HSC Ancient History Question Thread

[sudodds]

Hey guys,

How many pages/words do you recommend to write for this section (10 marker and 15 marker)?

Hey! The expectation is that you can write 1000 words (roughly 7-8 pages) in 45 mins. With that, a rough guide (because it can vary) would be 300-400 for the 10 marker, and 700-800 for the 15 marker

Hope this helps!

Susie

[Diala]

Hi! I know this is a bit of a silly question, but when they ask "rise to prominence" is it only everything that leads up to the succession, or would you include their succession?

[sudodds]

Hi! I know this is a bit of a silly question, but when they ask "rise to prominence" is it only everything that leads up to the succession, or would you include their succession?

Not a silly question! Is this for the personality study? If so, "rise to prominence" includes everything under the syllabus dot point - nothing more nothing less

[sl1402]

Hi Susie!
Just another quick question: In terms of the Julio-Claudian section, do we include the Year of the Four Emperors in our responses? Obviously I would include it if it asked to discuss this section specifically or if the essay was 'the impact of Nero's death' etc,  but if it were 'assess the significance of building programs in this period' or 'how did the role of the princeps change' would you include the Year of the Four Emperors?

Hope this isn't too confusing! Thanks! 

[sudodds]

Hi Susie!
Just another quick question: In terms of the Julio-Claudian section, do we include the Year of the Four Emperors in our responses? Obviously I would include it if it asked to discuss this section specifically or if the essay was 'the impact of Nero's death' etc,  but if it were 'assess the significance of building programs in this period' or 'how did the role of the princeps change' would you include the Year of the Four Emperors?

Hope this isn't too confusing! Thanks! 

I get what you mean don't worry! Personally I never included the Year of the Four Emperors in those types of quetsions, I just stuck with Tiberius, Gaius, Claudius and Nero

[beatroot]

Hi,
For the Historical Periods section of the paper, I've noticed that in past HSC papers, question A asks about the first half of the historical period that you're studying (ie; for me [I'm studying the Greek World 500-440BC] the question is always about the Persian Wars) and in question B, it asks about the second half of the historical period (for my topic, the question is always about the development of Athenian Democracy). I understand the Persian wars more than the development of Athenian democracy. So would it be better for me to just focus on studying on the Persian wars or study both topics just in case?? Thank you

[sudodds]

Hi,
For the Historical Periods section of the paper, I've noticed that in past HSC papers, question A asks about the first half of the historical period that you're studying (ie; for me [I'm studying the Greek World 500-440BC] the question is always about the Persian Wars) and in question B, it asks about the second half of the historical period (for my topic, the question is always about the development of Athenian Democracy). I understand the Persian wars more than the development of Athenian democracy. So would it be better for me to just focus on studying on the Persian wars or study both topics just in case?? Thank you

In my opinion, you'd be taking a bit of a risk only studying the Persian Wars. Though the two questions are often from different areas of the syllabus to provide greater scope, there is nothing to say that they HAVE to do that. Plus, even if they did do that, what if, even though you understand the Persian Wars better, you get a question that is completely left field, and you don't know how to answer? Always safer to just study everything, and it'll put your mind at ease

Susie

[katie,rinos]

Hey Susie,
With your detail tables did you do one for each dot point for Pompeii, Sparta, Julio Claudians and Agrippina? Also, how much archeological evidence and ancient/modern quotes did you try to put in the tables? How many pages were the tables?
Also, how many past papers did you do for Ancient before the trials? Did you do full papers, or just essays? How did you motivate yourself to do this, because at the moment I haven't been able to write a lot of essays?
Thanks

[sudodds]

Hey Susie,
With your detail tables did you do one for each dot point for Pompeii, Sparta, Julio Claudians and Agrippina? Also, how much archeological evidence and ancient/modern quotes did you try to put in the tables? How many pages were the tables?
Also, how many past papers did you do for Ancient before the trials? Did you do full papers, or just essays? How did you motivate yourself to do this, because at the moment I haven't been able to write a lot of essays?
Thanks

Hey Katie! Sorry I missed this question earlier - yes, one for each and every dot point! It varied dot point to dot point, but I tried to get as much as I could, so usually three for each minimum (that was the aim anyway). They ended up being roughly 8-10 pages per topic

Unlike Modern, where I focused my attention on writing full essays, as I found Ancient to be a lot more varied of a subject in terms of what they could ask, I mainly did essay plans, however I did do a lot of past papers as well - for Trials I think I did three full papers, however they weren't necessarily under timed conditions! So I might do an essay here, an extended response there - but it all totalled to 3 papers completed. For me, I think the motivation came from the fact that I genuinely enjoyed the subject, and found the content interesting, however setting goals for yourself is definitely a great motivator. I gave myself a minimum mark for each section, so like "I don't want to get lower than _____". I'm the type of person that HATES disappointing people and myself, so that really pushed me to work hard

Hope this helps!

Susie

[katie,rinos]

Hey Katie! Sorry I missed this question earlier - yes, one for each and every dot point! It varied dot point to dot point, but I tried to get as much as I could, so usually three for each minimum (that was the aim anyway). They ended up being roughly 8-10 pages per topic

Unlike Modern, where I focused my attention on writing full essays, as I found Ancient to be a lot more varied of a subject in terms of what they could ask, I mainly did essay plans, however I did do a lot of past papers as well - for Trials I think I did three full papers, however they weren't necessarily under timed conditions! So I might do an essay here, an extended response there - but it all totalled to 3 papers completed. For me, I think the motivation came from the fact that I genuinely enjoyed the subject, and found the content interesting, however setting goals for yourself is definitely a great motivator. I gave myself a minimum mark for each section, so like "I don't want to get lower than _____". I'm the type of person that HATES disappointing people and myself, so that really pushed me to work hard
Hope this helps!
Susie

Thanks heaps Susie for all the help! Definitely going to try to do some detail tables, essay plans and past papers.    

[katie,rinos]

Hey Susie,
I'm trying to start doing some detail tables and i'm a bit stuck because there is hardly any archeological evidence for Sparta. How did you find archeological evidence for each dot point? Do you have any suggestions for resources that I can use to find this evidence? I thought I had enough evidence but im realising that I need heaps more! Also did you put evidence in your detail tables that overlapped on syllabus dot points?
Thanks again !!

[sudodds]

Hey Susie,
I'm trying to start doing some detail tables and i'm a bit stuck because there is hardly any archeological evidence for Sparta. How did you find archeological evidence for each dot point? Do you have any suggestions for resources that I can use to find this evidence? I thought I had enough evidence but im realising that I need heaps more! Also did you put evidence in your detail tables that overlapped on syllabus dot points?
Thanks again !!

Hey! Definitely really hard to find archaeological evidence for Sparta, I know I really struggled last year. I tended to use buildings (like the Sanctuary of Artemis Orthia) a lot, as they tend to be the most prominent examples. I also got a tonne through watching Betany Hughes doco on Sparta (highly recommend watching it, not just for the sources, but because it is literally just amazing - like holy grail for Ancient students). Yes I did often have overlapping evidence within my detail! Like I went over during my lecture, I think it is very important to study smarter not harder, so I actually recommend finding one source that relates to multiple dot points, rather than just a tonne of different ones

Hope this helps!

Susie

[sarah.l]

Hi! I'm trying to find quotes / sources that criticize Sara Bisel's creation of 'historical narratives' regarding the victims of Pompeii. Unfortunately I'm having some trouble, does anyone have anything that might be useful?

[sudodds]

Hi! I'm trying to find quotes / sources that criticize Sara Bisel's creation of 'historical narratives' regarding the victims of Pompeii. Unfortunately I'm having some trouble, does anyone have anything that might be useful?

Hey! In terms of sources, you can mention a photograph of a skeleton with golden bangles and rings (often called 'the ring lady') in National Geographic, were those rings were actually from a different find, but were put on the skeleton to make for a more interesting photograph. Another skeleton known as 'The soldier' is also a good example, as she created an elaborate backstory for him (and many other skeletons), based on little to no actual evidence.

I don't have much in the way of quotes I'm afraid - does anyone else have anything they think could help Sarah out?

[12carpim]

Hey!!

I need some help with studying techniques for Ancient in my trials. I don't know how to memorise all the content and sources because there is legit so much stuff to shove into my brain. Any strategies at all would help.

Thank you verry much!!