The queen learned that Snow
White was alive and where she was living. She disguised herself as an old woman selling apples.
Snow White bought an apple.
It was poisoned and she died.
Snow White ended up discovering a small house inhabited by dwarves.
They agreed to let her live there.
He kissed her. She woke from the spell.
They married and apparently lived happily ever after.
The new queen resented the young Snow White and paid a woodsman to take her to the forest and kill her.
The woodsman instead left her there.
The dwarves chased the old woman off the edge of the cliff and she died.
The dwarves placed Snow
White’s body in a glass coffin and left her in the forest.
She was discovered by a handsome Prince.
Once upon a time a King’s wife died leaving him with a baby daughter-Snow
White.
The king decided to marry again.

Linking: this can be basic eg by using words or simple phrases such as

So

Therefore

This led to

Because of this
Once upon a time a King’s wife died leaving him with a baby daughter-Snow
White, so the king decided to marry again.
Much more informative form of linking is created by explaining points and being explicit about how one idea/event connects with another.
Once upon a time a King’s wife died leaving him with a baby daughter-Snow
White. Lonely and needing a mother for his baby daughter, the king decided to marry again.
This has now given you a cause, as well as a link between the two events.
By explaining or making explicit the links, you usually end up explaining cause and effect- our two major historical ideas.
Task: Copy out the box and insert a phrase that links and explains the relationship between the events. there.
The new queen resented the young Snow White [insert explanation/reason] and paid a woodsman to take her to the forest and kill her.
The woodsman instead [insert explanation/reason] left her
Explain why the queen resented Snow White and what the aim of killing her was.
Then explain why the woodsman disobeyed the queen.

The new queen resented the young Snow White, jealous of her natural youth and beauty and the love that she inspired, she paid a woodsman to take her to the forest and kill her.
The woodsman, in love with the beautiful princess and touched by her innocence, decided to defy the queen and instead left her there.
Good writing provides a clear and logical sequence of events or of ideas.
Good writing also makes explicit what the links between these events or ideas are.
Linking is most effective when it is explaining why something happened.

.
Do the same for the consequences.
You have, by doing this, roughly divided your causes and consequences into long term/short term/immediate causes and consequences.

Now think about relative importance. One of the historian’s most important jobs is to help the reader decide what is and isn’t important. This involves making informed judgements.
Task: Make a judgement about which was the MOST important cause of Snow White eating a poisoned apple. Write it down. Justify it.
Do the same for the consequences. Which is the MOST important. Justify it.
If you were to turn this into an essay discussing the causes and consequences of Snow
White’s poisoning, keep the chronological structure. But when you come to the most important cause (or consequence) emphasise it eg
The most significant cause of Snow White’s poisoning was…..This was significant because…

The most common marking comment for formal writing is that you need to develop your ideas. This means that you need to add more. You can do this by:

Adding more supporting detail eg stats, examples of specific people, specific events, dates…
Eg. World war two killed millions and affected most parts of the planet.
Becomes
World War Two was only six years long but it left over 50 million dead, including both military and civilians, 20 million refugees and involved nations from three continents.

Making the links between events much clearer by being explicit and explaining them.
Eg By 1939 Germany was defeated, the war in Europe was over. But Japan refused to surrender. The USA then made the decision to use its developing nuclear weapons. becomes
By 1939 Germany was defeated, the war in Europe was over. But Japan, whose government and military saw defeat as dishonourable as and worse than death, clearly planned to fight to the bitter end. To save American soldiers lives by bringing the war to a speedy end, the USA decided to finish its development of its nuclear weapons and to use them for the first time on two Japanese cities. It was hoped that the horror at the devastation the initial bomb caused would force the Japanese government to concede defeat.

By taking one or more points that you think is very important and describing and explaining it in more detail in a separate paragraph.
Eg you could describe why and how the Americans developed the nuclear bomb
AND/OR describe who and why in Japan were most opposed to the idea of surrendering and why AND/OR the debate around the decision to use the bomb etc

.
These are the main historical ideas of all history. A historian does not narrate a story (this would turn history into a never ending novel), he or she interprets it by showing readers the important links, the cause and the consequences.
Task: use the fairy tale to complete this diagram.
Cause 1.the jealousy of the queen Cause 2. The failure of the woodsman to act out the queen’s orders
Consequence
The death of snow white
Event: the queen poisons Snow White.
Consequence
The death of the queen
Cause 3. The decision of Snow
White to accept the apple
Consequence
The marriage of snow white
In
1403 Snow White was poisoned and died. This event had many causes; ultimately the poisoning was the result of the Queen’s jealousy. The failure of her servant to eliminate Snow White was also an important cause as was
Snow White’s decision to accept and eat the apple. This decision had many consequences. Snow White died and the dwarves took out their vengeance on the queen, causing her death. The most final consequence was the marriage of
Snow White to a local Prince after the poisonous spell was broken.

In
1403 Snow White, princess of Folktale land and only daughter of the ruler, was poisoned and died. This event had many causes; ultimately the poisoning was the result of her stepmother, the Queen’s, jealousy and insecurity. The failure of her servant, the woodsman, to eliminate Snow White was also an important factor; but the immediate cause was Snow
White’s fatal decision to accept and eat the apple. This decision had many consequences.
Initially, Snow White died and the dwarves took out their vengeance on the Queen, chasing her to her death. The most lasting and most significant consequence was the discovery of
Snow White by a local prince, and their marriage after the poisonous spell was broken.
In 1403 Snow White, princess of Folktale land and only daughter of King Easilyduped, was poisoned and died. Her poisoning had many causes. Ultimate responsibility most historians agree was the jealousy and insecurity of her new stepmother the Queen. The failure of her woodsman to assassinate Snow White was a key factor in the Queen’s decision to take action herself and to use magic. Ultimately however, the trigger event was Snow White’s unexpected decision to accept the apple from a stranger and to eat it. The result was immediate and violent; Snow White died and the dwarves avenged themselves on the Queen by chasing her to her death. The most significant consequence was however, a positive one.
Snow White’s revival and marriage to the Prince was a direct result of his discovery of her coffin and his pity at her tragic fate.
Topic sentences:e the key words and some form of qualifier ( ie a shortterm cause, an important cause, an economic trigger etc.
The long term cause of Snow White’s poisoning was the jealousy and insecurity of her stepmother, the Queen.
The most significant and a long term cause of Snow White’s poisoning was the jealousy and insecurity of her stepmother, the Queen.

Another cause of the poisoning was the failure of the woodsman to assassinate the young princess.
The failure the queen’s initial strategy, to have the princess killed by her woodsman, forced the queen to develop a new strategy- poison.
The immediate trigger for Snow White’s death was her decision to accept and eat the apple.
Snow White’s unexpected decision to disregard advice and to accept and eat the poisoned apple was the final cause of her death.
The immediate consequence of this decision was the death of Snow White.
Snow White’s death was a direct and immediate consequence of this mistaken decision.
Another consequence was the death of the queen.
Directly linked to the death of Snow White was, ironically, the death of the Queen herself.
The most long lasting consequence was the marriage of Snow White to the Prince.
The final, and most significant result of the poisoning was a positive consequence: the marriage of the young princess to the Handsome Prince and the creation of a new royal dynasty.