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Allen 1 Ashley Allen 8 December 2014 CRIN S00 Absolutism: A Concept Formation Project ____________________________________________ Overview: Absolutism is a key construct for World History students to understand. Absolutism is a style of government in which a monarch, sultan, emperor, etc. has absolute and total power over a given nation or kingdom's government and its people. There is no popular sovereignty in absolutism, and power is largely - if not entirely - centralized under the ruler. Though legislative or judicial bodies may, technically, exist in countries with absolute rulers, these bodies have no legitimate ability to levy checks and balances against the absolute ruler. Absolutism also has a religious component, as absolute rulers claim the divine right of kings to justify their rule. Divine right of kings essentially suggests absolute leaders where given their rule by God, that their power was ordained by God, and, as such, their subjects have no right to try to limit or challenge their absolute power. Absolutism, following the onset and spread of Enlightened philosophy, has largely been abandoned as an effective form of government in the Western world, but there are still instances of its use in the present-day in regions like the Middle East, Africa, and Southeast Asia, where autocratic and absolute rulers use absolutism and its corresponding tenets to justify their often harsh, restrictive rule and as an explanation for their continued oppression of the people to grow and maintain their own centralized, absolute power. Rationale: Absolutism is a key point of focus emphasized on the Virginia Standards of Learning (SOLs) for World History II courses. It is also part of the AP World History curriculum as well. Absolutism is important to study not only because it is, in itself, an important concept within the history/social studies discipline, but also because it provides a lens through which the influence and proliferation of other important historical events

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Ashley Allen8 December 2014CRIN S00

Absolutism:A Concept Formation Project

____________________________________________

Overview: Absolutism is a key construct for World History students to understand. Absolutism is a style of government in which a monarch, sultan, emperor, etc. has absolute and total power over a given nation or kingdom's government and its people. There is no popular sovereignty in absolutism, and power is largely - if not entirely - centralized under the ruler. Though legislative or judicial bodies may, technically, exist in countries with absolute rulers, these bodies have no legitimate ability to levy checks and balances against the absolute ruler. Absolutism also has a religious component, as absolute rulers claim the divine right of kings to justify their rule. Divine right of kings essentially suggests absolute leaders where given their rule by God, that their power was ordained by God, and, as such, their subjects have no right to try to limit or challenge their absolute power. Absolutism, following the onset and spread of Enlightened philosophy, has largely been abandoned as an effective form of government in the Western world, but there are still instances of its use in the present-day in regions like the Middle East, Africa, and Southeast Asia, where autocratic and absolute rulers use absolutism and its corresponding tenets to justify their often harsh, restrictive rule and as an explanation for their continued oppression of the people to grow and maintain their own centralized, absolute power.

Rationale: Absolutism is a key point of focus emphasized on the Virginia Standards of Learning

(SOLs) for World History II courses. It is also part of the AP World History curriculum as well. Absolutism is important to study not only because it is, in itself, an important concept within the history/social studies discipline, but also because it provides a lens through which the influence and proliferation of other important historical events and processes (i.e. the Scientific Revolution and the Enlightenment) can be studied, especially with regard to how they affected preexisting norms and societal structures.

Absolutism is an ideal topic to teach using the concept formation strategy because absolutism is a concept. The concept formation lesson, unsurprisingly, necessitates a concept for the lesson to be a success. Rather than giving students the name of a concept or a conceptual term (like absolutism) and then giving them a corresponding definition and examples, the concept formation lesson forces students to work backwards from that routine. Students instead begin by reading and analyzing written examples about a given (but as-yet-unnamed) concept. They will use these examples to determine what differences and - most importantly - similarities the examples all share, and students will then use the most important shared characteristics to draft their own working definition of the concept and will try to hypothesize as to what the concept might be called. Only after students write and offer their own definitions will the actual definition and the actual name be revealed. When students engage with a concept formation plan, they are forced to engage in critical, analytical thinking. In doing so, students often emerge with a better grasp on the content area material being studied using the concept formation strategy rather than the inverse, in which students are not forced to truly engage with the concept and are instead given all the information about the concept without really having to learn about it.

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Grade Level: I designed this lesson with 10th grade World History II students, as I will be teaching it to at least one WHII class at my practicum school. It could be adapted to be used in AP classrooms, particularly for use as an introductory activity before beginning a unit on the age of absolutism.

Length of Lesson: 70-80 minutes (longer if you include the writing assessment as an in-class assignment). This lesson could be adapted to fit different lengths of class periods if necessary. It would depend on how much assistance a given class of students needed in completing the chart.

Objectives:Content:

- The student will demonstrate knowledge of scientific, political, economic, and religious changes during the sixteenth, seventeenth, and eighteenth

centuries by: (WHII.6)a) Describing the Age of Absolutism, including the monarchies of Louis

XIV and Peter the Great- Students will learn to examine and analyze examples of absolutism in order to

determine the key characteristics of the concept so that they can create a working definition of absolutism

- Students will categorize and distinguish examples from non-examples of absolutism/absolutist monarchs to further test and solidify/challenge their

definition of absolutism- At the end of the lesson, students will write a response to prove their

understanding and knowledge of the defining characteristics of absolutism by researching and identifying examples/non-examples of absolutism and explaining why or why not these examples meet the criteria for absolutism

Skills:- Students will be exposed to and will learn norms for participating in class

wide/large-group discussions

Resources: Sufficient number of copies of all worksheets for students; whiteboard, dry-erase markers (one color for similarities and one color for differences), Powerpoint with examples typed onto slides for class-wide viewing

Assessment: To assess students' understanding of absolutism as a concept, I will use informal and

more formal assessment options. Informally, I will be monitoring student progress as they work on the worksheets and handouts associated with the concept formation lesson. I will informally grade their examples vs. non-examples worksheet. I will also be walking about the room during the lesson to gauge students' group work abilities and whether or not they are practicing appropriate behaviors for group-based activities.

In terms of more formal assessments, I am have drafted the option to ask students to respond to a writing prompt that will (hopefully) force students to analyze modern-day national governments to gauge whether or not there are still today examples of absolutism/absolute monarchies in the world.

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- PROMPT: Students will use the similarities and differences determined via the chart and subsequent class discussion to find ONE (1) example of a modern-day

absolutist monarchy and ONE (1) modern-day non-example of the same. They will need to include evidence from their worksheets and class discussion (and the generated results) in their written response. It is crucial they use the critical attributes of absolutism in their determining what is and is not a modern example of absolutism/absolute monarchies/ or absolute rule. The student response will be graded on a rubric to be designed later.

Ideally, this would be completed before the class period ended, but depending on how long the actual activity itself takes, students could have this portion of the lesson assigned as a homework assignment.

Potential options:- Examples:

- Saudi Arabia, Brunei, Bahrain, Oman, Qatar, Swaziland- Non-examples:

- U.S., U.K., Germany - basically any democracy, representative democracy, constitutional monarchy, etc.

- Interesting option - Russia- Has a representative legislative body (the Duma) but do

they really have any power/say in government matters under Putin?

Lesson Layout:

1. Understanding the Concept: What is absolutism?

A. Definition: Absolutism is "the political doctrine and practice of unlimited, centralized authority and absolute sovereignty, as vested especially in a monarch [...] The essence of an absolutist system is that the ruling power is not subject to regularized challenge or check by any other agency, be it judicial, legislative, economic, or electoral" (Encyclopaedia Britannica).

- For the purposes of this lesson, the examples/non-examples focus more on absolute monarchies rather than dictators, even though the definition above includes dictators

in its explanation. B. What are the critical concepts of absolutism?

a. The ruler (king, emperor, sultan, president, etc.) centralizes power and authority over the nation and the people- The people have no authority

- EX: No (impactful) legislative body with representatives elected by the people

b. The ruler's power is not checked by a system of checks and balances or by a separation of powers amongst different branches of government

c. Justify rule by claiming divine right

2. Introduction and/or Hook:

1. Students will analyze the cartoon/drawing found on page 6.2. I will ask them to first list what they see in the image on their own. I will then have them pair up with a person near them/next to them to discuss what they see. 3. I will then ask them - in the same pairs - to start to infer what this image might mean.

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- What could its message be? Its purpose? Do they have a guess as to when it was written? Why is the image drawn how it is (i.e. size of the king, etc.)? Does the quote matter?

4. We will discuss as a class what these inferences are before we begin the activities in the concept formation lesson plan.

3. Student Investigation and Discussion, Part One: Introduce Chart Work

1. Students will receive TWO (2) handouts. Handout #1 is entitled "Forming a Concept." This worksheet includes a chart in which students will answer questions about four provided examples of absolutism in practice by absolutist monarchs. The four monarchs used in these four examples are: 1) Frederick the Great of Prussia; 2) Charles I of England; 3) Louis XIV of France; and 4) Peter the Great of Russia. The second handout will include summaries about these four monarchs rule; the summaries will include the main characteristics of absolutism/absolutist monarchs so that students will be able to begin to associate these qualities with the concept. The students will not be told who these examples are profiling and the examples will be identified as either "A, B, C, and D" or "1, 2, 3,

and 4."- Louis XIV and Peter the Great were chosen expressly for inclusion because they are the two names mentioned in this particular targeted SOL standard, but they are also ideal examples of

absolutist monarchs.

2. After students receive this handout, I will explain to them the goal for this activity. We are aiming to define a concept by identifying and examining its critical attributes or key characteristics. I will emphasize that when reading the examples, they should pay close attention to the prompting questions at the top of each column on the table, as that will direct their attention to what details in the textual examples are most important and relevant to the activity.

4. Collective Examination of an Example

1. I will announce to the class that they should turn their attention to the first example. 2. I will give the students time to read the first example on their own.3. I will then have the class reconvene as a large group, and we will read the first example out loud.

- I will also have Example #1 on the Powerpoint visible in large print. Reading it out loud will serve to help my lower-level reading students as well as the ELL students in one of my CT's

WHII classes. 4. After reading Example #1 out loud, we will answer the questions at the top of the columns on the

chart together as a class. This will allow me to model proper answers for the class and to make sure the students are aware of the processes they should be following to fill out their charts.

5. Student Investigation and Discussion, Part Two: Students Finish Chart Work

1. I will then give students sufficient time to read through Examples #2 & 3 and to fill out the corresponding boxes on the "Forming a Concept" handout. Students will have the option of working with a partner or working alone during this activity.

- I will determine which course of action I believe is best based on the specific group of students I am teaching this lesson to at my practicum school.

2. As the students work on completing this chart, I will be circulating throughout the room so students know I am available to answer any questions regarding the assignment at hand. I will

continue to remind them to pay attention to the questions at the top of each column when reading through the remaining three examples.

6. Collaborative Discussion and Idea Formation

1. Once the vast majority of students have finished filling out the chart handout, I will bring the class back together to work as a whole.

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2. As a class, we will then go over each example so I can make sure the students' answers are narrowing in on the critical attributes of absolutism.

- Because the goal of the concept formation lesson strategy is not for students to necessarily be accurate in their own hypotheses, I will discuss with the students the correct

answers for each example and will allow them to revise or add to what they had previously written (either on their own or in pairs) on their chart.

3. I will then pass out to the students another handout (#3). This handout is modeled on the similarities/differences sheet used (or rather, not used) in the example we worked on in our class regarding judicial review. 4. As a class, we will work to fill out this worksheet, which asks students to identify the differences and similarities between the example case studies, identify the three key characteristics of the yet-

unnamed concept, and to try to define and identify that concept using those critical attributes.

A. Differences (possibles):- Different countries- Different religions (in terms of sect) used to justify rule (but same

justification is at the heart of all the examples)B. Similarities (possibles):

- Time period (it was called the "Age of Absolutism" for a reason!)- Where they got their right to rule- No checks and balances- No functioning legislative branch/power

5. I will ask students for their answers to the questions listed in directive #4. The goal will be to create possible definitions for this concept as well as to identify it by name. After gathering student

hypotheses on what the concept might be, I will give them the dictionary definition and identify it as "absolutism."

- I do expect to have to give this term to students because my CT wants to use this lesson plan as an introduction to the concept of absolutism, so my students in WHII will have had no

exposure to the concept in previous classes.

7. Student Investigation and Discussion, Part Three: Examples v. Non-Examples

1. After we, as a class, have established the definition of "absolutism" and unveiled it as a concept, I will pass out the fourth and fifth (one double-sided paper) handout. The front of this worksheet (Handout #4) will include 3-4 examples and non-examples of absolutism. These examples will be (for the most part) historical contemporaries - or at least not modern-day examples - of the four absolute monarchs discussed earlier.

- Possible examples/non-examples will include:- Examples:

1. James I (UK)2. China ("mandate of heaven")

- Non-examples: 1. The United States

- Controversial example:1. Frederick the Great (Prussia)

- An Enlightened absolute monarch (but does not believe in divine right of kings)

2. Working either alone or in pairs again, students will read through these examples with the purpose of identifying them as either examples of absolutism or non-examples of the same concept.

- They will be told to keep in mind the identified critical attributes/key characteristics identified earlier in the activity.

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3. On the reverse of this handout, students will find a chart (Handout #5) that will help them pick out the important details from the examples in their efforts to define the examples as either examples/non-examples of absolutism. 4. After most students have completed the chart and arrived at a conclusion for all the examples, I will review with the class and see if we can come to a class consensus on each example and how it qualifies (example vs. non-example).

- I can either ask individuals/pairs to offer their answer, or I can have all those who said it was/was not an example to raise their hands to increase the likelihood of student

participation, even amongst those who are wary to talk in class.- The second option I feel would be especially beneficial for my ELL students in my

CT's WHII classes, who can typically understand spoken (especially conversational) English well enough but written English remains a struggle for some of these specific ELL students.

5. I will then reveal the answers and help the students work through any that did not have a majority leaning either way (example vs. non-example). 6. Upon completion of this final worksheet and its corresponding discussion, students will be able to ask any clarifying questions they may have before the assessment (a writing response) is assigned.

8. Assessment:- See above in section labeled "Assessment" for information about both formal and informal assessment options for this lesson plan.

Differentiation/Adaption: This lesson plan calls for the students to do most of the chart work either individually or

in pairs (ideally, I would give the class a choice), but if I was teaching a group I knew had a fair number of low readers, all examples may need to be reviewed collectively rather than just the first one. In a high-level (i.e. above-grade-level readers, or in a class where absolutism has been discussed in brief beforehand) class, it possibly could even take less than 60 minutes as well.

Regarding specific modifications/accommodations my students in World History II might need, I have several students with IEPs for specific learning disabilities involving reading comprehension issues. As such, I have designed this activity to involve more group-based reading rather than solo reading. This will help my students who comprehend what is read better when it is done so in an auditory rather than visual fashion. My plan to model the first example (if necessary) would also provide the necessary modeling opportunity for those students who struggle with how to approach an activity that is reading-heavy.

Reflection: I designed this lesson with two possible assessments. One is the final handout in which students have to identify if the examples are/are not examples of absolutism. The other is a writing prompt in which they have to seek out a modern-day example and non-example of absolutism. This engages two of the four kinds of assessments we discussed in class. I reserve the right to assign either both or just the first assessment. I included both in the instance that the lesson finishes early and I need a second assessment to finish the class period. I might assign the writing prompt as homework if I determine the students need extra practice with the concept, regardless of whether or not the lesson takes up the entire class period or not.

Post-Teaching Reflection: My students seemed genuinely interested in the lesson format. The lesson was structured

to be more student-oriented (and more intellectually-demanding) than the lessons typically used

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by my cooperating teacher (CT) in these classes. I think my lesson was a nice change of pace for the students, and I feel that is one of the reasons why seemed interested and engaged in the material from the beginning. Having the students work in groups - namely, assigned groups - worked great in my classes. My CT and I designed the groups to make sure that lower-level readers (because my lesson plan was reading-heavy in comparison to normal lessons in the class) were paired with higher-level readers, and this extra step in creating the groups helped all students to understand the material and feel confident in their new knowledge. My lesson fit really well into my CT's curriculum plans/schedule, so I felt like the lesson fit seamlessly into the class. I was very organized and I felt increasingly confident in my abilities as a teacher regarding this lesson as I taught it to more classes. I also felt that I got better in my abilities to make sure my students were learning and internalizing the information in the lesson.

I was able to teach my lesson over the course of two days to multiple class periods. As such, I was given the opportunity to (kind of) correct my mistakes from period-to-period. After teaching for the first time my lesson, I realized I needed to correct some things. For example, I needed to speak more confidently in addressing my students. The first lesson I almost felt as if I were re-learning the structure of the lesson itself, so I needed to be a bit more prepared(and confident in my abilities as the students' instructor) than I initially was in teaching the lesson the first time in my CT's classes.

I also tended to let the students have a little too much "dead time" in the group portions of the activity, which I think happened because I was reticent to hurry them too much. I work fast, so sometimes I fear I am not going to give students enough time just based on what my own needs and tendencies as a student were towards the amount of time needed to complete work. As such, I think I need to better recognize when "dead time" is occurring in the classroom - especially during group work, when it can be harder to delineate between "dead time" discussions and assignment-related chatter - and adjust my pacing accordingly. I was able to fix this issue in later teachings of this specific lesson by using a timer. I assigned a certain amount of time for each part of the lesson. I entered this time into a timer, and then I displayed that timer on the pull-down screen so that the online timer could be projected onto the screen for the students to see and use to monitor their own work speed in their groups.

In thinking about what I might choose to do differently next time I teach my students, I think I might "rehearse" my lesson a bit more next time. I would like to try to run through the lesson mentally, visualize in my head what might happen versus what I want to happen (the ideal carrying-out of my lesson plan). That will, I think, help me just feel more prepared for what could happen, and it will allow me to spend less time trying to remember what step comes next in the lesson and more time actually feeling confident in my teaching and more time in interacting and engaging with the students. Due to time constraints in the class, I was not able to assign the writing assessment portion of this lesson plan. I would have been interested to see how the students responded to the prompt and to see what examples/non-examples of absolutism/absolute monarchy the students were able to find in the modern-day world.

When thinking about my lesson in terms of PASS standards, I decided to figure out which standard it best met and which one it did not meet well or did not meet at all. My lesson did not really involve any sort of ethical valuing. However, I do think the lesson plan, on the whole, produced higher order thinking and substantive conversions between myself and the students as well as between students themselves. In my lesson, students had to look at examples of monarchs. From those examples, they had to read and analyze to arrive at some sort of conclusion as to what the similarities/differences (especially the most important similarities)

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between the examples were to hypothesize a definition/name for the concept they were investigating. This demonstrates higher order thinking. Students were engaged in creating their own idea of what this unknown concept - absolutism - might actually be and what that concept means/entails. I also think my lesson can be graded fairly well regarding substantive conversations as well.

______________________________________________________________________________

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Bell-Ringer/Hook Image:

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HANDOUT #1: "Forming a Concept"

EXAMPLE:

What powers or privileges does this person(s)

have?

How did the king get his

power?

What evidence of

separation of powers or checks and

balances can you find?

How much of a role does religion play a role in the ruler(s) getting

their power?

#1 (Charles I

of England)

#2 (Louis XIV of

France)

#3 (Peter the Great of Russia)

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HANDOUT #2: Concept Examples1. Charles I was the king of England and Scotland beginning in 1625. With his rule ordained and blessed by God, he developed a reputation for being reluctant to work with Parliament, the U.K.'s legislative body; this reluctance developed into refusal in 1629, when, following the passage by an angered Parliament of the Petition of Right (to protect the individual rights/liberties of the people), the king dissolved Parliament entirely. In doing so, the king began to further centralize the rule of the English government and English society under his control. By dissolving Parliament, the king eliminated the biggest check on his power, and, without Parliament and or any real separation of powers amongst other government branches, the monarch was essentially free to do whatever he desired. The king's thirst to grow his power would lead to a religious conflict with Scotland in the late-1630s. Charles I would endure a tumultuous end to his rule, concluding with his beheading in 1649 during the English Civil War.

2. Upon coming to power in 1643 (he would rule until 1715), Louis XIV was the most powerful political figure in France. His control over France, its government, and its people was complete and total, and his word became law. There were no limits placed on the king's power. He had the right to make foreign policy, declare war, oversee religious affairs, and make taxes without approval of anyone else. He had control over the creation and passage of laws, as he refused to allow the Estates-General, the French parliamentary body, to convene and compose and vote on laws. He centralized power under his own control by creating a strict bureaucratic structure, the members of which were determined - hand-selected, really - by the king himself. Even previously powerful nobles and landed gentry found their hereditary rights weakened under his rule; he did so in order to lessen the likelihood of an uprising against him within the First Estate. To justify his seemingly autocratic rule, Louis XIV - like other Catholic rulers - claimed divine right, which is states a monarch is not subject to any Earthly authority and receives his mandate to rule directly from God himself.

3.Peter the Great ruled Russia from 1689 to 1725. Power became centralized around Peter the Great. He was surrounded by a few trusted advisors; however, Peter remained the ultimate authority and his word was the "law of the land." He had unchecked power to go against his advisors' suggestions. He centralized power by breaking down Russia into different provinces, which were headed by appointees selected by Peter himself. These officials were under the direct control of the monarch. There were no powerful legislative or judicial bodies under Peter's rule, which led to Peter developing consolidated and unlimited power. He claimed his rule was permitted through divine right and thus mandated by God. Peter even brought the Russian Orthodox Church under his control by appointing its leader, who made all religious decisions based on Peter's commands. When he died in 1725, he was succeeded by his wife, Catherine the Great, who continued to employ many of the same autocratic policies as her husband.

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HANDOUT #3: Name:

Block: Worksheet:

Identifying a Concept

Directions: Read the examples carefully. After you read the passages, you will fill out the chart on the back of this page. This chart will help us work towards identifying a particular concept. We will read the first one as a class and will complete the "Example #1" row together. Afterwards, we will discuss and answer as a whole class the questions below. (When thinking about answers to these questions, look at the column headings on the chart.)

1. What are the differences between the different examples?

2. What are the similarities between the different examples?

3. What do you think the THREE (3) most important similarities between the examples are?

1. __________________________________________________________

2___________________________________________________________

3. __________________________________________________________

4. Put the concept into a one-sentence definition:

5. What do you think is the name of the concept? ______________________________

FINAL REVEAL: The concept is called ____________________________.

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HANDOUT #4: Understanding Absolutism: Examples vs. Non-Examples1. This country's government has many different parts. At the top is a president, who is elected by the people every four years via a national election. The president presides over the people, but his power is not unlimited. The executive branch's power is instead checked by a series of checks and balances held by other government branches: the legislative and judicial branches. These different branches are made up of various legislators and judges, respectively, who have the power to nominate and pass laws and to determine the legality of laws as well. Various rights and responsibilities are held not just by the federal government but also by state (and even local) governments as well. This means power within the country is not entirely centralized under the president, though there are still bureaucratic structures within the government.

ANSWER: United States; democracy

2. Frederick the Great was the leader of Prussia beginning in 1740 until his death in 1786. He is well-remembered for his military intelligence and his ability to strategize. His interest in the military influenced his belief in a strong leader presiding over a centralized government. He was a powerful king and consolidated power in Prussia under his control even as he enlarged his kingdom through aggressive territorial expansion. Though he ruled with the aid of advisors, Frederick the Great's power was unchecked by any official government officials or bodies. Frederick was a great proponent of Enlightenment thought. He was interested in the sciences and considered himself a Humanist in many respects. This means he did not believe in the divine right of kings. He called himself a "philosopher-king." Rather than claiming God had given him his power, Frederick used his military might and intimidation to validate and secure his rule.

ANSWER: Frederick the Great of Prussia; "Enlightened" absolutism/absolute monarch

3. Philip II was the son of Charles V of Spain. He ruled until his death in 1598. A contemporary of Elizabeth II, Philip II expanded on his father's dictatorial practices as king. He expanded Spanish control, turning the country into one of the most powerful European nation-states. He expanded Spanish influence while restricting the power of the Spanish people. He centralized all political and religious power so that his control would be unchallenged. During Philip II's rule, there was no system of checks and balances nor instances of separation of powers within the Spanish government to provide A devout Catholic, Philip II justified his controlling, stifling rule over Spain by claiming divine right; he said he was given his power by God and that he was thus not subject to the rules and laws of man.

ANSWER: Philip II of Spain; absolutism/absolute monarch

 

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HANDOUT #5: Guiding Questions for Examples vs. Non-Examples

What characteristics of the concept can you identify in the

examples?

What details in the example are NOT in line with the

characteristics of the concept?

1.

2.

3.

Is #1 an example of absolutism? If not, what kind of government does it resemble? _____________________________________________________________________________________

Is #2 an example of absolutism? If not, what kind of government does it resemble? _______

______________________________________________________________________________

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Is #3 an example of absolutism? If not, what kind of government does it resemble? _______

______________________________________________________________________________Name:

Date:

Block:

Writing Assessment:Understanding Absolutism

PROMPT: Refer to the similarities and differences determined via the chart and subsequent class discussion to find (through independent research) ONE (1) example of a modern-day absolutist monarchy and ONE (1) modern-day non-example of the same. Include evidence from your worksheets and the class discussion (and the generated results) in your written response. It is crucial you use the critical attributes of absolutism in their determining what is and is not a modern example of absolutism/absolute monarchies/ or absolute rule. The response such be approximately TWO (2) paragraphs in length - one paragraph per example.

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RUBRIC for Writing Assignment (created using rubistar.com):

Research Report : Modern-Day Absolutism: Examples v. Non-Examples

CATEGORY 4 3 2 1Notes Notes about

example/non-example of absolutism are recorded and organized in an extremely neat and orderly fashion.

Notes about example/non-example of absolutism are recorded legibly and are somewhat organized.

Notes about example/non-example of absolutism are recorded.

No notes are recorded and included with the final product.

Quality of Information

Information clearly relates to the main topic. It includes several supporting details and/or examples.

Information clearly relates to the main topic. It provides 1-2 supporting details and/or examples.

Information clearly relates to the main topic. No details and/or examples are given.

Information has little or nothing to do with the main topic.

Mechanics No grammatical, spelling or punctuation errors.

Almost no grammatical, spelling or punctuation errors

A few grammatical spelling, or punctuation errors.

Many grammatical, spelling, or punctuation errors.

Sources All sources (information and graphics) are accurately documented in the desired format. All sources used are valid, trustworthy sources.

All sources (information and graphics) are accurately documented, but are not in the desired format. Some sources are valid sources.

Some sources (information and graphics) are accurately documented, but many are not in the desired format. Few sources are valid.

Sources are not accurately documented and the information does not come from valid sources.