A Proper Historical Significance Paragraph
Many students find the following question challenging on History tests/exams:“Explain the historical significance of….”
Remember our criteria for something to be historically significant:
1)Is there a lasting effect?
2)Did we learn something?
3)Were many people influenced in some way?
4)Was something new or unique created or invented?
Use this fool-proof template:
Your first sentence is your TOPIC SENTENCE. It should state the subjectof the paragraph and the criteria you’ll use to show its historical significance.
Note: Your topic sentence lets the reader know if you are picking one criteria and using 3 proofs of that criteria, or picking 3 criteria and having one proof for each.
Your second, third and fourth sentences state one CRITERIAat a time and are immediately followed by the specific PROOF/EVIDENCE of each criteria.
Note: It may take 2 sentences per criteria. That is fine. This part of the paragraph will, therefore, take 3-6 sentences to write.
Your fifth sentence CONCLUDES the paragraph, bymentioning the subject and that you found it historically significant.
See the other side for an example.
Example Question: Explain the historical significance of the Battle of Dieppe.
Answer:
The battle of Dieppe meets 3 criteria for being historically significant: lessons were learned, many people were influenced, and new battle strategies were created.1 The allied forces learned that their current invasion plans were not going to work and the Allies eventually had to retreat.2 Many Canadians were affected.3 We lost 900 soldiers, 500 more were wounded and nearly 2000 men were taken prisoner.4 Although these numbers seem bleak, military planners were able to develop new and improved battle strategies to be used throughout the rest of the war and in the victorious Battle of Normandy.5 For example, we invented new strategies for fooling German radar because of intelligence gained during the Dieppe raid.6 Dieppe is one of the most historically significant battles in WW2 because we learned what tactics needed to change, there were over 3,000 Canadians casualties, and new strategies were invented that led to the eventual end of WW2.7
Footnotes for Clarification:
1Topic Sentence with 3 criteria listed.
2Criteria #1 and its evidence.
3Criteria #2
4Evidence for criteria #2
5Criteria #3
6Evidence for criteria #3
7Concluding sentence restating subject and criteria used.