SOME HELP TO WRITE YOUR TASK
You have three different parts to write for this task - one description and two explains.
Firstly in your RECOUNT you have to DESCRIBE what it would have been like for your family to live under the Qin and the Han from the perspective (viewpoint) of a peasant family OR an artisan's family OR a merchant's family (but not all three)
When you describe anything you try to create word pictures. You use words such as the following and apply them to the things you are writing about. These are only some very basic ideas
Weather |
Value |
Quality |
Lifestyle |
hot |
expensive |
well made |
difficult |
dry |
cheap |
poorly made |
easy |
wet |
many |
important |
friendly |
cold |
few |
useless |
enemies |
windy |
easy to get |
valuable |
co-operative |
Therefore, you might find yourself writing about your life as a peasant in the following words:
... That particular day I remember it was extremely hot and was the tenth day in a row that it had been windy ...
Or as an artisan
... the material I had been given to embroider was very poorly made and I wondered why the lord had brought it to me. It was really quite useless.
Or as a merchant
... It was very easy to trade across the border but once the Emperor made enemies of the Huns they were no longer co-operative and I could not trade with them.
Secondly, in your ACCOUNT you have to EXPLAIN what changed and/or stayed the same for your people under the Qin and the Han
You have two separate jobs to do in these parts of your answer. Your have to (1) EXPLAIN and you have to (2) SHOW CHANGE and SHOW WHAT STAYED THE SAME.
(1) When you EXPLAIN anything you have to give cause and effect. You have to say "... this happened because that happened ..." There are many words which help you to do this. Some of them are in the table below. Try to use them in your writing.
so |
as a result |
still |
though |
consequently |
as a result of |
however |
even though |
yet |
under the circumstances |
nevertheless |
then |
despite this |
hence |
therefore |
caused by |
all the same |
otherwise |
because |
an outcome of |
You might say
... many men were called away from the fields to fights and, as a consequence, very little of the harvest was gathered ...
...Despite the increasing numbers of wealthy gentry the sale of my jewellery was not improving ...
... it was very easy to trade across the border but as a result of the Emperor making enemies of the Huns I could no longer trade with them ...
(2) When you have to SHOW CHANGE and/or SHOW WHAT REMAINED THE SAME you need to
(a) say what it was like at the beginning
(b) explain what changed and why AND/OR say what stayed the same
(c) say what it was like at the end
Therefore you use words such as the ones below
(a) at the beginning
|
(b) change
|
(c) at the end
|
firstly/secondly/etc
|
after a while
|
finally
|
when
|
meanwhile
|
now
|
before
|
next
|
at this time
|
then
|
before that
|
at this moment
|
once
|
until then
|
lastly
|
| |
soon
|
in the end
|
| |
eventually
|
here
|
So, to show change, you might say
... everybody worked hard then but soon it became too difficult because of the war and now we are all starving
... before, when the emperor was strong, many people wanted my jewellery but after a while the wars ended trade and finally we were forced to go back to farm work just to survive
and to show how things remained the same you might say
... it was great living under the Han. When we had set up the trading posts on the Silk Road under the Qin we did not know what to expect but soon we were doing well. Here, at this time, we could not be happier...
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