What would a soviet foreign policy and power struggle combined essay question look like? Would it be asking about how the aims of foreign policy changed during the power struggle or something similar? I haven't thought about that at all and didn't really realise they could draw a question from two sections like that so I should probably get onto that!
Also I've been having some trouble with Part B of the personality section - I cannot seem to push my mark above a 13.5 and I don't really know what else to improve without spending an hour on that section. Our trial question was really straightforward for our personality and I thought I had prepared well but i was given feedback that though i had a clear line of argument and good detail I needed greater overall depth and breadth (not really sure what this means as I covered all the dot points - do i need to just include more information under each??). If anyone has any advice on how to achieve a more sophisticated response (especially in the very limited time given for this section!!) it would really be appreciated. Thanks so much in advance!!
Oh I think you misunderstood what I meant aha - when I said combo, I meant the two questions as a whole. Like one question would be on power struggles, the other would be soviet foreign policy aha. Sorry for the confusion.
HOWEVER.
There is nothing actually stopping them from combining sections, and it is something that my teacher is predicting they may do soon - namely a power struggles essay that spans the entire period, from 1917 to 1941, rather than just the period directly after Lenin's death. If you were to be faced with this question specifically, I'd have a paragraph on early Bolshevik power struggles (Biggest one here would be Civil War, but could also discuss Trotsky's and Lenin's early and tense relationship, and the Provisional Government), the Trotsky v. Stalin power struggle (could also bring in Kamenev, Zinoviev and Bukharin) and then Stalin v. everyone (eg. Purges, show trials, etc. etc.)
In terms of how to improve the personality study, once you get to the 13+/15 marks, it is usually only detail that is the differentiator. When handing in drafts and practice essays, my teacher often would just say 23+ or 13+ rather than give me an exact mark, just because once it gets to that point, according to him, its very much dependant upon who is marking it. That may not be the answer you want aha, but essentially a 15/15 to one marker may be a 13/15 for another, because at that point it is just a) does it have enough detail to warrant the mark, and b) links (ie. can you link factors to each other individually, and can you then link factors to a broader theme?).
Hope this helps!
Susie