General A level History help (OLD SPEC)
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Original post by Prikstera
80% AS, 90% A2
What about with coursework as Unit 3/4 however for A2? Is coursework included in the calculations?
What about with coursework as Unit 3/4 however for A2? Is coursework included in the calculations?
Original post by Stricof
What topic?
Superpower Relations - Cold War 1945-1990. I'm mostly worried about the essay/source technique rather than the factual content tho! if you could help in any way no matter how small, I'd be over the moon!
Original post by Stricof
Okay, I decided to write a mini guide for those of you studying A level History and in particular, the Edexcel examination board for History
I've written this in mind of my own experiences and the other posts I've helped with.
You don't have to follow this. In fact there are many other ways of achieving your full potential.
You may contribute if you wish.
Good luck
Quick link
General
- How to Revise + Exam Technique
- UMS scoring chart/grades
- Exam Resources
Subject specific
- Help on Russia Essay questions
Edexcel
- How long is each paper (and what does it consist of?)
- Recommended Unit 1 books
- Unit 2 technique (specific)
- Unit 2 examplar answer
- Unit 3 technique (specific)
- Historical Assignment (unit 4)
I've written this in mind of my own experiences and the other posts I've helped with.
You don't have to follow this. In fact there are many other ways of achieving your full potential.
You may contribute if you wish.
Good luck
Quick link
General
- How to Revise + Exam Technique
- UMS scoring chart/grades
- Exam Resources
Subject specific
- Help on Russia Essay questions
Edexcel
- How long is each paper (and what does it consist of?)
- Recommended Unit 1 books
- Unit 2 technique (specific)
- Unit 2 examplar answer
- Unit 3 technique (specific)
- Historical Assignment (unit 4)
Thanks so much!!!
thank you so much, you are literally a lifesaver! 
Is anyone doing the Anglo-Irish exam on thursday ? Any help/advice would be much appreciated.
Original post by Stricof
Help on Russia Essay questions
The way OCR want you to answer these question to achieve any respectable mark is thematically. The standard three themes that I use for these questions are Economy Society and Politically. Look at the main wars of the period and split the change they brought to Russia.
Crimean war
Social change = emancipation of the Serfs
Political = shows the weakness of the Russia army
1905 revolution (Russo-Japanese war 1904-5)
Social change = October manifesto
Political change = Duma, first time political parties were legal in Russia (stopped in 1921), shows the weakness of the Russia army
First World War
Social change = The land the peasants worked on became their own
Political = massive change, moved from one diametrically opposed ideology to another, but the actual change in the day-to-day running of the country minimal? Also soured the relationship with the West
--- Pre-Cold War tensions?(good link)
economic = 1/5 of the pre-war industrial output, but the soviets which were brought in, brought a change in approach from agriculture to industry -- allowed the industrialisation of Russia in the 1930's, never of happened under Tsarism
Civil War
Social = The requisition squads destroyed the agriculture / mass hunger
Political = The agricultural sector resented Communism as it took all their produce seemed unjust to them attempted to hide it and were killed
Economical = Russia refused to pay the US / UK for the goods given in the war hard to get imports, the economy of the USSR was in turmoil because it couldn't produce itself
World War Two
Social = destroyed most of Eastern European part of Russia, 27million died
Political = great victory for the USSR, the first time Russia 'Won' a war for a century
Economic = shifted the heavy industry of Russia from west to more central and east
Cold War
Economic = made the USSR focus on showing its industrial skill, space race
Political = frosty reception with the West made it more self-reliant
Draw all these together into 3 different paragraphs and then say which war was the most important in each, and hopefully you'll have the same war twice or more, then this would be the most significant.
My general argument would be along the lines of war was the integral factor in Russian development; the First World War was the most significant of these as it brought not just a physical change, but a change in attitudes. It facilitated the quickest industrialisation of a country to date, bringing it from a mediocre menace to arguably the strongest and most influential country in the world. Furthermore the change in approach and attitude improved agriculture by the 1950's Russia was rivalling the US for grain produced per capita. Socially it also was key in changing the focus from agriculture to industry.
Here’s some facts
Industrialisation improved the economy
Industrial output and mining ( 1900 is 100% the numbers are difficult to convert)
1880 - 28.2% of the 1900 figure
1890 - 50.7% of the 1900 figure
1895 - 70.4% of the 1900 figure
1904 - 109.5% of the 1900 figure
1910 - 141.4% of the 1900 figure
(From 1888 - 1913 the figures show a 5% per year growth in industrial output - GREATER than the USA or Germany in the same period)
(In 1900 Russia was the biggest producer of oil in the world)
The great spurt from the 1890's onwards helped the Russian heavy economy develop rapidly. However you've got to bear in mind that the smaller cottage industries were not helped by industrialisation. This is an interesting and useful figure, in 1915 67% (5.2 million) workers involved in industry were employed in cottage industries producing 33% of the output. This meant that 2/3's of the people were producing 1/3 of the good.
Railways
(Relative to population and area)
USA - (1860) 19 (1910) 122
Germany - (1860) 21 (1910) 75
UK - (1860) 44 (1910) 69
Russia (european part) (1860) 1 (1910) 24
Industrialisation goes where the railway leads. Interesting how by 1910 that it's increased 24 fold in Russia.
Overseas trade was curbed by import taxes imposed in 1891 by Count Witte to help the Russian economy use Russian goods. This mean't that the Russian economy kept a lot of it's production within the country creating jobs. Furthermore it allowed the production rate to increase which in turn allowed for cheaper exports.
Agriculture
Raw cotton ( kilograms per head )
USA - (1860) 5.8 (1910) 12.7
Germany - (1860) 1.4 (1910) 6.8
UK - (1860) 15.1 (1910) 19.8
Russia (european part) (1860) 0.5 (1910) 3.0
Seems to suggest Russian agriculture increased 6-fold whereas USA doubled, Germany 4-fold and UK hardly changed.
Could do a counter argument with this saying that although this did improve, the full force of Count Witte's changes were not felt because of the First World War. Furthermore you can say all the improvements were out-shadowed in scale with Stalin's Five Year Plans.
The first thing to do with a question like this is tackle the named factor. The Bolshevik slogan 'Peace, Land and Bread' showed where the weakness in the Prov. Govt. lied. The provisional Govt. continued the war which pushed the strained country to breaking point with a futile war. The food shortages continued under the Prov. Gov. and the spark in the frying pan of revolution was at a bread protest. Finally the peasants still felt aggrieved with the land situation as it resembled greatly the Tsarist regime, the Bolsheviks exploited this by saying that the land which the peasants had would become solely theirs if they took power. Finally I would conclude this with the fact that the Prov. Gov. was just that; provisional. It was not a fixture in Russian politics, it was a stop-gap until the Russian people chose what to replace it permanently.
Could also mention that they relaxed the strict political laws of Russia allowing free speech i.e radical new political styles (Bolshevism) to be openly considered as realistic styles of govt. Furthermore you can say that the Prov. Gov. allowed political exiles to return to Russia and this is how Lenin was allowed to come back with his April Thesis (with the help of the Germans and a sealed train).
Military
- Korean invasion by Russia / Containment adopted by Truman to stop communist spreading. Showed that Soviet military might was a serious threat to the Western bloc. (Although not in Europe certainly shaped the US / Britain's approach to Russia in Europe)
-Russia annexed large parts of Eastern Europe (eastern Poland, Latvia, Estonia, Lithuania part of eastern Finland eastern and Romania) left the US / Britain worried that it would attempt to spread further into Europe, and Britain was worried that they would attempted to dominated the Med. (internal Greek civil war between Royalists and Socialists Britain backed Royalists with money / arms).
Economic
-Marshall Plan attempted to rebuild Europe under the US wing. USSR saw this as a thread to the newly gained countries; and therefore distrusted it. It clearly separated the East and West of Europe, because Stalin denied any of the Soviets to accept US aid. Whereas Greece who accepted the aid won the Civil War against Socialists (could use this as a link between paragraphs) and Italy kept out a strong socialist party with the backing of the US.
Political
- Two diametrically opposed ideologies meeting in Europe in 45 inevitable that there was going to be a clash. Stalin openly stated that if he co-operated with capitalist states he was regressing communism in the USSR (ComIntern called for communist revolutions abroad)
- Yelta conference in Feb. 45 failed to agree with the USSR a way for dividing post-Second World War Europe. West wanted democratic states where ever possible, whilst the USSR wanted to keep all the land it gained to strengthen its position.
The easiest way to answer this question is to have three paragraphs, social economic and political. answer it along the lines of how the economy for example, contributed to the collapse of the Tsarist regime then explore whether Nicholas II was influential in that factor.
I.e. politically the Tsarist regime collapsed because of poor military performance and weak government at home (he left his wife and Rasputin in Moscow to run internal affairs) therefore you can say that he was to blame for the political failure. This is a very basic paragraph you would need to explore in more depth what I’ve put above but if you did this for the economy and society and draw the conclusion from each paragraph together to give you your conclusion you should have a sound essay.
A turning point question is not as difficult as people think. Choose three factors (economy, society and politics) and analyse the change brought to these by world war one. then within each of the individual paragraphs choose 2 or 3 if coursework other significant changes and analyse which is the most important in your opinion.
For example, The First World War brought political change to Russia, First liberalising it with the Provisional Government and then tightened with Communism. The day-to-day running of the country had little change, in fact Bureaucracy increased under Communism and they could be called 'Red Tsars'. However the First World War brought a fundamental change in political thinking. It planted a seed which was not exploited to years after - but this is where it was placed in Russian soil.
The Russo-Japanese war also brought political reformation and allowed a Duma, and political parties in Russia for the first time. This was seen at the time to be taking Russia down the constitutional monarchy path. If the First World War didn't interrupt I could have been the most significant political reform.
Thirdly you could talk about the tightening of internal politics in the 1930's this led to the dominance of communism for the next 50/60 years. It tightened the party line and eliminated political factionalism (illegal in the 1920's).
basic outline of the political turning point paragraph - it needs a conclusion I would prob. agree with the Q that the FWW was the most important here as it didn't bring much physical change, but brought a change in approach.
How significant was the role of war in the development of modern Russia in the years 1856 to 1964?
The way OCR want you to answer these question to achieve any respectable mark is thematically. The standard three themes that I use for these questions are Economy Society and Politically. Look at the main wars of the period and split the change they brought to Russia.
Crimean war
Social change = emancipation of the Serfs
Political = shows the weakness of the Russia army
1905 revolution (Russo-Japanese war 1904-5)
Social change = October manifesto
Political change = Duma, first time political parties were legal in Russia (stopped in 1921), shows the weakness of the Russia army
First World War
Social change = The land the peasants worked on became their own
Political = massive change, moved from one diametrically opposed ideology to another, but the actual change in the day-to-day running of the country minimal? Also soured the relationship with the West
--- Pre-Cold War tensions?(good link)
economic = 1/5 of the pre-war industrial output, but the soviets which were brought in, brought a change in approach from agriculture to industry -- allowed the industrialisation of Russia in the 1930's, never of happened under Tsarism
Civil War
Social = The requisition squads destroyed the agriculture / mass hunger
Political = The agricultural sector resented Communism as it took all their produce seemed unjust to them attempted to hide it and were killed
Economical = Russia refused to pay the US / UK for the goods given in the war hard to get imports, the economy of the USSR was in turmoil because it couldn't produce itself
World War Two
Social = destroyed most of Eastern European part of Russia, 27million died
Political = great victory for the USSR, the first time Russia 'Won' a war for a century
Economic = shifted the heavy industry of Russia from west to more central and east
Cold War
Economic = made the USSR focus on showing its industrial skill, space race
Political = frosty reception with the West made it more self-reliant
Draw all these together into 3 different paragraphs and then say which war was the most important in each, and hopefully you'll have the same war twice or more, then this would be the most significant.
My general argument would be along the lines of war was the integral factor in Russian development; the First World War was the most significant of these as it brought not just a physical change, but a change in attitudes. It facilitated the quickest industrialisation of a country to date, bringing it from a mediocre menace to arguably the strongest and most influential country in the world. Furthermore the change in approach and attitude improved agriculture by the 1950's Russia was rivalling the US for grain produced per capita. Socially it also was key in changing the focus from agriculture to industry.
To what extent did the Russian economy improve between 1894 and 1914?
Here’s some facts
Industrialisation improved the economy
Industrial output and mining ( 1900 is 100% the numbers are difficult to convert)
1880 - 28.2% of the 1900 figure
1890 - 50.7% of the 1900 figure
1895 - 70.4% of the 1900 figure
1904 - 109.5% of the 1900 figure
1910 - 141.4% of the 1900 figure
(From 1888 - 1913 the figures show a 5% per year growth in industrial output - GREATER than the USA or Germany in the same period)
(In 1900 Russia was the biggest producer of oil in the world)
The great spurt from the 1890's onwards helped the Russian heavy economy develop rapidly. However you've got to bear in mind that the smaller cottage industries were not helped by industrialisation. This is an interesting and useful figure, in 1915 67% (5.2 million) workers involved in industry were employed in cottage industries producing 33% of the output. This meant that 2/3's of the people were producing 1/3 of the good.
Railways
(Relative to population and area)
USA - (1860) 19 (1910) 122
Germany - (1860) 21 (1910) 75
UK - (1860) 44 (1910) 69
Russia (european part) (1860) 1 (1910) 24
Industrialisation goes where the railway leads. Interesting how by 1910 that it's increased 24 fold in Russia.
Overseas trade was curbed by import taxes imposed in 1891 by Count Witte to help the Russian economy use Russian goods. This mean't that the Russian economy kept a lot of it's production within the country creating jobs. Furthermore it allowed the production rate to increase which in turn allowed for cheaper exports.
Agriculture
Raw cotton ( kilograms per head )
USA - (1860) 5.8 (1910) 12.7
Germany - (1860) 1.4 (1910) 6.8
UK - (1860) 15.1 (1910) 19.8
Russia (european part) (1860) 0.5 (1910) 3.0
Seems to suggest Russian agriculture increased 6-fold whereas USA doubled, Germany 4-fold and UK hardly changed.
Could do a counter argument with this saying that although this did improve, the full force of Count Witte's changes were not felt because of the First World War. Furthermore you can say all the improvements were out-shadowed in scale with Stalin's Five Year Plans.
Assess the view that the failures of the Provisional Govt were the main factors in enabling Lenin and the Bolsheviks to seize power
The first thing to do with a question like this is tackle the named factor. The Bolshevik slogan 'Peace, Land and Bread' showed where the weakness in the Prov. Govt. lied. The provisional Govt. continued the war which pushed the strained country to breaking point with a futile war. The food shortages continued under the Prov. Gov. and the spark in the frying pan of revolution was at a bread protest. Finally the peasants still felt aggrieved with the land situation as it resembled greatly the Tsarist regime, the Bolsheviks exploited this by saying that the land which the peasants had would become solely theirs if they took power. Finally I would conclude this with the fact that the Prov. Gov. was just that; provisional. It was not a fixture in Russian politics, it was a stop-gap until the Russian people chose what to replace it permanently.
Could also mention that they relaxed the strict political laws of Russia allowing free speech i.e radical new political styles (Bolshevism) to be openly considered as realistic styles of govt. Furthermore you can say that the Prov. Gov. allowed political exiles to return to Russia and this is how Lenin was allowed to come back with his April Thesis (with the help of the Germans and a sealed train).
To what extent did Soviet military power shape the development of the Cold
War in Europe between 1945 and 1949?
War in Europe between 1945 and 1949?
Military
- Korean invasion by Russia / Containment adopted by Truman to stop communist spreading. Showed that Soviet military might was a serious threat to the Western bloc. (Although not in Europe certainly shaped the US / Britain's approach to Russia in Europe)
-Russia annexed large parts of Eastern Europe (eastern Poland, Latvia, Estonia, Lithuania part of eastern Finland eastern and Romania) left the US / Britain worried that it would attempt to spread further into Europe, and Britain was worried that they would attempted to dominated the Med. (internal Greek civil war between Royalists and Socialists Britain backed Royalists with money / arms).
Economic
-Marshall Plan attempted to rebuild Europe under the US wing. USSR saw this as a thread to the newly gained countries; and therefore distrusted it. It clearly separated the East and West of Europe, because Stalin denied any of the Soviets to accept US aid. Whereas Greece who accepted the aid won the Civil War against Socialists (could use this as a link between paragraphs) and Italy kept out a strong socialist party with the backing of the US.
Political
- Two diametrically opposed ideologies meeting in Europe in 45 inevitable that there was going to be a clash. Stalin openly stated that if he co-operated with capitalist states he was regressing communism in the USSR (ComIntern called for communist revolutions abroad)
- Yelta conference in Feb. 45 failed to agree with the USSR a way for dividing post-Second World War Europe. West wanted democratic states where ever possible, whilst the USSR wanted to keep all the land it gained to strengthen its position.
Was Tsar Nicholas to blame for the collapse of the Tsarist government?
The easiest way to answer this question is to have three paragraphs, social economic and political. answer it along the lines of how the economy for example, contributed to the collapse of the Tsarist regime then explore whether Nicholas II was influential in that factor.
I.e. politically the Tsarist regime collapsed because of poor military performance and weak government at home (he left his wife and Rasputin in Moscow to run internal affairs) therefore you can say that he was to blame for the political failure. This is a very basic paragraph you would need to explore in more depth what I’ve put above but if you did this for the economy and society and draw the conclusion from each paragraph together to give you your conclusion you should have a sound essay.
To what extent was The First World War a key turning point in the development of modern Russia between 1856-1964?
A turning point question is not as difficult as people think. Choose three factors (economy, society and politics) and analyse the change brought to these by world war one. then within each of the individual paragraphs choose 2 or 3 if coursework other significant changes and analyse which is the most important in your opinion.
For example, The First World War brought political change to Russia, First liberalising it with the Provisional Government and then tightened with Communism. The day-to-day running of the country had little change, in fact Bureaucracy increased under Communism and they could be called 'Red Tsars'. However the First World War brought a fundamental change in political thinking. It planted a seed which was not exploited to years after - but this is where it was placed in Russian soil.
The Russo-Japanese war also brought political reformation and allowed a Duma, and political parties in Russia for the first time. This was seen at the time to be taking Russia down the constitutional monarchy path. If the First World War didn't interrupt I could have been the most significant political reform.
Thirdly you could talk about the tightening of internal politics in the 1930's this led to the dominance of communism for the next 50/60 years. It tightened the party line and eliminated political factionalism (illegal in the 1920's).
basic outline of the political turning point paragraph - it needs a conclusion I would prob. agree with the Q that the FWW was the most important here as it didn't bring much physical change, but brought a change in approach.
STRICOF please re-sticky my thread to this forum, it contains much more information that this and is especially useful at this time of year, thank-you,
Tom
Original post by crocker710
STRICOF please re-sticky my thread to this forum, it contains much more information that this and is especially useful at this time of year, thank-you,
Tom
Tom
Though next time, ask in AAM please.
(edited 12 years ago)
Original post by Stricof
If you do Edexcel History Unit 3 Kaiser to Fuhrer
Actually question B will be of similar structure to your unit 2 paper. Obviously it will be more advanced.
Regardless, the sources guide the answer. This means that you refer to the historical interpretations such as Germany was responsible for pursuing a war of conquest and aggression according to Fischer. And then you add your own knowledge and cross reference with other sources.
Your question A (sorry I'm working back to front) will be similar structured to the Unit 1 - in the sense that you have no sources and work from own knowledge.
You will need strong knowledge, but technique is important.
Point, Evidence, Explain Qualify/contrast
Qualifying is in particular very important because you show the limitations of the argument. You are looking to show both sides of the argument and come to a weighted conclusion in the end.
Actually question B will be of similar structure to your unit 2 paper. Obviously it will be more advanced.
Regardless, the sources guide the answer. This means that you refer to the historical interpretations such as Germany was responsible for pursuing a war of conquest and aggression according to Fischer. And then you add your own knowledge and cross reference with other sources.
Your question A (sorry I'm working back to front) will be similar structured to the Unit 1 - in the sense that you have no sources and work from own knowledge.
You will need strong knowledge, but technique is important.
Point, Evidence, Explain Qualify/contrast
Qualifying is in particular very important because you show the limitations of the argument. You are looking to show both sides of the argument and come to a weighted conclusion in the end.
So do you need to know about both Weimar and Nazi Germany or will either suffice? I'm finding my knowledge on the latter is lacking, so I'm somewhat tempted to do just Weimar.
I heard you get the choice to do a question on either, but there will be a guaranteed Weimar question.
Original post by Stricof
Okay, I decided to write a mini guide for those of you studying A level History and in particular, the Edexcel examination board for History
I've written this in mind of my own experiences and the other posts I've helped with.
You don't have to follow this. In fact there are many other ways of achieving your full potential.
You may contribute if you wish.
Good luck
Quick link
General
- How to Revise + Exam Technique
- UMS scoring chart/grades
- Exam Resources
Subject specific
- Help on Russia Essay questions
Edexcel
- How long is each paper (and what does it consist of?)
- Recommended Unit 1 books
- Unit 2 technique (specific)
- Unit 2 examplar answer
- Unit 3 technique (specific)
- Historical Assignment (unit 4)
I've written this in mind of my own experiences and the other posts I've helped with.
You don't have to follow this. In fact there are many other ways of achieving your full potential.
You may contribute if you wish.
Good luck
Quick link
General
- How to Revise + Exam Technique
- UMS scoring chart/grades
- Exam Resources
Subject specific
- Help on Russia Essay questions
Edexcel
- How long is each paper (and what does it consist of?)
- Recommended Unit 1 books
- Unit 2 technique (specific)
- Unit 2 examplar answer
- Unit 3 technique (specific)
- Historical Assignment (unit 4)
I am very pleased to have stumbled across this marvellous guide. The best part of this is that all the units you have posted are the ones i'm doing at college today, absolutely magical.
I just wanted to know the best course of action for how to re-revise unit 2, I did India, as the sources paper and I was disappointed with my performance. Before hand, I literally just re wrote the edexcel text book, I took in all of the information but I'm not too sure what went wrong, I will have a proper gander at your guide, but I Was just wondering if you had any general tips to help, thank you so much, +rep
Original post by d_aan
I am very pleased to have stumbled across this marvellous guide. The best part of this is that all the units you have posted are the ones i'm doing at college today, absolutely magical.
I just wanted to know the best course of action for how to re-revise unit 2, I did India, as the sources paper and I was disappointed with my performance. Before hand, I literally just re wrote the edexcel text book, I took in all of the information but I'm not too sure what went wrong, I will have a proper gander at your guide, but I Was just wondering if you had any general tips to help, thank you so much, +rep
I just wanted to know the best course of action for how to re-revise unit 2, I did India, as the sources paper and I was disappointed with my performance. Before hand, I literally just re wrote the edexcel text book, I took in all of the information but I'm not too sure what went wrong, I will have a proper gander at your guide, but I Was just wondering if you had any general tips to help, thank you so much, +rep
for the unit 2 it is nearly all about the technique, I got an E in the first attempt and a high A in the resit and the difference was that I learnt the technique and what you actually needed to do and how to apply the information
Original post by d_aan
I just wanted to know the best course of action for how to re-revise unit 2, I did India, as the sources paper and I was disappointed with my performance. Before hand, I literally just re wrote the edexcel text book, I took in all of the information but I'm not too sure what went wrong, I will have a proper gander at your guide, but I Was just wondering if you had any general tips to help, thank you so much, +rep
Indeed, if you took a proper gander, you would have seen this and the post below it with regards to technique.
Give us a shout if you need further clarification on the matter.
Original post by Stricof
Hey man,
Indeed, if you took a proper gander, you would have seen this and the post below it with regards to technique.
Give us a shout if you need further clarification on the matter.
Indeed, if you took a proper gander, you would have seen this and the post below it with regards to technique.
Give us a shout if you need further clarification on the matter.
Hello there, sorry for the very late reply, I was looking through my subscribed threads box and it reminded me to reply.
Yup, I've looked through your example of the boer war unit 2 exemplar, but I was wondering if you had a more detailed plan on how to approach the essay for knowledge/sources as I'm not too sure how on the actual approach needed? I'm doing India if that helps but any example would be excellent, thank you
Hi OP,
I've just finished Unit 1; Equality in the USA and Mao's China (1949-1976), and am about to start Unit 2.
My teacher decided that it'd be better if the class sat all the exams in the summer, and we've just been practicing exam questions.
Unfortunately, I'm not improving in any of the 30 mark questions; I keep getting 15-17 marks, and I don't know how to improve my standard of writing. Teacher writes 'Right approach; more substance needed' and when I do put in more dates and names it's not enough.
Any ideas on how to improve my essays and stay on top of the entire AS Level at once? I'm supposed to be aiming for an A.
Many thanks!
I've just finished Unit 1; Equality in the USA and Mao's China (1949-1976), and am about to start Unit 2.
My teacher decided that it'd be better if the class sat all the exams in the summer, and we've just been practicing exam questions.
Unfortunately, I'm not improving in any of the 30 mark questions; I keep getting 15-17 marks, and I don't know how to improve my standard of writing. Teacher writes 'Right approach; more substance needed' and when I do put in more dates and names it's not enough.
Any ideas on how to improve my essays and stay on top of the entire AS Level at once? I'm supposed to be aiming for an A.
Many thanks!
Hey,
Here's my advice on how to do well at history A-Level:
1. When writing essays you really have to answer the question that has actually been asked - not the question that you have prepared. You have to adapt what you know to the actual question, rather than answering the question you *wish* the examiner had asked, or just writing out everything you know on the topic. Take the time to plan your essay and THINK about how to apply what you know to the question actually asked. When writing your essay, keep referring to the question.
2. Examiners love it when you attack the question and argue with it, because it shows that you are answering the question. You need to have an argument, and to make this clear from the very start of your essay.
3. Hunt around on Amazon for useful books that your teachers may not have told you about. You're looking for something short and written by an authority on the particular topic you're studying. There is a book out there that would be extremely useful to you if you get your hands on it - guaranteed.
For more tips check out
http://www.amazon.co.uk/Study-Skills-Essentials-Graduates-Tactics/dp/0956845606/ref=sr_1_4?ie=UTF8&qid=1316723659&sr=8-4 and www.
Here's my advice on how to do well at history A-Level:
1. When writing essays you really have to answer the question that has actually been asked - not the question that you have prepared. You have to adapt what you know to the actual question, rather than answering the question you *wish* the examiner had asked, or just writing out everything you know on the topic. Take the time to plan your essay and THINK about how to apply what you know to the question actually asked. When writing your essay, keep referring to the question.
2. Examiners love it when you attack the question and argue with it, because it shows that you are answering the question. You need to have an argument, and to make this clear from the very start of your essay.
3. Hunt around on Amazon for useful books that your teachers may not have told you about. You're looking for something short and written by an authority on the particular topic you're studying. There is a book out there that would be extremely useful to you if you get your hands on it - guaranteed.
For more tips check out
http://www.amazon.co.uk/Study-Skills-Essentials-Graduates-Tactics/dp/0956845606/ref=sr_1_4?ie=UTF8&qid=1316723659&sr=8-4 and www.
I was wondering which books are better? The Heinemann edition, or the Access to History? In addition to Edexcel's textbook we use in class.
I've started Vietnam, and I don't want to buy both. Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated.
I've started Vietnam, and I don't want to buy both. Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated.
WOW! This AMAZING! Super helpful!
Thanks a ton, gave me LOTS of insight!
Keep up the brilliant advice and help!
Thanks a ton, gave me LOTS of insight!
Keep up the brilliant advice and help!
Hi there! I am currently writing my History coursework out for A level! Its a proper mess at the moment, as i also have to consider historians views using contemporary and primary sources! such a pain.. The question I am currently working on is:
"To what extent do you consider collectivisation a key turning point in the development of agriculture, government and society in Russia from 1825-2000?"
Can you just give me a list of things I can consider in this essay including other key turning points other than Collectivisation? Thankyou so much it'd be of great help!
"To what extent do you consider collectivisation a key turning point in the development of agriculture, government and society in Russia from 1825-2000?"
Can you just give me a list of things I can consider in this essay including other key turning points other than Collectivisation? Thankyou so much it'd be of great help!
(edited 12 years ago)
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