrow it down, or any other advice for this topic?

Could I compare it to the American Revolution in effectiveness maybe?

Edited November 12, 2011 by Sam :)

[Procrastination]

VERY BROAD. You won't be able to cover everything up in just 4000 words, maybe you can analyse one specific objective and evaluate its effectiveness at the end. You could restate your research question under the following format:

"To what extent was _____(x objective)____ achieved under the frame of the French Revolution" or "To what extent was the french revolution successful in achieving (x objective)?

I'm pretty sure you wouldn't get a high grade with your previous topics, as this hystorical event's objetives can be evaluated in just 4000 words.

[Sam :)]

Okay what about some sort of comparison? Idk if that's just getting even broader, but I'm just experimenting with topics.

How about:

To what extent were the goals of the French and American Revolutions similar, but their outcomes different?

[Award Winning Boss]

still too broad in my opinion.

think of something more specific, plus it looks like a narrative essay instead of an argumentative one

[Sam :)]

okayy, i have a few more... (these aren't french rev. related)

-To what extent did the failure of the League of Nations lead to WW2?

-To what extent did Britain's losses during WW2 lead to Indian independence?

-To what extent did the defeat of Germany after WW2 lead to the Cold War? (soviet union & the us always had a common enemy in germany but once it was lost they had tensions between them...?)

....am i moving in the right direction at all?

[Procrastination]

I think the first two options are pretty good and you're heading into the right direction. Why did you forgot about the French Revolution :'(. However, the third one is too broad, one of the main reasons of the Cold War was the defeat of Nazi Germany and there are many MANY aspects that have to be taken into account when you talk about the effect that defeating Geramy had in the geopolitics of the time. I like the first one and the second one, they're not too broad and you can do a lot of analytical statements.

Take into account that WW2 EEs are common and if you're going to do one in this event, it should be amazing in order to score A or B

[Sam :)]

So should I not do WW2 then? My teacher advised me to do things in the 19th century, because our HL/SL topics are on contemporary history and he wants us to begin preparing for next year... that's why I changed my mind about the french revolution.

i've been trying to think of other things to write about but world war 2 seems to have a basis in pretty much everything that we have learned about.. i'm going to do some independent research though on some other things but would you say that world war 2 is a bad topic to write about if i consider myself to be a strong essay writer, but history is not my strongest subject? (its my second strongest.. english is my first, but i have no interest in writing an english ee)

[Procrastination]

You got me wrong, If you want to do your EE on WW2, do it! In fact, I love this topic and I was considering doing my EE on it too, what I mean is that they're not quite original since many people do this topic throughout the world and maybe the person who's going to examine your work might have received a lot of this EE's, so he would consider it quite mainstream. In order to succeed with a WW2 EE it must be sensational! If your teacher wants you to do a 19th century History EE, why don't you do it on Napoleon, he is strictly connected to the French Revolution!

Edited November 13, 2011 by Procrastination