Try It
In this activity, you will read documents about WWI to determine if the earlier events described in the text caused later events or simply preceded them. Remember to use your knowledge of cause-and-effect and sequence text structure and signal words to assist you in determining the relationship between events. In addition to text structure, remember to place events in chronological order to analyze the relationships between events. To assist you, refer to the Text Structures and Signal Words PDF as you read the documents.
Highlighter Tool Tips
Use the highlighter tool to highlight the text structure signal words. To use the tool, drag your mouse over the word or words you want to select. Once the highlighter appears, click a color and your selected words are now highlighted.
(You can download a PDF of the excerpt, Historical events that occurred in the early 1900s, to highlight on paper.)
Read the following description of events that occurred in the early 1900s. As you read, look for the text structure signal words to help you determine the relationship between the series of events described in the passage. Afterwards, answer a series of questions to identify the signal words and the relationship between the events.
In the early 1900s political tensions in Europe were increasing. Rising nationalism encouraged new nations to unify and establish their power in the world. On the other hand, it caused some ethnic groups to demand separation and nations of their own. At the same time, established nations wanted to expand their empires and competed with one another for colonies in Africa, Asia and other parts of the world. In order to protect their interests, European nations built up their armies and navies. Along with the military build-up, nations also started forming alliances, or defense agreements. These alliances were aimed at maintaining a “balance of power” in order to prevent war. In reality, it had the opposite effect by having groups of nations agreeing to go to war if one of their members were attacked. If an attack occurred, it guaranteed the spread of war.
In the Balkan Peninsula in southeastern Europe, nations were arguing over territory, while Slavic nationalists wanted to unite all Slavic peoples. In Austria-Hungary, the Slavs wanted independence and the neighboring nation, Serbia, supported the Slavs, causing increased problems between the two nations. On June 28, 1914, the heir to the Austria-Hungary throne, Archduke Franz Ferdinand, and his wife were assassinated by Gavrilo Princip, a member of a terrorist group that plotted the assassination as a way to advance the cause of Slavic unification. As a result, the rulers of Austria-Hungary, blaming the Serbian government, declared war on Serbia. Because of the system of defense alliances among the European nations, the war quickly spread across the continent.
What is the basic text structure of this passage?
What signal words in the text helped you identify the text structure?
Next, do a drag-and drop activity, or a multiple choice alternative activity, to place the following events from the passage into chronological order. This will help you analyze the relationship between events. (This alternative activity is provided for students using keyboard only or screen readers.)
Based on the passage’s description of events and the chronological order of the events, did the earlier events cause later events, or merely precede them?
