Understanding the Modern World
You will write a 1000-word essay that responds to the following statement:
How has daily life changed since 1800?
To answer this question, contrast Blainey’s account of life before 1800 with your observations about how people live today.
Steps for your research:
The following steps will assist you to complete the research component of this task:
- Read the chapter ‘Dethroning the harvest’ by Geoffrey Blainey to get an idea of life and society in the period 1500 – 1800.
- Compare what you read about life and society in the period 1500 – 1800 with life today, drawing on your own experience and observations, and one or two additional references.
- While completing your reading for this essay, you may find it useful to think about these questions:
- Where did people live?
- How did people get their food?
- What types of work did people do, and how was it organised?
- What were people’s major concerns and preoccupations?
- What was the general standard of living?
