hist 101 writing 1 selein

The first writing assignment will be based on a watching a

documentary on King Louis XIV of France. Go to the Canvas Home

page and scroll down to the Writing Assignments module and youll

see the YouTube documentary under the title: Building Versailles: A

Kings Obsession for Magnificence. Or you may access the

documentary directly on YouTube by typing in the same title. After a

careful viewing of the 59 minute video, answer the following five

questions with insight, clarity and effective examples from the

documentary.

Type your responses with your name and date in the upper hand

corner along with a simple center heading Writing Assignment #1.

Then write down the number of the question followed by your

response. Single or double-spaced is up to you. Proofread your

answers for spelling and grammatical errors. Each question will be

graded on a five (5) point scale and a solid one-three paragraph

response for each question should suffice.

Submit your responses on a Word or PDF file (no Pages or Google

Docs) to Canvas Assignments under Writing Assignment #1 and Ill

grade it through SpeedGrader or you may submit an email

attachments of your responses to robert.henry@gcccd.edu.

1. The documentary emphasizes aspects of Louis XIVs love life

and relationships with his mistresses and wives. What insight

into Louis character and passions are revealed with these

relationships? How did he appear to treat women and how did they

appear to treat him? You may use the insights and observations from

commentators Lisa Hilton and Lady Antonia Fraser to build your

response.

2. How does the documentary portray Louis overseeing the

building of Versailles Palace? In other words, what kind of project

manager does he appear to be? Active? Passive? Hands on?

Providing much input or not at all? Write out and support your

observations.

3. How does the documentary portray the life and hardship of the

workers during Versailles construction? What kind of dangers and

working conditions did they face? In the little that is revealed, did

Louis seem concerned about the workers welfare?

4. Provide a description of noble (courtier) life at Versailles.

According to the documentary, how did the nobles spend their time?

What kind of activities they pursued? What methods did nobles utilize

to curry favor from the king? Incorporate examples from the

documentary and note the words used by some commentators like

claustrophobic and a networking center to describe noble life at

Versailles.

5. Describe how the documentary portrays the last years of Louis

XIVs reign especially with his health and foreign wars. Why

according to Lisa Hilton did Versailles now seem like a dreary place?

Lastly, comment on why you believe the documentarys commentators

called Louis XIV the essence or identity of France. Do you agree or

disagree with this statement?

WRITE MY PAPER