How to Study from the Textbook

It goes without saying that the assigned reading should play a healthy role in your study of History 232. Naturally, from your professor's point of view, the lectures may be more important, but prior reading is very much desired as a preparation for the lectures. Therefore, there is (or should be) no escaping coming to grips with whatever is assigned for, surely, it will aid you in coping with the inevitable quizzes and exams that challenge (or torment) you. But how to read and remember effectively--something that is not always readily apprehended by students. Therefore, for the benefit of those who might profit from some professorial advice, here is one way to tackle the problem.

The reading should preferably be done before the class meeting on the assigned topic; but better late than never, or at least before the quiz or exam . . . For a start, read the assignment right through without taking notes. As you do this, you could add some pencilled checkmarks in the margins when you read something that you'll wish to give greater attention to on a second reading. Sometimes you are alerted to this by the author himself, as when he'll comment on something that is: 'remarkable'; 'of enduring significance'; producing a ' most salient result'; 'the most ambitious attempt yet seen'; and the like. Remember, also, to note passages that give the origins or causes of things-- why population grew at some particular time; what was a factor effecting some transformation in society; what was the underlying motive in the mind of some actor on the stage of history; etc., etc. Additionally, pay particular attention to the results or consequences of action(s)--after a law was passed; when the war was over; when something was invented; after an important book or theory was disseminated; and so on.

Once all that's done, do your second reading. This will be the time that you'll take notes from the text, for how else could you aid your memory? The text will also be of assistance in this because the author usually separates the narrative into chapters and sections with title headings. Do the same as you take notes, using either the author's headings or ones of your own that make more sense to you. If the author is not helpful in this regard, then you'll have to ferret out the several noteworthy themes contained in the chapter or section.

Do your note-taking in outline form--just a few brief key-words or connected phrases in a manner that will be easy to review. Avoid lengthy paragraphs, though you could include a memorable sentence (as the Russian insisted to his landlord: "We are yours, but the land is ours.") or a trenchant phrase (Bismarck's "iron and blood" speech), for example. And don't forget to enter a date here and there to help you keep the time-frame in mind. Nor should you avoid brief summaries of useful information contained in charts and maps that could highlight, for example, industrial production, population growth, or territorial settlements in the wake of a war.

The utility of this is your better preparation for exams as well as for the lectures; having come to grips with the material in this fashion before the lecture should also enable you to participate more fruitfully in class discussion.

Perhaps you need an example of how this would work in practice. So here's how to handle the Merriman textbook……..

Syllabus Topic: Russia………..assigned reading: (Merriman) pp. 806-19, 943- 46.

• a dictatorial state built on dominance of tsar and nobility
• an inefficient agricultural system characterized by serfdom (peasants bound to the land)
• a tiny middle class with little hope of political reforms
• dissent curbed by censorship and the activities of secret police

Intellectual Debate(pp. 808-810)

• concern for the future of Russia
• arguments of the Slavophiles (proponents of the traditional Russia of tsar, the Orthodox Church and peasant communes)--favored the binding force of religion on the peasant masses--fearful of the effects industrialization and Western materialism could have on society
• arguments of the Westernizers (wanted Russia to emulate Western institutions of constitutions, parliaments and liberal reforms-- desired industrialization to release Russia from its backwardness)

Serfdom(pp. 810-13)

• this was Russia's "peculiar institution," the cruelty of which had often brought on peasant uprisings
• under serfdom peasants owed free labor and other obligations to their lords
• finally freed by order of the tsar in 1861, having decided that Russia would fall behind compared to the West if this reform not made
• the manner of reform unsatisfactory to the peasants because they did not acquire individual ownership of land--the combined allotments were assigned to the supervision of community elders--also mortgage payments to be made to the state
• this reform led to further demands for change, but the tsar remained as autocratic as before despite the small concessions of local assemblies, courts and trial by jury

Imperial Expansion (pp. 814-16)

• Russian influence in S.E. Europe increased in 1870s with her defeat of Turkey--led to establishment. of Bulgaria, now under Russian influence
• conquests in Central Asia against Muslim peoples brought Russian influence to the borders of Afghanistan
• further advances through Siberia brought Russia territory to the Sea of Japan
• England suspicious of Russian intentions--her Indian empire now separated from Russia only by the vulnerable state of Afghanistan
• Russian empire now covers 14% of the planet's land-mass (see map on p. 815)

Revolutionary Activity (pp. 816-19)

• disparate radical elements hope for the creation of a new Russia through revolution, but not clear what exactly they wanted overall-
• seemed to be against all authority--saw the state as corrupt and oppressive--some were socialists--some anarchists (who wished to get rid of the state altogether!)
• the movement aided by writers and intellectuals such as Chernyshevsky and Nechaev (who preached terrorist activity and a peasant revolution) and Bakunin the anarchist
• a terrorist act in 1881 results in the death of tsar Alexander II, but revolution did not follow . .

War with Japan (pp. 945-6)

• Russia now suspicious of Japan's rising power in East Asia following her defeat of China in 1895
• Russian influence in China results in her acquiring concessions to extend her railway network to the east via Chinese territory (Manchuria) as well as the lease of Port Arthur as a naval base, thus generating Japanese suspicions of Russia's designs
• Japan, anxious to bring neighboring Korea under her control and suspicious of Russian designs, unleashes war on Russia
• Russia humbled by Japan in 1905 and ousted from her Chinese concessions

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