How would you plan an essay for: Assess the impact of the use of violence on the development of Irish nationalism in the period 18800-1921.

When answering any question in history, you should first question the question. Are there any terms that need to be defined more clearly, or does the question impose a false dichotomy? In my experience, if your initial response to the question is confusion, the question is likely to blame. In this instance, the question is pretty straight-forward. But, the question assumes the existence of just one strand of Irish nationalism - it should be acknowledged that Irish nationalism was not one coherent movement and consequently did not develop in a cohesive manner. It consisted of both revolutionary and constitutional strands of nationalism, that varied in their approaches and in their relative intensities throughout this period. Cultural nationalism can even be considered a different strand of Irish nationalism, with close ties to both the revolutionary and constitutional strands. Without discerning these different, often conflicting movements, the question cannot be thoroughly answered.
Establishing essay structure is always difficult - there are multiple routes one can take to answer the question. For A level, the usual structure is into, para 1, para 2, para 3, conc. A chronological approach is rarely a good idea - essays should instead be structured thematically, with an awareness of chronology within the paragraphs to ensure a logical flow of argument. In this case, you could either:a) Answer the question analysing the impact of the use of violence on different strands of nationalism, such as the impact of violence on revolutionary, constitutional and cultural strands of nationalism. b) Take the question to mean, 'What was the impact of the use of violence on the development of Irish nationalism relative to other factors?'. Would recommend the latter approach - reduces chance of cross over and allows for explicit comparison between different factors that can impress markers the most. EG. factors such as the Great Famine, and the actions of the British government both had a heavy impact on the development of Irish nationalism. Which was most important?