​​SHOULD HE BE REMEMBERED AS A BAD KING?

1. Writing an essay is like a good hamburger
  • The top bun is the introduction, which should explain the question i.e. who the people/events are that are referred to in the question, what will be discussed in each paragraph and what your line of argument will be
  • The burgers are the main paragraphs of your essay. You should try to have about 3 burgers that cover different aspects of the question. These should start with a 'topic sentence' that makes a point, which should then be explained with evidence to support its assertions/arguments.
  • The lettuce, pickles and cheese are the extras that you add to the paragraphs to make them even tastier i.e. statistics, dates, anecdotes, quotes, etc... that make your arguments even stronger.
  • The bottom bun is the conclusion, which holds everything else in place. The conclusion should state your judgement in the first sentence and then summarize the main points made in the paragraphs.

2. What should go into this essay?
Introduction
  • Explain who King John was and why he is a controversial figure. 
  • Outline how your essay will be structured
  • State what your line of argument will be.
Main Paragraphs
  • Explain why he has been remembered by some as a bad king (you might split this into two paragraphs and look at things that people said he did that were cruel and unfair, and then you could explain the mistakes he made in the second paragraph)
  • Also have a paragraph that explains why he is not seen as a completely bad king by some as he did have some successes and was unlucky in some respects
  • To follow on from the previous part, you could have a paragraph that compares him with other monarchs of the Medieval era.
  • You could use quotes from people who have written about him to support the examples you present.
  • If you do quote people who have written about John you might want to explain why we need to be careful with some of the things that have said about John in certain periods of history.
  • You might also consider having a paragraph explaining why views of King John have changed over time and why they might change again in the future.
Conclusion
  • State what your judgement is in the first sentence e.g. whether you agree or disagree that John should be remembered as a bad king, or what he should be remembered as.
  • Now spend a few sentences explaining the judgement you have arrived at

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