xxcamxx Posted February 28, 2011 Report Share Posted February 28, 2011 My question is "How do you account for Gandhi's devotion to the concept of nonviolence during the Indian Independence Movement?" I have found plenty of Gandhi's writings on nonviolence. I just don't know where to go from here. I'm just super stuck!I have my Plan of Investigation written. Here it is:The purpose of this investigation is to account for Mohandas K. Gandhi’s devotion to the concept of nonviolence during the Indian Independence Movement. The main body of evidence will be used to determine the origin and reason for the development of Gandhi’s devotion to nonviolent civil disobedience during the struggle for Indian independence. Evidence will include Gandhi’s writings on his life and his faith in nonviolence, interviews conducted during the Indian Independence movement, and documentaries detailing the life of Gandhi as a peacemaker and political leader. Two of the sources will be evaluated according to their purpose, value, and limitations. Reply Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Julie Posted February 28, 2011 Report Share Posted February 28, 2011 The question is formed badly... Also, somehow I'm not seeing the controversy in this topic. The history IA topics should have some sort of controversy, that is why they generally start with "to what extent". 1 Reply Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
xxcamxx Posted February 28, 2011 Author Report Share Posted February 28, 2011 The question is formed badly... Also, somehow I'm not seeing the controversy in this topic. The history IA topics should have some sort of controversy, that is why they generally start with "to what extent".My teacher and i formed the question together. How do you think I could improve it? Reply Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Keel Posted February 28, 2011 Report Share Posted February 28, 2011 I absolutely agree with Julie. The research question is poorly formed and that may be the reason why you are stuck. As Julie indicated, the research question should allow room for controversial issues to be discussed. Also, in your Plan, you sould be discussing the methodology and scope of the investigation. Eg. What sources are you going to use? How are you going to use them? (the answer to that isn't: I'll read them!, I mean what areas are you going to analyse within the source?)What is the time frame of the incestivagtion? Are you only going to look at Gandhi? These are questions which you should answer in your Plan. Reply Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Julie Posted February 28, 2011 Report Share Posted February 28, 2011 (edited) Ghandi is not a bad person to investigate. There are truly a lot of sources, but can you list of a couple of controversial topics in history when it comes to Ghandi? If you can, look into investigating those. Can you name some controversial topics? If so, list them off and we can give you our thoughts on those. Try to stick with something similar to what you already have. Can you ask a question "to what extent..." about anything concerning Ghandi's concept of nonviolence?Not to be rude, but how long has your history teacher been teaching IB? Edited February 28, 2011 by Julie Reply Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
xxcamxx Posted February 28, 2011 Author Report Share Posted February 28, 2011 Haha I think she's been teaching it for 3 or 4 years now. But she's the IB coordinator at our school so she knows more about IB than any other teacher here... She's actually really good, and I thought that my question was pretty good. I cant' really think of many controversial topics surrounding Gandhi and nonviolence. I mean George Orwell wrote an essay or two about Gandhi. He wrote: "In Gandhi's case the questions on feels inclined to ask are: to what extent was Gandhi moved by vanity--by the consciousness of himself as a humble, naked old man, sitting on a praying mat and shaking empires by sheer spiritual power--and to what extent did he compromise his own principles by entering politics, which of their nature are inseparable from coercion and fraud? To give a definite answer one would have to study Gandhi's acts and writings in immense detail, for his whole life was a sort of pilgrimage in which every act was significant."So maybe I could explore that a little bit? I don't know, I can't think of anything else. Reply Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Julie Posted February 28, 2011 Report Share Posted February 28, 2011 I like the second one, about the politics. That would give you the opportunity to explore Ghandi's concepts and beliefs while comparing them to his actions in politics. But of course, all of this must be cleared with your teacher. It could be that she want you to continue with the topic you had. Reply Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
xxcamxx Posted February 28, 2011 Author Report Share Posted February 28, 2011 Yeah I like it too. But could I phrase it like that? "To what extent did Gandhi compromise his own principles by entering politics?" Or should I word it differently? And since I mainly have primary documents from Gandhi, what other sources should I look at to help me answer this question? Reply Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Julie Posted March 2, 2011 Report Share Posted March 2, 2011 It phrased well the way you wrote it. Use secondary sources- historiography- that has anything to do with Gandhi that would give you info. Primary and secondary sources are good. You don't need just primary. Reply Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Shari Posted March 29, 2020 Report Share Posted March 29, 2020 On 3/1/2011 at 3:47 AM, xxcamxx said: Yeah I like it too. But could I phrase it like that? "To what extent did Gandhi compromise his own principles by entering politics?" Or should I word it differently? And since I mainly have primary documents from Gandhi, what other sources should I look at to help me answer this question? Hi I was just wondering how you went about answering this IA topic? I'm planning on doing something similar however I feel like my question is focuses too much on Gandhi's emotions and might be hard to justify 😕 What sources did you use? Also I realise that it has been a couple years since this thread was made so any help would be greatly appreciated Reply Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
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