EE Initial Reflection

For my EE, Currently I am working on a question surrounding the Battle of Stalingrad and the events surrounding it and their importance in shaping WW2. However reaching this question and choosing it from an infinite range of topics has been interesting. I have always had interest in the Battle for numerous reasons, therefore resulting in me choosing it as my topic. Ranging from the sheer numbers involved in this war to the debatable decisions that were made.

I had my first meeting with my supervisor, Mr Sharry, after conducting initial research and the EE planning process. I met with him and showed him my ideas so far and he guided me well, helping me narrow down my question and give me good ideas to discuss. He asked probing questions on my question to help me identify areas which I had little knowledge on at first, so I can work on these sections to learn more to eventually help my essay. After this insightful conversation, we together identified goals and steps to work on before our next meeting. I set targets to conduct more research and attempt to narrow down on the question.

EE Writing Day Reflection

  1. One thing I’ve learned
    The EE Writing Day has been a productive day in which I have been able to narrow down my initial question through thorough primary research to something which is not regularly spoken of yet can be debated over. Therefore, through this I have learnt the importance of conducting primary research on a topic to be able to narrow down your views into a more manageable question.
  2. What I’m proud of
    Personally I am proud of identifying a section on the Battle of Stalingrad, my main focus for the EE, which is not considered very often. This is the politically decided priorities and strategies and how it led to Nazi defeat. I found this through primary research by reading a book on the battle itself and identified clear faults in the German tactics and how the Russians were able to take advantage of this.
  3. What I’ll be doing next
    My next step is to conduct more research on the strategies and decisions, identifying three main strategies which were decisive in the outcome of the war, and finding sources on them. After this I must analyse the sources and their reliability. Furthermore, it is important to also supply this research with in-depth historiography to be able provide facts and statistics to validate my thesis and main argumentative points. Furthermore, I feel I have reached a good point to begin writing my essay after this research, primarily the abstract and introduction as I have reached a final argument I want to focus on.