last min history and english alevel help!!!!

I know this is super late but I currently have my English and History exams in 2 weeks and have barely revised. As in I have no revision material at all.

I’ve been in a major depressive episode (like genuinely horrid struggling to eat etc) and doesn’t help that my teachers are ineffective and haven’t covered things that are really important!

Was wondering if anyone knew how I could learn the content and revise at the same time. I try to revise but OCR History (Russia and It’s Rulers specifically) is so content heavy and they have specific ways of answering questions like synthesis which hasn’t even explained at all…

English is not as bad, AO2 is just my problem but I think I have a rough idea on how to improve in that way. AO4 comparison is what gets me the most though, especially for Duchess and Streetcar comparisons

I’m genuinely just trying to scrape a B (on a C right now so it’s not too far fetched), but I’m just looking for help and advice. I know I’ve left it to the last minute because I physically was struggling to live so I don’t need to hear it.

(edited 1 year ago)

Reply 1

Blah123333

Hi, I'm also doing Russia and its rulers :smile:

for exam structure the thing that I was taught to do is for the interpretations 30 marker is to pick to main themes out of each interpretations (two threads from each extract) and use the structure:
INTRO - briefly outline what the two extracts say and how they're similar or different.
P1 - Extract 1, main theme, quote the extract to back up main theme, how does it show this? Use evidence to either back it up or to criticise it, how far does it agree with the question, then come to a small conclusion.
P2 - Extract 1, same thing as P1 but with different theme/thread.
P3 - Extract 2, main theme, quote the extract to back up main theme, how does it show this? Use evidence to either back it up or to criticise it, how far does it agree with the question, then come to a small conclusion.
P4 - Extract 2, same thing as P3 but with different theme/thread.
CONCLUSION - overall which extract is more convincing, small bit of reasoning to say why, then concluding point.
For the thematic Q you could do something like:
INTRO - briefly outline paras and reasoning
P1 - Main theme (could be agriculture, politics, religion, economy) TRY NOT TO DO CHRONOLOGICAL, EXAMINERS DON'T LIKE IT.
P2 & P3 - thematic again, you can just use the PEEL format (Point, evidence, explain, link) try to use as much specific evidence as you can.
CONCLUSION - which theme is more important/ do you agree with the Q - make sure to always link to the Q

Revision wise I recommend learning some of the content chronologically (do some timelines under the spec themes e.g methods of repression) but also try and learn a few specific stats for each theme - this is definitely the hardest part but unfortunately you will go down in marks if you have no specific evidence, so try to break it down and learn stats or dates that can apply to multiple themes.
I hope this helps, I'm also struggling too as it's one hell of a topic with, imo, WAY too much content!
Good luck with the exam, if you need anymore help feel free to ask me.

Reply 2

twoweeks

Original post by Blah123333

Hi, I'm also doing Russia and its rulers :smile:

for exam structure the thing that I was taught to do is for the interpretations 30 marker is to pick to main themes out of each interpretations (two threads from each extract) and use the structure:
INTRO - briefly outline what the two extracts say and how they're similar or different.
P1 - Extract 1, main theme, quote the extract to back up main theme, how does it show this? Use evidence to either back it up or to criticise it, how far does it agree with the question, then come to a small conclusion.
P2 - Extract 1, same thing as P1 but with different theme/thread.
P3 - Extract 2, main theme, quote the extract to back up main theme, how does it show this? Use evidence to either back it up or to criticise it, how far does it agree with the question, then come to a small conclusion.
P4 - Extract 2, same thing as P3 but with different theme/thread.
CONCLUSION - overall which extract is more convincing, small bit of reasoning to say why, then concluding point.
For the thematic Q you could do something like:
INTRO - briefly outline paras and reasoning
P1 - Main theme (could be agriculture, politics, religion, economy) TRY NOT TO DO CHRONOLOGICAL, EXAMINERS DON'T LIKE IT.
P2 & P3 - thematic again, you can just use the PEEL format (Point, evidence, explain, link) try to use as much specific evidence as you can.
CONCLUSION - which theme is more important/ do you agree with the Q - make sure to always link to the Q
Revision wise I recommend learning some of the content chronologically (do some timelines under the spec themes e.g methods of repression) but also try and learn a few specific stats for each theme - this is definitely the hardest part but unfortunately you will go down in marks if you have no specific evidence, so try to break it down and learn stats or dates that can apply to multiple themes.
I hope this helps, I'm also struggling too as it's one hell of a topic with, imo, WAY too much content!
Good luck with the exam, if you need anymore help feel free to ask me.

That’s super helpful for the interpretation thank you so much! In regards to the essay how would you say is easiest to revise the content, I’m trying mindmaps with comparison synthesis but I don’t actually know what synthesis is so it’s pretty ironic 😁

Reply 3

Blah123333

Original post by twoweeks

I know what synthesis essays are, idk if they're the same thing but it basically means comparing two things by stating the similarities between them - so in two arguments trying to find the similarities. Content wise I've basically been relying on timelines, but mindmaps are also fantastic. If you look at the ocr spec for Russia and its rulers it breaks themes down into sub-themes, if you mind-map those themes that would be an excellent way. Also try and do mindmaps for each ruler - you could section it into economy, politics, oppression etc... that would really help with thematic knowledge. Flashcards for more specific info like stats and dates are also really useful. Most likely the interpretations question is going to be the provisional government as it's the only one that hasn't. come up yet so I recommend revising that one more than the others.

Reply 4

Blah123333

Original post by twoweeks

How did the exam go?

Reply 5

twoweeks

Original post by Blah123333

How did the exam go?

Just saw this but it was genuinely the best exam I could’ve gotten! Your revision tips were genuinely so helpful like I felt so relieved walking into the exam! The 30 marker was on Khrushchev’s fall and then the questions I wrote on were the nationalities (wording was a bit odd but could’ve been so much worse) and the best possible question ever about if there was political change in the period!!!