Historical Context: WW1- How it Began

Learning intention: To understand the importance of context when analysing literature.

Success Criteria:

I can explain the context of World War 1
I can understand the psychological effects of War
I can understand why people would write about their experiences during the war

Recap: What is Context?

Context refers to the factors ‘outside’ the text that impact the composer and the responder. This shapes the structure of the text as well as the meaning being communicated by the composer. It also impacts how the text is understood by the responder. Our experiences and knowledge impact the way we interpret and understand a text’s meaning. The structure and style of texts also reflect the culture in which they are created. They are ‘artefacts’ of their time. Understanding context opens us to a range of interpretations and leads to different ways of thinking.

Brainstorm Activity:

Place WW1 in the centre of your page and brainstorm what you already know about WW1. Watch the clips below and add information to your page.

Activity:

Short response: Having viewed the two-part documentary on WWI, in 10 dot points, outline the main political powers responsible for the outbreak of WWI and how the war impacted on Europe.

Origins of the War

Analyse: What does this image imply about the geopolitical relationships in Europe during the early 20th Century?

Note the perspective in the map- whose perspective do we see and why might they represent other countries as reductive? (overly simplified and stereotyped)

Glossary term: geopolitical- the political relationships between countries.

Sentence stems:

The geopolitical relationships in Europe during the 1915 were.... . This is evident in the German map of Europe during this period, where Germany depicts itself as..... compared to its representation of other countries such as x.... and y which German promotes as ......

Try to use the following adjectives:

fractious- irritated

tense

conflicted

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