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Higher History!!!

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did any other school in the entire of Scotland do the Treaty of Union for paper 2?! it's the dullest, most uninteresting topic ever and I'm yet to find anyone else who did it, but for some reason my history teacher loved it and insisted on teaching us it rather than, say, anything vaguely exciting. eughhhhh.

Ours did.

Hmmm, I found the "worsening relations between Scotland and England" pretty interesting, and the effects of union more so. Especially the Jacobites.

Its just that horrible chunk in the middle about the passing of the Treaty. All these obscure Scotch politicians, their squadrone-volanting between different sides, their inexplicably dull letters written to each other which seemed to make up all the sources in the practice papers. If I ever have to hear about Queensberry, Saltoun, Mar, etc again, I will strangle somebody.

But thankfully its over forever!

Reply 101

Jenny171994

Original post by laridum

Yeah. My handwriting kind of transforms into squiggly mess when I'm in a rush (lolll tiny cursive handwriting :frown:

). They used to deduct marks for bad spelling/punctuation/handwriting but I thought they'd stopped doing that precisely because it was deemed to be unfair? I'm sure most candidates with terrible handwriting get either a laptop or a scribe but some might not.

See I have the tiniest handwriting when I'm not in an exam and then it becomes a grey mess/Black mess :P In my school your only given a scribe/laptop in cases of learning disability or you have a serious problem with time, even then you're not guaranteed. I would have thought it was unfair because it made the test harder because you have to focus or more elements that could go wrong. You already go in panicking (in theory) about enough, it's wrong for the SQA to add another worry.

Reply 102

-emilybrown

Original post by candide

I didn't really enjoy worsening relations, as I didn't understand what was going on the majority of the time, then we had to rush through the rest of the issues and study the effects of union at home over easter. :frown:

I totally agree about the middle part, I sat for hours trying to get the Equivalent and the reasons for the passing of the union and all the changes to union into my head, but I just couldn't remember all the names. Clearly, everyone in the 1700s was an Earl of something.

Reply 103

laridum

Original post by BritainPersonified

My handwriting does tend to get bigger because of the booklets. THEY ARE RULED SO WIDE. I loled in the exam because there was a huge difference between the size of my writing in the booklets and on the extra paper. Tbf, I think it's pretty ridiculous of the SQA to bring it back without any warning. They must have had a good reason to stop doing it in the first place.

Reply 104

matthew67

I think I made the odd spelling error but no wonder, two essays in 1 hour 20 minutes is insane! I done the British question on the Liberal Reforms and the USA question on Immigration for paper 1. For paper 2 I done the Scottish Wars of Independence.

Hope everyone does well!

Reply 105

_Stephieee

Original post by peanutbutterlove

aw i did the democracy question as well, but there wasn't much content. i think i only mentioned suffragists/gettes/ reform league (even though it was out the time period) and other factors like war, and industrialisation D: what did you mention ?

I mentioned the influence of Chartists very briefly as it was outwith the time period, and just said how they encouraged the development of other pressure groups such as the Reform League and Reform Union. I then went on to talk about the NUWSS and the WSPU.

Then I looked at the wealth creating middle class that developed in Britain in the 1860s and how they campaigned for (and got) the vote in 1867, and then went on to help the working classes get it.

For political advantage I did the how Conservatives 'dished the Whigs' after taking the impetus for reform from them and how the were ultimately increasing the electorate. Then I did about the introduction of the Corrupt and Illegal Practices Prevention Act in 1883 and how it made voting fairer etc.

Lastly I did the changes abroad such as Britain's sympathy with the North in the American Civil War and the 1848 'year of revolutions' and how the government had to revaluate their position because of these.

I struggled to take bits of out my extended essay though, so I think I left out a couple of pretty important paragraphs, but oh well :smile:

Reply 106

Harbour Seal

Original post by et_29

anyone know what the highest mark you can get for an essay is, if you don't get it finished in time, but put in a short conclusion and mention maybe 3 points/paragraphs out of 5...?

This happened to me in the pre-lim and I got 11/20 for the essay. But as long as you put in loads of evaluative comments you should do fine.

I did suffragettes for my extended essay, so when that question came up I literallt squeed. The collapse of the Weimar Republic, which I got 15/20 for in the pre-lim. I will have bumped up that mark as I put an evaluation in for this one with lots of historiography.

I think I may have gotten my A! :biggrin:

I actually danced coming out of the exam...

Reply 107

cmheg

Anyone know what the penalty is if you misinterpret the question, still relevant, but i think you lose half your argument grade, so 15/20 at best ? :/

(edited 12 years ago)

Reply 108

Blackbull

I done the liberals,,, how did use answer the question??

An intro , then i wrote about why they introduced then . Then i mentioned the meals acts medical inspections , pensions, national inurance andc mentioned the good and bad things about them? then conclusion sayin better than previous ways however........

Thanks

Reply 109

Darrenh800

Original post by Blackbull

I just tackled it like it was an effectiveness question but used "real problems" as a synonym for effectiveness - was that right ?

Reply 110

laridum

Original post by Darrenh800

I just tackled it like it was an effectiveness question but used "real problems" as a synonym for effectiveness - was that right ?

That's what I did. My extended essay was on the "real causes of poverty" so I just used "real problems" instead.

Reply 111

username458263

Original post by laridum

When you say "bring it back" do you mean the thing on the front about handwriting/spelling? That was there last year, and possibly before that.
But I agree about the size of the SQA booklets, it's ridiculous. No one needs that much space in a line.

Reply 112

laridum

Original post by derangedyoshi

Ah, maybe I was thinking about Int 2, then? I remember reading that "Marks will no longer be deducted for bad spelling or handwriting which is difficult to read." and I assumed it was the same for Higher but I guess I was wrong.

I'm sure the intention is to make it easier to scan/whatever for the markers but I find them really annoying. The lines on the extra paper is much, much better.

Reply 113

username458263

Original post by laridum

Yeah, I agree. It's a pain in the neck - you've been writing on ordinary paper for your entire time at school, and your timed practices have been on ordinary paper, and then you suddenly have to adjust to the fact that your handwriting gets much bigger. Just another reason why I hate the SQA (I have good ones :wink:

Reply 114

et_29

Original post by fawltyfan

What are you talking about!? It doesn't matter how many factors the guy has mentioned, it's about the quality of his argument and the quality of his conclusion. As long as the factors mentioned were developed and analysis there will be no penalisation for not writing about at least x number of factors.

Then the grade boundary thing: Higher History A cut-off has been sitting at around 68 the past few years so I doubt, especially with the new course and all, that they're going to bump it up by 4 marks.

Oh, that's brilliant then!! Thanks :smile:

and also i'm a girl but ha, yeah i realise you were just meaning generally!

Reply 115

et_29

Original post by Darrenh800

I just tackled it like it was an effectiveness question but used "real problems" as a synonym for effectiveness - was that right ?

oh no, i did this one too except... well i dont think i focused on "real problems"..what did you consider real problems? cause i just wrote about all the acts and their effectiveness. so the free school meals, medical inspections, children's charter, old age pensions, national insurance part 1 and 2 and then a bit on working conditions. i'm not really sure that i explained they were "real problems" though but i'm guessing it's pretty obvious?

Reply 116

Darrenh800

Original post by et_29

I just did it exactly like you but I outlined potential problems - like the four spectres and the workhouse - an then went onto say how effective the reforms were in taking the problem away.

Reply 117

et_29

Original post by Darrenh800

I just did it exactly like you but I outlined potential problems - like the four spectres and the workhouse - an then went onto say how effective the reforms were in taking the problem away.

what're the four spectres?!

Reply 118

Darrenh800

Original post by et_29

what're the four spectres?!

The fours specters were part of Lloyd George's election campaign in 1910 and promised to eradicate the four ghosts that haunted the poor which were accident, old age, sickness and unemployment. For the essay I did school meals, National Insurance, Old age and mines plus a context paragraph.