Professional Documents
Culture Documents
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AN ARCHAEOLOGIST ON A DIG
The archaeologist is the first person you're asked to write a People in History
answer on.
Start out by explaining your job. What does an archaeologist do, and why?
Next, you can say you're on an excavation (a dig). Start by explaining how you
found the site you're working on. Was it aerial photography? A chance
discovery? A story you heard? Maybe it was a combination of these reasons?
You can mention that many sites are discovered by accident when construction
work is going on.
Next, you can explain the steps of the excavation: surveying the site, removing
the topsoil, and digging. Also explain what tools you use - the more details you
have, the better!
Congratulations! You've found an artefact. Don't forget to explain what that word
means. After that, talk about what happens to an artefact after it's found.
Where does it go?
When all the studying and testing is finished, you might give the artefact to a
museum so that people can see it. This is called conservation. Explaining why
archaeologists do this is a good way to end this answer.
2. A person living in an ancient civilisation in Ireland.
This is still the same kind of question that you could answer with the Mesolithic
people, the Neolithic people, or the Bronze Age people, but maybe you want to talk
about the Celts instead.
Introduce yourself and your people. Where did you come from? Where have you settled? What
makes you different from the people who lived here before? (e.g. Iron)
Talking about the Celts' houses and settlements takes a bit more detail than the others. While you
don't need to learn about different kinds of Celtic tombs this time, you do need to learn about the
four kind of settlements they had: ring-forts, hill-forts, crannógs and promontory forts. So in your
answer you can pick one to be the settlement you live in, but also describe the others to get full
marks.
Once you've finished talking about settlements, talk about Celtic society. Your family might be
farmers or nobles, it's up to you, but describe the structure of that society: who's at the top? Who's at
the bottom? Who's in between? Again the more you can say, the better.
Next talk about the food you eat, how you prepare it, and also talk about the feasts your tribe might
have
Once that's done, describe the tools and weapons you would use. What are they made from? What
do you use them for?
Finally, you can mention a bit about Celtic art, part of which involves Ogham, which also relates to
burial customs.
A monk in a medieval monastery.
Introduce yourself. You can say you are a novice. Why did you want to
become a monk? What order are you a member of? Why are monasteries important
to people in the Middle Ages?
Once that's done, talk about your monastery. What services does it provide
to people? What buildings does it have, and what are they for? Who's in charge?
Be sure to mention the different types of architecture that were being used
for churches in the Middle Ages.
Next, your roles and duties. So, when you move on from being a novice to
becoming a monk, what vows do you take?
What is your role? What other roles are there? (e.g. infirmarian, sacristan,
etc.)
What do you do every day? Talk about life in the monastery, and the work
you do.
Before you finish, talk about meals and the kind of food you eat.
Then wrap up by talking about the new orders that are being set up. Why is
this happening?
A Named Renaissance artist from Italy – Leonardo Da Vinci
First, name your artist. Who is he? When was he born? Where was he born?
Next talk about his training. Where did he train? Who was his patron?
What did he do after his training? Did he travel? Who did he work for?
This is a good point to describe some of that artist's works. It's best to have
three examples, so for Leonardo you could describe the Mona Lisa, the Last
Supper and the Virgin on the Rocks. Don't forget to explain everything about
these works, such as the terms fresco and sculpture
Once that's done, talk about other things the artist did. In Leonardo's case,
you'd talk about his inventions.
When you've finished, end your answer just by mentioning when and where the
artist died.
A NAMED RENAISSANCE WRITER- WILLIAM
SHAKESPEARE
As usual, name your writer and give his background. Where was he born?
When? Did he marry?
Give some examples of his plays. Name at least three, and explain what type of
play each one was. You don't need to go into detail explaining the stories of each
of the plays.
How did the Catholic Church respond? How did Luther respond to them?
(burning the papal bull)
What were the results of Luther's reformation? Its impact went on for
centuries, so this is a good place to stop.
Q.7 A named leader in during the age of revolutions - George Washington
Name and introduce your leader. This is a third-person answer, so you start
with "George Washington was born in..."
What did he do before the Revolution? Where did he live? What was his job?
What happened during the Winter of 1777-8? Talk about the conditions at
Valley Forge and how Washington stayed with his men.
Something happened to change the Americans' luck. What was it? How was
Washington able to defeat the British?
Name the leader you're writing about and introduce him. "Michael Collins was
born in Co. Cork in 1890. He..."
Start out by talking about his early involvement in the independence struggle.
Where was Collins in Easter 1916?
Next, talk about the First Dáil. Collins was elected in 1918. What position did he
hold? What did he do?
What were his other roles? What work did he do with the IRA as the War of
Independence began?
Talk about the groups he commanded: the Squad and the Flying Columns.
What did he order them to do?
De Valera sent Collins to negotiate with Britain. What was he negotiating? What
was agreed? What problems were there?
The treaty led to the Civil War. What was Collins' role now? What did he do?
What happened to him?
A German soldier who took part in Operation Barbarossa in World War II