HSC Modern History Question Thread

[sudodds]

Hey guys, just a quick question about the Turning Points in the War in the Pacific. If the question is asking to what extent Midway was the main turning point, how long should I take discussing Midway and how long on why the other battles were important. Also what would your thesis be as while Midway was important, it would not have happened without Coral Sea and Guadalcanal was also important ie. bigger losses for Japanese, so which would I argue had the greatest impact?
Thanks!

Hey! So heads up I didn't study this option - however what you are talking about writing here is a differentiated essay, which is what I would totally recommend for a question structured like this! In terms of how much you want to be focusing on the stem, I'd say one, decently sized paragraph (ie. larger than the other factors) that comes directly after your introduction The way that I believe you'd want to structure your judgement here is: "The Midway was a highly critical turning point, however it was not the main factor, as it's significance was dependant upon other factors such as the Coral Sea and Guadalcanal."

Hope this helps!

Susie

[dancing phalanges]

Hey! So heads up I didn't study this option - however what you are talking about writing here is a differentiated essay, which is what I would totally recommend for a question structured like this! In terms of how much you want to be focusing on the stem, I'd say one, decently sized paragraph (ie. larger than the other factors) that comes directly after your introduction The way that I believe you'd want to structure your judgement here is: "The Midway was a highly critical turning point, however it was not the main factor, as it's significance was dependant upon other factors such as the Coral Sea and Guadalcanal."

Hope this helps!

Susie

Thanks so much! Just helpful to know that I am somewhat on the right path!

[dancing phalanges]

Hey! So heads up I didn't study this option - however what you are talking about writing here is a differentiated essay, which is what I would totally recommend for a question structured like this! In terms of how much you want to be focusing on the stem, I'd say one, decently sized paragraph (ie. larger than the other factors) that comes directly after your introduction The way that I believe you'd want to structure your judgement here is: "The Midway was a highly critical turning point, however it was not the main factor, as it's significance was dependant upon other factors such as the Coral Sea and Guadalcanal."

Hope this helps!

Susie

Just quickly, if I state in my thesis that Midway was highly critical yet not the main turning point because it was dependant on other factors, will I still need to provide an answer still as to which one was the main turning point, ie. if the other battles were then since Midway wasn't?

[Never.Give.Up]

Hey Never.Give.Up!

Can't offer you specific content advice, as I didn't study Leni, however might be able to help a bit with structure! What I would recommend is working out three of the most significant events in the life of Leni, and assessing to what extent each even demonstrates that she was either a Nazi Sympathiser or an artist, asserting one view consistently throughout the essay as the stronger and more valid interpretation. So each paragraph is on a different event or issue! For what I have heard said before, I'd say you'd want to focus on some of her key films and her relationship with Hitler!

Hope this helps Hopefully another awesome soul who studied Leni will be able to give you some more specific advice

Susie

Thanks very much Susie!
Definitely helps

[jakesilove]

Just quickly, if I state in my thesis that Midway was highly critical yet not the main turning point because it was dependant on other factors, will I still need to provide an answer still as to which one was the main turning point, ie. if the other battles were then since Midway wasn't?

Absolutely! As long as you spend a decent bulk of the essay discussing the specific event, you'll have a potentially great response.

[sudodds]

Just quickly, if I state in my thesis that Midway was highly critical yet not the main turning point because it was dependant on other factors, will I still need to provide an answer still as to which one was the main turning point, ie. if the other battles were then since Midway wasn't?

When I received questions like this, I often would make the argument that there wasn't a "most critical factor" as all were interrelated, and thus their significance cannot be detached from one another It's up to you, and what you believe is true based upon your study of the content

[dancing phalanges]

Just a question for past HSCers. When it came to trials, were the essay questions spread out from the syllabus ie. they pick one from the first couple of dot points and one from the last two or completely random? Just worried because for Pacific war we havent started the last syllabus dot points yet in class.

[sudodds]

Just a question for past HSCers. When it came to trials, were the essay questions spread out from the syllabus ie. they pick one from the first couple of dot points and one from the last two or completely random? Just worried because for Pacific war we havent started the last syllabus dot points yet in class.

Hey! If by spread out you mean that they do make sure that the questions relate to two different dot point sections and not the same one? Yes. I've never seen, say, two Stalinism questions for Russia in an exam - they'd do Stalinism AND another dot point. However what the other dot point is, IS random -
 you can assess patterns, but at the end of the day there is no way for a Russia student to know for sure which out of the four sections of the syllabus the questions will be derived from, and that is the same for all case studies. That being said, if you haven't gone through it in class - it won't be on your exam. As trials exams are internally marked, even if a school is buying the paper from say the CSSA, they are still able to change and manipulate questions, to suit their cohort

[fantasticbeasts3]

hiii modern friends! just a multiple choice question that's popped up in a past paper and i've totally confused myself...

(source attached)

Question:
2. Since 8th August 1918, what was the greatest change experienced by Allied soldiers?
A) The taking of territory
B) The boost in their morale
C) The realisation that victory would be a lengthy process
D) The desire to eliminate Germany from the map of Europe

[mixel]

hiii modern friends! just a multiple choice question that's popped up in a past paper and i've totally confused myself...

(source attached)

Question:
2. Since 8th August 1918, what was the greatest change experienced by Allied soldiers?
A) The taking of territory
B) The boost in their morale
C) The realisation that victory would be a lengthy process
D) The desire to eliminate Germany from the map of Europe

Hmm I'd say B from process of elimination. My reasoning is that C isn't mentioned and D is mentioned in the last sentence but in a different context than what the question is asking. A appears to be a distractor, but if you read the fine print in the first sentence of the second paragraph, it says that "the change has been greater in the minds of men than in the taking of territory", therefore B would be correct 

[dancing phalanges]

Hey! If by spread out you mean that they do make sure that the questions relate to two different dot point sections and not the same one? Yes. I've never seen, say, two Stalinism questions for Russia in an exam - they'd do Stalinism AND another dot point. However what the other dot point is, IS random -
 you can assess patterns, but at the end of the day there is no way for a Russia student to know for sure which out of the four sections of the syllabus the questions will be derived from, and that is the same for all case studies. That being said, if you haven't gone through it in class - it won't be on your exam. As trials exams are internally marked, even if a school is buying the paper from say the CSSA, they are still able to change and manipulate questions, to suit their cohort

Okay great thank you, I've just done 2 essay plans for dot points we haven't covered yet. We will cover them before trials though so I guess it's better to be prepared haha

[sudodds]

Okay great thank you, I've just done 2 essay plans for dot points we haven't covered yet. We will cover them before trials though so I guess it's better to be prepared haha

Hey you'll have to know them at some point! Never any harm in getting a bit of a head start

[dancing phalanges]

Hey, I'm going through some past paper essays and one question is on: Assess the impact of strategies used by the Japanese and the Allies in the Pacific from 1937-1951 (2008). Just wondering if anyone could indicate where this has come from the current syllabus/whether the syllabus changed since 2008.
These are the current syllabus dot points.
Students learn about:
1    Growth of Pacific tensions
–    economic and political issues in the Pacific by 1937
–    Japanese foreign policy 1937–1941
–    US and British policies in the Pacific 1937–1941
–    strategic and political reasons for bombing Pearl Harbour
2    Course of the Pacific War
–    Japanese advance 1941–1942 and the impact of the fall of the Philippines, Singapore,
Burma and the Dutch East Indies
–    turning points in the war: Battle of the Coral Sea, Battle of Midway, Battle of

Guadalcanal, New Guinea

–    strategies used by Allied forces against Japan 1942–1945
3    Civilians at war
–    social, political and economic effects on civilians in occupied territories in
South-East Asia

–    life under Occupation: collaboration and resistance, the use of slave labour
–    the effect of the war on the home fronts in Japan and Australia
4    End of the conflict
–    reasons for the use of the A-bomb and the subsequent controversy over its use
–    reasons for the Japanese defeat
–    War Crimes Tribunals and the status of the Emperor
–    Allied Occupation of Japan to 1951

I just can't see where they've taken it from.
Thank you

[JeffChiang]

Hey, I'm going through some past paper essays and one question is on: Assess the impact of strategies used by the Japanese and the Allies in the Pacific from 1937-1951 (2008). Just wondering if anyone could indicate where this has come from the current syllabus/whether the syllabus changed since 2008.

Hi, you can check http://www.boardofstudies.nsw.edu.au/syllabus_hsc/modern-history.html and see that the syllabus was changed for the 2010 HSC so yeah, your question does not match the syllabus dot points. However, the question does seem to tie in with strategies used by Allied forces against Japan 1942–1945 but don't quote me on that because I don't do the Pacific.

[dancing phalanges]

Hi, you can check http://www.boardofstudies.nsw.edu.au/syllabus_hsc/modern-history.html and see that the syllabus was changed for the 2010 HSC so yeah, your question does not match the syllabus dot points. However, the question does seem to tie in with strategies used by Allied forces against Japan 1942–1945 but don't quote me on that because I don't do the Pacific.

Thanks heaps man! I have notes on that but wasn't sure where the 37-51 came from! massive relief cheers!