Doing well in Global Politics:
Under Construction: didn’t have a lot of time so I did a very quick write up.
***I’ll also be selling practice exams for the new study design*** (I did the same for the old study design, you’d be surprised at how accurate they were, that being said I gave them away for free).
Changes to the study design, and what it means for you
As a part of the new exam structure, the international studies exam places greater emphasis on short answers. Short answer questions now make up 75% of the exam, as opposed to the previous 60%. This coupled with the removal of 10 mark questions is going to leave very little margin for error, as such, I thought I’d give a few little tips in tackling these short answers.
Short Answers:
In the global politics exam the mark allocation for short answers varies, the current study design places a great emphasis on “one to two mark questions” and “six mark questions”. The one mark questions are considered ‘freebie’s’, they require a very basic answer.
For example: “One Stated Goal of the IMF”
Answer: Reducing Poverty
It’s imperative that time isn’t wasted over answering one mark questions, these questions are designed to enable students to “make up time”. By this, I mean, complete them in under the 30 seconds that the marking allocation would suggest you spend on them, in doing so you allow yourself more time to answer the questions with greater mark allocations.
Answering six mark questions is going to require a slightly different approach, and the technique will vary depending on the question.
For Example: “Outline two goals actively being pursued by a state in the Asian Pacific and the extent to which it’s been achieved” (6 marks)
Answer: In this question, you’re going to want to have two quasi contentions despite it only being a six mark question; you’re also going to want TWO DISTINCT paragraphs. This will make it easier for the assessor to give you marks. You’re also going to want to be smart about which two goals you chose, ideally chose two goals which enable thorough discussion and proper evaluation. For instance, if China was my case study, I might choose “territorial integrity” and “improved international standing”. My contention might go something like this; “China has been successful in superficially preserving its territorial with Tibet and the Uyghur province, this being said, Taiwan which it sees as an ‘inalienable, inseparable’ region of the POC is acting autonomously evidently to the detriment of this national interest’. I would then go on to defend this premise with two sentences which would be purely factual. I’d then start another paragraph and rinse and repeat.
Now, to get those six marks, you will need one final sentence which serves as the icing on the cake. In longer questions, you always want to conclude with a sophisticated sentence which proves you don’t have a superficial understanding of the course. In this case you might want to comment on how the achievement of these two goals has affected China’s other national interests. In doing so, you show the examiner that you understand that the success/failure of a state is beyond one or two goals and that all states should seek to achieve all their national interests simultaneously.
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