Please enable JavaScript.
Coggle requires JavaScript to display documents.
Robert Service's use of topic sentences - Coggle Diagram
Robert Service's use of topic sentences
Economy
"Although the 1970s were a lost decade for potential reformers, however, not everything was static. Not quite." (p. 407)
Introduces two possible perspectives.
International relations
"At any rate few people in the West had any affection for the USSR." (p. 398)
it’s provocative and immediately arguable.
Opens discussion of détente vs. perception, showing how international legitimacy matters.
Clear, direct language that sets up a debate.
Can easily be argued for and against.
Party
"The Soviet compound, as it emerged from the successive changes after the Second World War, had only a limited capacity for radical experimentation." Pg.397
it captures the structural rigidity of the Brezhnev system in one line.
Historically rich metaphor (“compound”) suggesting constraint.
Sets up analysis of stagnation, gerontocracy, and institutional decay.
"The central political leadership had turned into a gerontocracy." (p. 404)
Sets up analysis of gerontocracy and institutional decay.
Agriculture
"Agricultural policy was therefore very confused." (p. 402)
Focuses on the topic at hand (agriculture)
Introduces two perspectives, and two objectives of said policy that contribute to confusion
Society
"There was social alienation and
national, religious and cultural embitterment."
"Yet the Politburo was failing to maintain active support in society, even at previous levels. It therefore sought to intensify the recruitment of Communist Party members." Pg. 410