HSC Stuff > New South Wales Education Discussion

Susie - Ask a State Ranker (Q+A Closed)

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sudodds:

--- Quote from: Nate311298 on July 29, 2017, 04:29:20 pm ---Hi Susie,
With regards to Drama, how did you go about writing your 2 essays? Did you memorise, have set scenes for memorisation of quotes, do practice quotes, etc?

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Yay a drama question!!! Finally :) I didn't so much have a full memorised essay, as I had memorised scenes :) So I knew what I was going to be talking about in each, it just depended on what the question was focusing on! If you'd like to have a look at how I structured my drama essays, I actually wrote a little guide here :)

--- Quote from: Nate311298 on July 29, 2017, 04:29:20 pm ---Also, regarding Studies Of Religion, which tradition did you write about in the final exam, and had you decided on that prior to the exam itself? Thanks! :)

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I wrote about Christianity, and yes, I did decide prior to the exam. Going to catholic schools all my life, I knew that my understanding of Christianity in practice was a lot stronger, so it made more sense to focus on that for the longer response (particularly as I also found that I had more contemporary examples of say organisations that adhere to environmental ethics, as my school had actively worked with them and stuff like that), and then focus on Islam for the shorter response question, where my in depth knowledge was a little bit more limited :)

sudodds:

--- Quote from: donnamarie on July 29, 2017, 04:34:11 pm ---Hi Suzie

I am overwhelmed with the amount of content for modern history.  I have essay plans for Germany and indochina as well as notes for Speer and ww1. I am nervous about the question for Germany in the trials (this thursday) what is the best way to prepare for this? Also with Part B of Speer my teacher hasnt really gone through how to answer it - do you have any tips on determining what to include?

Thank you

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Hey donna! Don't stress - everyone is in the same boat, I know I felt super overwhelmed last year! Essay plans is a fantastic study method, so I'm not too worried there :D In terms of the best way to prepare, I think writing essay plans/full essays on the different areas of the syllabus is a great idea, along with constructing detail, argument and linking tables (examples of which can be found within this thread, and also in the notes section!). I'd also recommend reading past students responses, and having a look at how they answered questions as well - may give you some ideas as to what to include if you're stuck :) For Part B, unfortunately I studied Leon Trotsky, not Albert Speer, so I personally can't give much advice on what to specifically include for him (however we have a heap load of Speer EXPERTS on the modern history question thread! Highly recommend shooting a post over there if you have any specific questions!), however I can tell you that when it comes to Part B, there are only there types of questions they can ask:

- Overall significance in national and/or international history. (unlikely as this is a bit too easy)
- Product of their time or shaper of events? So Was their significance determined by them, or by circumstance Were they caught up in the atmosphere of the time, or did they help to fuel it? Why were they unique? Could anyone had done what they did?
- Interpretations and Debate - So for Speer you'd want to look at the 'Good Nazi' debate!

So when you are trying to learn the content, try and focus your understanding in relation to these ideas :)

sudodds:

--- Quote from: ca052267 on July 29, 2017, 04:48:50 pm ---Thanks :)

MOd C is literally killing me.

My essay structure is crappy, but I know what I want to say, it's just a matter of writing it down properly.

I can research a theme in a text and explain it in my head but it never sounds as good when i write it down, and then i don't know how to fix it.

Tips anyone?

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Definitely something that a lot of people struggle with! You're not alone :) It really just comes down to practice, and also absorbing other peoples writing as well! Wide reading will help you become a better writer - look at how other people synthesize their ideas on paper, what about their writing makes it easy for you to understand :) A good way to practice is to write it down, literally the way you explain it in your head. Yes it'll be colloquial, yes it'll be a bit messy, but it'll be down on paper. Then look back and what you have written, and sentence by sentence, shift your structure to be more concise and formal! This is something that I did when I was practicing history extension essays!

sudodds:

--- Quote from: sue.ibrahim on July 29, 2017, 04:55:40 pm ---Hi Susie, I was just confused. my teacher says to avoid a narrative in a history essay, however I never understand what she really means

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Hey! Basically what she means is that you're not analysing the significance of the events - more so just explaining what happened, which isn't going to answer the question at hand. However, this is easily fixed don't worry!

The easiest way to avoid writing a narrative is to continually bring it back to the question, and to focus on the significance of the events, rather than the events themselves. Sentences like this "thus it is evident that (your judgement) is supported", or "this further emphasises the significance of (your judgement)". These sentences show that you are analysing rather than just telling us a story, because they are forcing you to have to make a judgement as to whether this event is significant or not.
 
Another suggestion I often give my students who write too narrative is to use a thematic structure. A thematic structure, by nature will prevent you from writing a narrative, as they do not focus on full events, but more so different aspects of many events, and how they contribute to a theme. The themes are political, social, economic (and sometimes strategic/militaristic, cultural and ideological!). So, lets say you are a Russia student writing a Stalinism essay. Rather than having each paragraph go in chronological order detailing what Stalin did, which is very easy to slip into re-tell, you could instead have a paragraph on Stalin's political impact, social impact, economic impact, etc. etc, where you have to make the call as to which events demonstrate which theme :)

My teachers no. 1 tip to tell if you are writing a narrative was this. If you can put "meanwhile" at the beginning of a sentence, and it make sense - you are probably writing too narrative!

Hope this helps,

Susie

sudodds:

--- Quote from: claireollivain on July 29, 2017, 04:57:26 pm ---Hello :)
How do you suggest studying for the 3 hour modern history exams (trials and HSC) ? I'm doing conflict in Indochina, Germany, and Leni Riefenstahl, and don't know how I would be able to remember all my judgements and content.

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Hey Claire! For me, pretty much the only way I studied was writing practice responses! That was pretty much the only way that I studied for ALL of my subjects in fact! For trials, I did 21 practice responses for Modern. Do you need to do that many in order to do well? NO. I went way to far, but that was because I loved the subject and genuinely enjoyed studying it. But whether I titf'ed or not, does not change that fact that I genuinely believe that I learned more in the mini meetings I had with my teacher going over my practice responses, than I ever did in class (and these classes were fantastic by the way!).

When it comes to memorising detail/sources/quotes/etc. - I personally used a detail table! Basically it had all the syllabus dot points down one side, and then a column for miscellaneous detail (eg. stats, terminology, names, etc.) and then a column for quotes (you can actually find mine in the notes section). I also recommend taking a look at this thread! made by jakesilove! Worksheets are a really effective form or study, because they are "active", meaning that your brain has to be switched on, rather than just reading and writing out different stats. When done often, its kinda like muscle memory - you will just know these stats/quotes, without even having to think!


--- Quote from: claireollivain on July 29, 2017, 04:57:26 pm ---Did you use historiography in modern? How important would you say it is?

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Okay so keep in mind I am talking about this only in the context of the HSC exam - schools may have their own rules on this in regards to Trials, and thus it is important that you check.

However - in terms of the HSC - historians quotes are NOT necessary. Are historians/quotes a great addition to a response? YES. Tbh, most band 6 students will be using historians, as it counts as detail, and detail = GOOD! However there is nothing in the marking criteria that says you HAVE to include historiography, and if integrated poorly, it can even be a detriment! A lot of students rely too heavily on the historians, and just end up providing a shopping list of interpretations, which is not analysis. Many others lose precious time in the exam trying to remember that exact quote, when really – not including it won’t even cost you a mark. A marker would much rather see your OWN judgement, than the parroted opinion of historians, thus quotes should only be used to BACK UP your own analysis – not form it. Long story short - quotes are fantastic, as they count as detail, however don't go overboard and limit your own analysis in place of a historians quote.


--- Quote from: claireollivain on July 29, 2017, 04:57:26 pm ---And generally, how did you get ready on the day of an exam, did you look at your notes again? does being stressed or calm help more on the day?

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I actually didn't write any notes for modern, or for any of my subjects! If the exam was in the morning, I would just go over my detail table, doing a look/cover/write/check method to see how many stats/quotes I could remember :) If the exam was in the afternoon, I'd do this, plus read all of my past practice essays that I had written. CALM! Definitely calm. Though many girls at my school didn't like it, I actually loved that my teachers would come down before the exam, and really just joke around with us. Made me feel a lot less on edge :) I'd also watch Epic Rap Battles of History: Russia to sike me up ahaha, because it's modern related, but also absolutely hilarious, which would further calm me down :) For me, I was typically more stressed AFTER the exam than before it! Hearing how everyone answered the question differently to me, that is what stressed me out, and is why I recommend not talking about the exam after it is completed, no matter how tempting it is!

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