OCR A-level History Unit 3: Y301-Y321 - 21 May 2019 [Exam Discussion]

OP

Revision Tips

thehistoryboreExams are coming up, and I don't know about you but that gives me heart palpitations; but if you're not bricking it, you're not prepared enough! I've seen a handful of exam seasons in my time and I've tried and tested a few methods of revising for History exams. So let me share what's worked for me.

METHOD A; REVISIONCEPTION

Think of the film Inception; it's a dream within a dream within a dream etc. Think of this method as notes within notes within notes etc. Here's how you do it;

- Use textbooks to compile a complete revision guide. You shouldn't simply copy out texts; engage your brain and treat it as a comprehension task and make clear notes, you'll get more out of it that way! Divide the book into chapters based on the topic that they focus on. The notes should be fairly detailed.
- Then, write a more condensed version of these notes based along the same technique; effectively, cut out words to leave the bare information.
- Repeat until you have two or three pages worth of notes for your whole course/module. You can read them the morning of the exam and it should all come flowing back to you. It did for me!

METHOD B; THE READER

You definitely have to be a 'visual learner' for this, so it may not work for all of you. Nevertheless, you should all aim to read at least one book outside your textbook, particularly for A-Level. It'll help develop your understanding of topics enormously.

Effectively; find a book that covers most of your course (there's literally millions of history books out there covering all sorts of things, so there's no excuses saying that there's no book for your course). Then close read it - no skimming. Simple and effective.

If you're doing a degree, you obviously need to read more than one book!

METHOD C; MIND MAPPING

Not something I do extensively, but it helps an awful lot of people and thus is more than worthy of mention.

Make beautiful and colourful mind maps (the more simple they are the better; don't make a wall of text. Each end of a brand should have no more than five or six words on them) on each topic and pin them up directly above your bed; make them the first thing you see in the morning, and the last thing you see in the evening. Revision owns you now. Don't forget it.

METHOD D; INTERACTIVE REVISION

Ever heard of Prezi? No? Well you should do. It's like a more exciting version of PowerPoint, and the more exciting something is the better you will remember it.

Make yourself presentations on topics and then flick through them! It's a quick and simple way to make them.

A friend of mine was a bit of a wizard when it came to video production; he used to make these excellent revision videos (which he gave to my school, rather than making them open source on YouTube, so unfortunately I cannot share them). So if that's your thing, get creative!

undercxver
Condensing Content/Speeding up revision:

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Summarise the content of each module on one sheet of paper and memorise this

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Condense events into 3 bullet points (linking with the point above)

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Make a list of significant events and their dates and highlight each one you manage to remember

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Do every single past paper question

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Plan your essays with bullet points within a minute

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Time yourself when doing essays

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Practice writing really fast

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If you're struggling with content then go through a revision book.

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If teachers tell you some sort of prediction I suggest you don't go by it and revise everything!

Source Questions:

You need to consider the following things:

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Purpose: What's the purpose of the source? (e.g. to inform, to describe etc.)

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Author: Who's the author of the source? Does this make them biased in any way?

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Nature: What type of source is it? (e.g. book, report, article etc.)

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Date: When was it published? Does the date have any significance? Is it outdated?

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Audience: Who was the audience? How did it impact them? [this one isn't neccessary]

General questions to ask yourself:

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How useful is the source?

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Did the author/writer omit anything?

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Is there any bias? -Why is there bias? How is it neutral?

Reply 2

OP

Click here to tell us what topic you're doing, and see the list here for who else is doing your topic.

Reply 3

Hi, I will be sitting the OCR civil rights exam soon & was wondering if you could tell me how you would structure your essays for the 25 marker as I'm really struggling with it & was wondering if you had any example essays or essay plans for the depth study &/or themes? Thank you.

Reply 4

JT_888

20

Original post by anonoymous1234

Hi, I will be sitting the OCR civil rights exam soon & was wondering if you could tell me how you would structure your essays for the 25 marker as I'm really struggling with it & was wondering if you had any example essays or essay plans for the depth study &/or themes? Thank you.

@04MR17 FYI as you did Civil Rights.

Reply 5

Sinnoh

Original post by anonoymous1234

Hi, I will be sitting the OCR civil rights exam soon & was wondering if you could tell me how you would structure your essays for the 25 marker as I'm really struggling with it & was wondering if you had any example essays or essay plans for the depth study &/or themes? Thank you.

My area of expertise. These are my best essays.
It's a thematic study, so your essay should cover different themes. Here's my teacher's rule of thumb that has worked perfectly for years now:

African Americans:
-social rights (stuff like segregation, lynchings)
-economic rights/ economic position
-political rights

Native Americans:
-political rights (includes their land)
-economic rights
-cultural rights

Women:
Political rights
Economic rights (things like equal pay and job opportunities)
Social rights incl rights over their body

Trade unions:
Right to exit/workers to join
Right to strike (yes, it's different to the right to join. Take federal employees for instance, they can unionise but not strike)
General labour rights, like pay and conditions.

If it's a turning point question, it's vital that you evaluate the extent to which it was a turning point, and take a look at potential alternative turning points. So always look for the limitations of major developments.

Reply 6

OP

Original post by anonoymous1234

Hi, I will be sitting the OCR civil rights exam soon & was wondering if you could tell me how you would structure your essays for the 25 marker as I'm really struggling with it & was wondering if you had any example essays or essay plans for the depth study &/or themes? Thank you.

What in particular are you struggling with? :smile:

This guide may prove of some use when it comes to writing essays.
https://www.thestudentroom.co.uk/showthread.php?t=4005981

Have a look at the generic mark scheme too. :yes:

Reply 7

thanks & I struggle with making comparisons across the entire period 1865-1992 (I can do them for certain factors but not all factors)

Original post by 04MR17

What in particular are you struggling with? :smile:

This guide may prove of some use when it comes to writing essays.
https://www.thestudentroom.co.uk/showthread.php?t=4005981

Have a look at the generic mark scheme too. :yes:

Submit reply

Reply 8

OP

Original post by anonoymous1234

thanks & I struggle with making comparisons across the entire period 1865-1992 (I can do them for certain factors but not all factors)

Submit reply

Okay, which factors do you struggle with? :smile:

Sometimes an easy one to go for is the actions of presidents, or of Washington D.C. as a whole.

Comparing the leadership of movements is often an interesting one too.

Reply 9

Sinnoh

Original post by anonoymous1234

thanks & I struggle with making comparisons across the entire period 1865-1992 (I can do them for certain factors but not all factors)
Submit reply

Well if there isn't much to talk about regarding change in one period, you can mention that too, to contrast it with turning points.

Reply 10

thank you! I don't suppose you have an example essay to look at?

Original post by Sinnoh

My area of expertise. These are my best essays.
It's a thematic study, so your essay should cover different themes. Here's my teacher's rule of thumb that has worked perfectly for years now:

African Americans:
-social rights (stuff like segregation, lynchings)
-economic rights/ economic position
-political rights

Native Americans:
-political rights (includes their land)
-economic rights
-cultural rights

Women:
Political rights
Economic rights (things like equal pay and job opportunities)
Social rights incl rights over their body

Trade unions:
Right to exit/workers to join
Right to strike (yes, it's different to the right to join. Take federal employees for instance, they can unionise but not strike)
General labour rights, like pay and conditions.

If it's a turning point question, it's vital that you evaluate the extent to which it was a turning point, and take a look at potential alternative turning points. So always look for the limitations of major developments.

Reply 11

ICWTAAO

9

i dont suppose ANYONE is doing german nationalism ???

Reply 12

krisiasenovax

11

is anyone doing russia and its rulers 1855-1964??

Reply 13

the 21st may is when we have our exam for 2019?

Reply 14

JT_888

20

Original post by anonoymous1234

the 21st may is when we have our exam for 2019?

Yes, that’s correct. It’s Unit 3/Paper 3 first for some weird reason.

Reply 15

cgj300399