Year 12s: what will be the first way you research your future options? >>

WJEC History HI2

Hi.

I'm doing Period Study 3 (Aspects of the History of Wales and England, c. 1815-1914) module HI2 (which incorporates Disraelian Conservatism, Gladstonian Liberalism and protest movements and the growth of radicalism in Wales though I've only been taught the first two and only intend on revising the first one).

I have very little problem with the factual details but I just cannot "get" the essay structure at all. It's quite frustrating because I think I have the potential to do well but I fear my grade will be severely limited by my inability to write according to the structure.

I was wondering if anyone else was doing, or has done, HI2 (regardless of which topic) and could share some much needed advice in respect to writing the essay in the format the exam board requires! It would be wonderful if anyone had an example of an essay in which they achieved high marks. I need to work on "weaving" the attribution into the body more and referring to sources which the author of the source might have used but I just don't. get. how. to. do. that. It's really unnatural for me and it worries me quite a bit.

I really need some guidance in respect to the structure. My teacher's given us some examples already but they're of a high B/low A standard, which is where I think I'm at right now and I want to improve upon it.

Thanks in advance.

Please help me! :biggrin:

Good luck to anyone doing exams this month!

-- Charlotte

Reply 1

deeyou

I'm studying for Disraelian Convervatism and i think i have the exam technique down for that particular exam. I've done 4 essays as practise and they've all been graded as high As.

This is the plan i stick to concerning the attribution.

Intro - introduce the key theme of the essay and the question you're going to answer.

Next paragraph - Discuss the attribution. Include how much insight the author has and the range of sources (eg. a modern-day historian has the benefit of hindsight and can pull sources from a variety of places like newspapers, books etc.) You shouldn't dicuss or use the word 'reliability', only the strengths and limitations should be mentioned.

Following paragraphs - Structure your essay in the normal way and then at the end (or near to the end) of each paragraph, discuss the relation of your points to the view of the attribution. For example, "these points support/validate the view of [blank] as they show that [blank]."

Conclusion - Give a clear response to the attribution, whether it is valid, not valid or valid to an extent. Provide an outline of the reasons why you believe this is so and try to end with a direct quote from the source.

I've been using this and it has never steered me wrong :smile: