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Author Topic: HSC Modern History Question Thread  (Read 347846 times)  Share 

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jakesilove

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HSC Modern History Question Thread
« on: January 28, 2016, 08:05:09 pm »
+6
HSC MODERN HISTORY Q&A THREAD

To go straight to posts for the new syllabus, click here.

What is this thread for?
If you have general questions about the HSC Modern History course or how to improve in certain areas, this is the place to ask! 👌

Who can/will answer questions?
Everyone is welcome to contribute; even if you're unsure of yourself, providing different perspectives is incredibly valuable.

Please don't be dissuaded by the fact that you haven't finished Year 12, or didn't score as highly as others, or your advice contradicts something else you've seen on this thread, or whatever; none of this disqualifies you from helping others. And if you're worried you do have some sort of misconception, put it out there and someone else can clarify and modify your understanding! 

There'll be a whole bunch of other high-scoring students with their own wealths of wisdom to share with you. So you may even get multiple answers from different people offering their insights - very cool.


To ask a question or make a post, you will first need an ATAR Notes account. You probably already have one, but if you don't, it takes about four seconds to sign up - and completely free!

OTHER MODERN HISTORY RESOURCES
CLICK ME!
* Free Modern History notes
* HSC Modern History Question Thread
* 5 Top Tips for History Essay Success
* Modern History Debate Thread
* Compilation of Available Sources in HSC Past Papers
* LINKS - Why you need to link syllabus dot points in Modern History!
* Modern History Reading/Resource Guide

Original post.
Before you can ask a question, you'll have to make an ATAR Notes account here. Once you've done that, a little 'reply' button will come up when you're viewing threads, and you'll be able to post whatever you want! :)

Hey everyone!

A lot of you will have met me at the HSC Head Start lectures, where I lectured in 2U and 3U Maths, Physics and Chemistry.
My role on these forums is to help you. The HSC syllabus is tricky, nuanced and pretty damn huge. To help you out, I thought it would be a great idea to have a forum where you can just post questions, and myself or other forum members can post answers!

This is a community, so we want you to feel like you can post any type of Modern question, no matter how "basic" you might think it is. Remember, IF YOU'RE HAVING TROUBLE WITH A TOPIC, THERE ARE THOUSANDS OF OTHERS HAVING THE SAME ISSUE. Between Elyse - the ATAR Notes Legal Studies lecturer - and myself, we've done many options and have a lot of relevant skills, so be sure to ask anything that you think could benefit you!

Remember that Modern can be a difficult course. There will be lots of answers to the same questions, and I'll try give you the best or easiest to remember ones.

I got an ATAR of 99.80, and a mark of 94 in the the Modern course. There are similar forums for a bunch of other subjects, so make sure to take a look at them as well!
« Last Edit: November 11, 2018, 03:17:23 pm by jamonwindeyer »
ATAR: 99.80

Mathematics Extension 2: 93
Physics: 93
Chemistry: 93
Modern History: 94
English Advanced: 95
Mathematics: 96
Mathematics Extension 1: 98

Studying a combined Advanced Science/Law degree at UNSW

ipodlady

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Re: 94 in Modern: Ask Me Anything!
« Reply #1 on: January 29, 2016, 04:34:15 pm »
0
Hey Jake, I went to the Head Start 2U Lecture and was wondering why there wasn't a Modern History lecture because that's the subjecy which I struggle in the most. Also do you do private tutoring? I'm not sure if I should get a tutor. Also, Brendan mentioned that ATAR Notes has free assessment marking, do you know anything about that?
Thanks!  :)

brenden

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Re: 94 in Modern: Ask Me Anything!
« Reply #2 on: January 29, 2016, 05:26:47 pm »
0
Hey Jake, I went to the Head Start 2U Lecture and was wondering why there wasn't a Modern History lecture because that's the subjecy which I struggle in the most. Also do you do private tutoring? I'm not sure if I should get a tutor. Also, Brendan mentioned that ATAR Notes has free assessment marking, do you know anything about that?
Thanks!  :)
Hey IPL!

This time around, we had limited venue capacity because there were other events on at UTS and stuff like that, so all the space available to us was used up by the subjects we did run! We're going to try and offer more and more subjects in the future :).

As for the free assessment marking - if I said that, I was meaning to say 'free essay marking', which can be found here .
✌️just do what makes you happy ✌️

Sarahhhhhb

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Re: 94 in Modern: Ask Me Anything!
« Reply #3 on: January 29, 2016, 06:08:09 pm »
0
Hi Jake,
What are your tips for success in modern history?
How did you study/memorise the content and how much extra reading/learning do you recommend doing in order to achieve top results?
Also, what is your advice on how to write a band 6 essay, particularly in the national study?
Thanks in advance!

bananamilk9936

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Re: 94 in Modern: Ask Me Anything!
« Reply #4 on: January 29, 2016, 07:28:59 pm »
0
I went to your past 2U lecture and i asked about whether or not you could present your past HSC notes on the topics from the Modern History course that you did. I know it might not be the same as mine but it would be helpful to at least see your WWI notes, if thaat's possible of course.  :) Thanks

KarenCho

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Re: 94 in Modern: Ask Me Anything!
« Reply #5 on: January 29, 2016, 07:58:01 pm »
0
Hey! :)

So I'm a Year 11 student starting the Preliminary Modern course this year right now actually. What would you recommend to focus most heavily on in the Preliminary course? How much of the Preliminary course (transferable skills or knowledge) are applicable to the HSC course? Also, how would you go about note-taking or studying for Modern History as a whole?

Thanks!!
Preliminary Subjects
Advanced English
Extension 1 English
Legal Studies
Business Studies
Modern History
Ancient History
Society and Culture
-
"Do something today that your future self will thank you for"

jakesilove

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Re: 94 in Modern: Ask Me Anything!
« Reply #6 on: January 29, 2016, 08:27:08 pm »
+3
Hey Jake, I went to the Head Start 2U Lecture and was wondering why there wasn't a Modern History lecture because that's the subjecy which I struggle in the most. Also do you do private tutoring? I'm not sure if I should get a tutor. Also, Brendan mentioned that ATAR Notes has free assessment marking, do you know anything about that?
Thanks!  :)

Hey ipodlady!

I think Brenden responded to most of your concern, but I thought I'd just add my opinion regarding private tutoring.

I think it's very difficult to get a tutor for Modern History, primarily because there are so many different topics. It would be hard to find someone who did the same subjects as you, unless perhaps they were at the same school as you.

Thank being said, you could definitely get someone to help you with technique, if that's what you're struggling with. What I mean by that is: get a tutor to help you figure out how to write, not what to write. So decide what it is you're struggling with (Is it finding enough facts? Or writing in the style of a Modern Historian?) and take the appropriate steps to fix that :)

I personally don't do Modern History tutoring, however there are loads of people who do. I'll be creating some Modern history resources and study tip documents, so keep your eye out!

Hope this helps :)

Jake
ATAR: 99.80

Mathematics Extension 2: 93
Physics: 93
Chemistry: 93
Modern History: 94
English Advanced: 95
Mathematics: 96
Mathematics Extension 1: 98

Studying a combined Advanced Science/Law degree at UNSW

jakesilove

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Re: 94 in Modern: Ask Me Anything!
« Reply #7 on: January 29, 2016, 08:46:06 pm »
+6
Hi Jake,
What are your tips for success in modern history?
How did you study/memorise the content and how much extra reading/learning do you recommend doing in order to achieve top results?
Also, what is your advice on how to write a band 6 essay, particularly in the national study?
Thanks in advance!

Hey Sarahhhhhb (I take it that Sarahhhhha was taken?)

A very loaded question, and I'll be addressing a lot of your concerns in content I release in the future, but for now I'll try give you a brief summary of my opinion.

Let's start with "how much extra content do I need". My response is always the same: That depends on your teacher. At our school, our teacher gave us a 500 page booklet at the start of every term, and researching more than that would have been insane. That being said, perhaps your teacher's style is more "At one point there was a war. Cool right? Go research that. Oh I dunno. The first one?".

Every proposition you make in Modern History, for a top level response, should be supported by AT LEAST one specific, accurate, relevant, detailed example. So what I did was just pick out what we could be assessed on and wrote down a few stats for each part, and then memorised them. In total, I had to memorise hundreds and hundreds of stats. Keep a bank of the best ones, don't bother finding more if you already have a few for a section.

If you want a specific number, I had about 10-15 SARDEs per specific section section. The conditions of women in Britain during WWI? 10 SARDEs. The nature of trench warfare? 15 SARDEs (easier to remember, more likely to be assessed).

Okay, so now you have a beautiful list of stats, either researched of (ideally) given to you by your teachers. BUT HOW DO I MEMORISE 150 STATS. AND THAT'S JUST FOR ONE FREAKIN' TOPIC.

I'm going to write a comprehensive guide to this in the next month or so. However I'll give you a taster- worksheets.

Write yourself a worksheet that says "The Battle of Verdun was on the ___ of _____, 19__". Each worksheet should probably be about one specific topic, with ONLY THE ABSOLUTELY CRUCIAL STATISTICS. Not those extra ones you throw in for fun, the BARE MINIMUM.

Photocopy each work sheet a thousand times (Okay probably like 100).

Do each worksheet 5 times a day.

Do this every day.

For a week.

For two weeks.

No matter how boring, no matter how well you think you know the content.

Thank me later :)

So now we have the important stats and we've memorised them. But how do we write a band 6 essay? The answer is always with a thesis so supported by evidence that even a historian is convinced.

Extra reading (books written by historians etc.) is a great way to build a thesis, although definitely isn't necessary. Always have a thesis prepared, always bring your paragraphs back to your thesis, always support your claims with statistics, dates, quotes, etc. That's really it: Have a solid, clear thesis (that is made absolutely evident in the introduction: do not build up to your thesis, make it clear from the get go) and include loads and loads of SARDEs. You can't go overboard with statistics.

I hope that helps! By the end of the year you'll have a solid thesis for every possible question, so you may as well start thinking about them now! Make them a little different, but not too out-there (WWII was actually an Australian conspiracy to allow for mass exportation of Vegemite etc.).

Great question! Would love more people to get involved in the forum, by both answering and asking questions!

Before you can ask a question, you'll have to make an ATAR Notes account here. Once you've done that, a little 'reply' button will come up when you're viewing threads, and you'll be able to post whatever you want! :)

Jake :)
ATAR: 99.80

Mathematics Extension 2: 93
Physics: 93
Chemistry: 93
Modern History: 94
English Advanced: 95
Mathematics: 96
Mathematics Extension 1: 98

Studying a combined Advanced Science/Law degree at UNSW

jakesilove

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Re: 94 in Modern: Ask Me Anything!
« Reply #8 on: January 29, 2016, 08:51:17 pm »
+2
I went to your past 2U lecture and i asked about whether or not you could present your past HSC notes on the topics from the Modern History course that you did. I know it might not be the same as mine but it would be helpful to at least see your WWI notes, if thaat's possible of course.  :) Thanks

Hey banamilk9936!

I'm planning in the next few weeks/within the month to release worksheets with a list of stats (and corresponding answers to the worksheets) that you can print out and fill in. That is really the important part of the WWI topic: the statistics you use, and then the way you answer questions. Whilst I can't go through the whole of the WWI curriculum, I can definitely give you the ONLY statistics that you'll need to use throughout the year.

Keep an eye out! Loads more great content to come, from a whole bunch of fantastic contributors.

Great question (even if I can't give you the notes yet, but again I promise that they're on their way!). If anyone has any other responses, or questions like this, please feel free to post to the forum. This is a totally open discussion, so no matter what level you are at we are here to help!


Before you can ask a question, you'll have to make an ATAR Notes account here. Once you've done that, a little 'reply' button will come up when you're viewing threads, and you'll be able to post whatever you want! :)

Jake :)
ATAR: 99.80

Mathematics Extension 2: 93
Physics: 93
Chemistry: 93
Modern History: 94
English Advanced: 95
Mathematics: 96
Mathematics Extension 1: 98

Studying a combined Advanced Science/Law degree at UNSW

jakesilove

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Re: 94 in Modern: Ask Me Anything!
« Reply #9 on: January 29, 2016, 08:55:50 pm »
+4
Hey! :)

So I'm a Year 11 student starting the Preliminary Modern course this year right now actually. What would you recommend to focus most heavily on in the Preliminary course? How much of the Preliminary course (transferable skills or knowledge) are applicable to the HSC course? Also, how would you go about note-taking or studying for Modern History as a whole?

Thanks!!

Hey KarenCho!

Firstly, it's great to see some Year 11s on the site! This is a great community for all High School students, and whilst it's definitely focused on those in their final year, there is so much you can gain from just keeping an eye on these forums. Definitely get your friends in on it as well!

In terms of content, there is usually little transferable skills. That being said, so many schools do so many different options that it is really hard to tell. For instance, you might do a "lead up to WWI" topic which would be supremely helpful for the WWI HSC topic!

The most important aspect of the Preliminary course, in my opinion, is the way you study/complete source analysis questions. This is often one of the hardest skills to master, so practicing now will put you in a really good position next year.

In regards to general study tips, I'll refer you to another post I made recently on this forum (See Reply #7). Whilst not all of it is transferable to the Prelim course, the study tips certainly are! If you get in a great habit of study now, you have no idea how much that will help next year.

I'm really glad we have some Year 11 students here asking great questions! No matter what year group or level you are at, please feel free to post questions regarding content or study tips!

Before you can ask a question, you'll have to make an ATAR Notes account here. Once you've done that, a little 'reply' button will come up when you're viewing threads, and you'll be able to post whatever you want! :)

Jake :)
ATAR: 99.80

Mathematics Extension 2: 93
Physics: 93
Chemistry: 93
Modern History: 94
English Advanced: 95
Mathematics: 96
Mathematics Extension 1: 98

Studying a combined Advanced Science/Law degree at UNSW

KarenCho

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Re: 94 in Modern: Ask Me Anything!
« Reply #10 on: January 29, 2016, 09:37:29 pm »
+1
Hey Jake!

Yeah, definitely. I attended Elyse's legal studies lecture and decided that
  • this is an amazing and helpful community
  • at this point, there is no such thing as too much knowledge and it's never too early

With that being said, thank you so much for your help so far! I understand how the skills would be a lot more transferable than the topics themselves for the most part.
Also, that method to remember statistics is by far the most interesting and most likely to actually work for me so far.

Looking forward to more of your resource posts :)
Preliminary Subjects
Advanced English
Extension 1 English
Legal Studies
Business Studies
Modern History
Ancient History
Society and Culture
-
"Do something today that your future self will thank you for"

jakesilove

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Re: 94 in Modern: Ask Me Anything!
« Reply #11 on: January 29, 2016, 09:46:19 pm »
+1
Hey Jake!

Yeah, definitely. I attended Elyse's legal studies lecture and decided that
  • this is an amazing and helpful community
  • at this point, there is no such thing as too much knowledge and it's never too early

With that being said, thank you so much for your help so far! I understand how the skills would be a lot more transferable than the topics themselves for the most part.
Also, that method to remember statistics is by far the most interesting and most likely to actually work for me so far.

Looking forward to more of your resource posts :)

I'm really glad to hear that KarenCho!

Elyse is a fantastic lecturer, and will also be releasing a hell of a lot of incredible content for you and your peers. On that note, make sure to involve as many people as possible (am I suggesting you recommend ATARnotes to all of your friends? Maybe...), because the more this community grows the better it will be for you in 2017!

Also, if you're responding to a specific post, I'd suggest clicking the "quote" button on the post so it's really, really obvious. Right now that's not so much of a problem, since there are relatively few posts, however in the next few weeks these forums will go absolutely wild!

So glad to have you on board, keep posting away!

Jake
« Last Edit: January 29, 2016, 09:48:09 pm by jakesilove »
ATAR: 99.80

Mathematics Extension 2: 93
Physics: 93
Chemistry: 93
Modern History: 94
English Advanced: 95
Mathematics: 96
Mathematics Extension 1: 98

Studying a combined Advanced Science/Law degree at UNSW

Sarahhhhhb

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Re: 94 in Modern: Ask Me Anything!
« Reply #12 on: January 29, 2016, 10:19:53 pm »
+1
Hey Sarahhhhhb (I take it that Sarahhhhha was taken?)

A very loaded question, and I'll be addressing a lot of your concerns in content I release in the future, but for now I'll try give you a brief summary of my opinion.

Let's start with "how much extra content do I need". My response is always the same: That depends on your teacher. At our school, our teacher gave us a 500 page booklet at the start of every term, and researching more than that would have been insane. That being said, perhaps your teacher's style is more "At one point there was a war. Cool right? Go research that. Oh I dunno. The first one?".

Every proposition you make in Modern History, for a top level response, should be supported by AT LEAST one specific, accurate, relevant, detailed example. So what I did was just pick out what we could be assessed on and wrote down a few stats for each part, and then memorised them. In total, I had to memorise hundreds and hundreds of stats. Keep a bank of the best ones, don't bother finding more if you already have a few for a section.

If you want a specific number, I had about 10-15 SARDEs per specific section section. The conditions of women in Britain during WWI? 10 SARDEs. The nature of trench warfare? 15 SARDEs (easier to remember, more likely to be assessed).

Okay, so now you have a beautiful list of stats, either researched of (ideally) given to you by your teachers. BUT HOW DO I MEMORISE 150 STATS. AND THAT'S JUST FOR ONE FREAKIN' TOPIC.

I'm going to write a comprehensive guide to this in the next month or so. However I'll give you a taster- worksheets.

Write yourself a worksheet that says "The Battle of Verdun was on the ___ of _____, 19__". Each worksheet should probably be about one specific topic, with ONLY THE ABSOLUTELY CRUCIAL STATISTICS. Not those extra ones you throw in for fun, the BARE MINIMUM.

Photocopy each work sheet a thousand times (Okay probably like 100).

Do each worksheet 5 times a day.

Do this every day.

For a week.

For two weeks.

No matter how boring, no matter how well you think you know the content.

Thank me later :)

So now we have the important stats and we've memorised them. But how do we write a band 6 essay? The answer is always with a thesis so supported by evidence that even a historian is convinced.

Extra reading (books written by historians etc.) is a great way to build a thesis, although definitely isn't necessary. Always have a thesis prepared, always bring your paragraphs back to your thesis, always support your claims with statistics, dates, quotes, etc. That's really it: Have a solid, clear thesis (that is made absolutely evident in the introduction: do not build up to your thesis, make it clear from the get go) and include loads and loads of SARDEs. You can't go overboard with statistics.

I hope that helps! By the end of the year you'll have a solid thesis for every possible question, so you may as well start thinking about them now! Make them a little different, but not too out-there (WWII was actually an Australian conspiracy to allow for mass exportation of Vegemite etc.).

Great question! Would love more people to get involved in the forum, by both answering and asking questions!

Before you can ask a question, you'll have to make an ATAR Notes account here. Once you've done that, a little 'reply' button will come up when you're viewing threads, and you'll be able to post whatever you want! :)

Jake :)

Thanks that was really helpful :)

I will definitely start making worksheets for both WW1 and the National Study and researching more SARDEs (slightly jealous of the 500 page booklets!) so I can get on top of all the content before half yearlies!

Looking forward to more of your resources!

KarenCho

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  • School Grad Year: 2017
Re: 94 in Modern: Ask Me Anything!
« Reply #13 on: January 29, 2016, 11:32:49 pm »
+1
I'm really glad to hear that KarenCho!

Elyse is a fantastic lecturer, and will also be releasing a hell of a lot of incredible content for you and your peers. On that note, make sure to involve as many people as possible (am I suggesting you recommend ATARnotes to all of your friends? Maybe...), because the more this community grows the better it will be for you in 2017!

Also, if you're responding to a specific post, I'd suggest clicking the "quote" button on the post so it's really, really obvious. Right now that's not so much of a problem, since there are relatively few posts, however in the next few weeks these forums will go absolutely wild!

So glad to have you on board, keep posting away!

Jake

Definitely will recommend ATARNotes to everyone, no worries :) In the end it benefits everyone, so why not?

Also yeah, my bad! I'm still getting a hang of using the forums and such, but I understand what you mean, thanks!
Preliminary Subjects
Advanced English
Extension 1 English
Legal Studies
Business Studies
Modern History
Ancient History
Society and Culture
-
"Do something today that your future self will thank you for"

jakesilove

  • HSC Lecturer
  • Honorary Moderator
  • Part of the furniture
  • *******
  • Posts: 1941
  • "Synergising your ATAR potential"
  • Respect: +196
Re: 94 in Modern: Ask Me Anything!
« Reply #14 on: February 12, 2016, 09:45:08 am »
+1
Hey all!

To everyone that's been asking about the best way to study for Modern History, or needs some help with statistics for the WWI section, look no further! I've developed a resource that should help you out :)

Top Tip for Memorising Statistics (and all the World War I Stats You'll Need!)

Jake
ATAR: 99.80

Mathematics Extension 2: 93
Physics: 93
Chemistry: 93
Modern History: 94
English Advanced: 95
Mathematics: 96
Mathematics Extension 1: 98

Studying a combined Advanced Science/Law degree at UNSW