Preparing For Revs?

[osgood]

Hi folks,
I'm in Year 10 this year and I'm taking Revolutions as a 3/4 next year.
I've heard that there's a lot of reading material for Revs and much to memorize. It's a subject that I am really hoping to do well in as I absolutely adore history but since it's one of my first 3/4 subjects, I'm very antsy about it.
As the summer holidays approach, I was wondering if anybody could provide some advice on what to expect or things to look out for, some things I can do with all my extra time to prepare so that I am ahead/ at least vaguely familiar with the material before next year rolls by. Some sources of reading material you found helpful/ interesting would be awesome too.

Some may frown but my subject selections are a tad daft in that they have put me in a position where I really feel like I should get started early because the other 3/4 I'm taking (Philosophy, if anyone can provide some head-start reading on that too, that would be swell) is extremely reading heavy as well.
Also, I enjoy reading history so that's always a bonus ^^

Thanks in advance for all that reply. 

[Menang]

Hey osgood!

I see you're from MacRob! Hehehe I did Revs and Philosophy as well, so I can probably help you out there.

Let's start with the good news - Ms McAlpine and Ms Purcell are absolutely, positively the best teachers in the world. So you're in safe hands. Don't worry about doing too much extra reading, they know exactly what they want from you and they know how to get you the marks gradually through the year.

History
Any early reading you do now will just be repeated when you start Term One, but if you'd like to get a headstart, just start browsing through Fenwick and Anderson (which, I think, is now the prescribed textbook?). Familiarise yourself with the three estates and the context of pre-revolutionary France, including things like the Culture of Deference, the state of the Monarchy, and the economic state of France in the 1770-80's.

It might also be worth having a look at the ideas of Rousseau, Voltaire, Montesquieu, etc. Obviously, everything will be covered in class, but these will give you a headstart.

In terms of the actual chronology of events, I'd highly recommend you just wait for term to start and if you're really keen, consistently keep reading ahead one chapter. Both history and philosophy are about consistency, so cramming in the summer honestly won't be all that useful.

Philosophy
Unless they've changed the prescribed text, Ms Purcell will likely give you Aristotle's Nicomachean Ethics for holiday reading during orientation.

For a beginner, that's really quite enough. I personally really struggled through my first philosophy text, especially since it was during the holidays and we didn't get much guidance. Slowly work through it, try to identify the individual arguments and steps of logic he sets out. Work on a paragraph a day, even. Philosophy is slow reading, whereas history is mass reading. Do the holiday homework and that's quite enough.

I'll be uploading my notes for Philosophy once I get back (I'm currently overseas at the moment) and you can have a look at my breakdown of Book 1 arguments. It might help you get going once you know what you're aiming for.

Feel free to PM or reply here if you need any more help!

[osgood]

Phew, your comments make me feel heaps better and they were certainly very helpful! Massive props- *tips hat*
I'll be sure to look out for your Philosophy break down, sounds very neat.
No worries about cramming, I really don't have the tenacity for that kind of thing!

"Philosophy is slow reading, whereas history is mass reading." Haha, I love that.

Thanks very muchly once more, all that detail was much appreciated

[weasleyisourking]

I'll just state the absolute obvious (even so, a lot of my cohort never did anything of the sort) and recommend the act of summarising everything that you read in History - textbooks, handouts, internet research etc.

There is just an absolute insane amount of reading to do in History and there is no way you will be able to remember it all by just reading it alone. Personally, I found using the computer better than hand-written summaries (ie palm cards) because you can add more information as you go along and it isn't as messy.

ie.
For AOS 1, you study Leaders, Movements, Ideas and Events. Get a Word going page for each of these areas and create tables in which you can organise the information. For example my Events page was organised with the simple format of:

Event:
Date:
What:
Why: (Cause)
Who:
Result (Effect):
Significance:
Historian's Quotes:

Which I filled with lots of information on every event in AoS 1 France (so you will be looking at things like the 1781 Compte Rendu through to the August Decrees of the 4 Aug 1789).

Its very simple but I found it effective.

Also, repetition is key in History - especially in memorising dates. Whenever you are doing homework questions (we didn't use Fenwick and Anderson in my school but I assume it will still apply to you) make sure that whenever you mention an event in a paragraph write its date in brackets beside it. It sounds like the worst piece of advice but honestly if you engrain information like this into your memory on a consistent basis you will be much better off in the long run.

History Revs is both delicious and terrifying. I too adored it but it is a lot of hard work. Make the most of the advantage you have by doing it in Yr 11, the Yr 12's will not be able to dedicate as much time to it as you can, you have the upper hand so use it as best as you can!

Here's a little light-hearted introduction to what you will be studying:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BvSod16wfgg


And a little denser (but this guy, Sal Khan is a bloody fantastic genius VCE God that is a great resource for a lot of subjects)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BDWqwcTtZa0


And for the (historically dramatised and inaccurate) lulz:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=otnADq4Y0-A&feature=related

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qemOK1Kcw1M&feature=related


Good luck!

[osgood]

Thankyou so much for your reply, I will most definitely be heeding your advice- those tables sound like a handy way to really consolidate info.
Especial thanks for going out of your way to give such a detailed reply, your experience is deserving of trust!

[History_buff]

Everything weasleyisourking and menang said is pretty much what I would recommend.
However I'd also recommend starting to look at historian's view by reading some novels. Christopher Hibbert's Days of the French Revolution in particular I found helpful. It's written in more of a narrative style which makes it easy to read but doesn't cut out the details and truth you want and need. This will give you a head start on what you will need for your SACs

Also, (whether you do this when you start back at school or start prepping in the holidays) my teacher stressed to us this year that it would be a good idea to have three separate note books for each revolution you study - a quote book, a notes book and a summary book. Having these separate books makes it a lot easier to study and whatnot, especially the summary book