Modern History Essay Guide (3 Viewers)

[enoilgam]

Hey mate, great guide. What HSC mark did you achieve in Modern History last year?

I got 92.

 

[LachyLane]

Thanks for the reply. Now, for the quotes. My modern teacher told us to neglect quotes, historians and historiograpy and focus more on content and its analysis. However here i see most students actually pay a lot of attention to historians and their thoughts. So do i have to incorporate quotes in my responses if i want to get a high mark? Im aiming for a band 5 at least.

In short: QUALITY not QUANTITY!!!!!

 

[connie94]

WOW! cheers for this! gotta love modern

 

[Aceitachi]

[QUOTE.The recommended limit is 1000 words (8 pages). Going off the marks allocated, you should spend 400 words on A and 600 on B.

8 pages is alot bro, i could probably do like 2 max 4ish, im not much of a bs artist that keeps writing thing, i cramp up the facts in little detail which i cant expand because i will go out of the topic :O, can u tell me strategies that can get u up to 8 pages?

 

[enoilgam]

[QUOTE.The recommended limit is 1000 words (8 pages). Going off the marks allocated, you should spend 400 words on A and 600 on B.

8 pages is alot bro, i could probably do like 2 max 4ish, im not much of a bs artist that keeps writing thing, i cramp up the facts in little detail which i cant expand because i will go out of the topic :O, can u tell me strategies that can get u up to 8 pages?

With modern, you need to build on your facts with analysis - as the analysis usually makes up the majority of your essay. Also, structuring your answer will help you create a longer response, as it allows you to better build on certain ideas as opposed to just regurgitating information and fact in a single heap on the page.

I can see by your sig that you have just started year 11, so the prospect of writing 8 page essays in an exam seems daunting. However, given your subject mix, your writing skills will probably improve heaps over the next 2 years, which will allow you to expand how much you can write for a response.

 

[shi0822]

nice!

 

[cem]

Remember that the subject is hiSTORY = there is a story to be told and then analsyed. A lot of poorer responses from bright kids concentrate on historiography but don't bother telling the story e.g. can name all the historians who wrote about Germany between the wars and can rattle of pages of quotes from them but don't actually tell what happened and therefore what these historians are writing about.

If you get a question on the rise of the Nazis from 1929 - 1933 - it is a good idea to tell what happened in that time and analyse as you go e.g. the fall of the Papen government = tell the story and then what the historians say about that event and then link it to the next event.

 

[Turra]

Remember that the subject is hiSTORY = there is a story to be told and then analsyed. A lot of poorer responses from bright kids concentrate on historiography but don't bother telling the story e.g. can name all the historians who wrote about Germany between the wars and can rattle of pages of quotes from them but don't actually tell what happened and therefore what these historians are writing about.

If you get a question on the rise of the Nazis from 1929 - 1933 - it is a good idea to tell what happened in that time and analyse as you go e.g. the fall of the Papen government = tell the story and then what the historians say about that event and then link it to the next event.

My teacher says that historiography is no longer in the marking criteria for national study. Is this true? Don't need to mention at all?

 

[enoilgam]

My teacher says that historiography is no longer in the marking criteria for national study. Is this true? Don't need to mention at all?

Whilst its not expressely mentioned, I think some references to historians and their views is still required - however, I am not 100% sure. I think I will defer to cem for a more decisive answer.

 

[D94]

My teacher says that historiography is no longer in the marking criteria for national study. Is this true? Don't need to mention at all?

I don't understand why you would not include it. Anyway, the rubrics (since 2010) are:

- demonstrate historical knowledge and understanding relevant to the question
- communicate ideas and information using historical terms and concepts appropriately
- present a sustained, logical and cohesive response

so I would say the first one infers historiography as historiography includes historical understanding.

 

[cem]

Historiography is implied throughout the Modern History rubric. It is possible to get full marks without specifiying historians but you would be giving different interpretations and so building your argument on knowledge of different theories as well as what happened.

Take my earlier example of analyse the reasons for the rise of the Nazi between 1929 and 1933 - one student might tell the story - this happened and this happened and this happened and do nothing more - now they have shown historical knowledge etc but they haven't addressed the 'analyse' part of the question so could get 12/25. The next student does the above but then adds quotes from three or four historians that doesn't do anything to add to the question - still 12/25. The third student brings interpretations such as 'after xxxx happened the situation in Germany changed because yyyyyy'. This is getting into a much stronger response because there are reasons being given - so getting to a 15/25 response. Now Student 4 says 'after xxxx happened the situation in Germany changed because yyyyyy' but adds 'another reason why Germany changed was zzzz'. Now we have a student showing different interpretations but not naming the historians - this could go to 25/25 depending on how well it is argued. Of course naming the historians could also get to 25/25.

The biggest mistake I see are students who simply quote historians without using them - they quote them to tell the story and think that that it what is needed. If what you want to say is the same thing in every book there is no reason to quote someone.

You need to know the general arugment of the historians.

 

[Charlotte00]

Thank you so much! This is really helpful!

 

[Green Pup]

Excellent. Got my 20/20 for my recent essay using this

 

[enoilgam]

Excellent. Got my 20/20 for my recent essay using this

Congratz - glad to see that my guide helped.

 

[gloria123]

@enoilgam
THANK YOU SO MUCH THIS HELPS ALOT :<<< me happy

 

[johnsmith2000]

How many body paragraphs would you recommend? I wrote 3 body paragraphs for my trails (1 for each point of argument) and each paragraph generally took up 1-2 pages, and my teacher wrote that I should reduce paragraph length

 

[Hila]

Thank you so much!

 

[enoilgam]

How many body paragraphs would you recommend? I wrote 3 body paragraphs for my trails (1 for each point of argument) and each paragraph generally took up 1-2 pages, and my teacher wrote that I should reduce paragraph length

For an exam essay 5 or 6 paragraphs is roughly what you should be aiming for (intro, conclusion plus 3 or 4 points). Generally speaking, there are no hard and fast rules with paragraph length, but I would say you shouldnt be writing a paragraph longer than 300-350 words in your response.

 

[medicore]

Quick question, would this guide apply to Ancient History aswell?

 

[enoilgam]

Quick question, would this guide apply to Ancient History aswell?

Yes, definitely. Most of this guide can be used for humanities subjects, as the vast majority of humanities essays utilise similar principles to a modern essay.