Hey again everyone! This guide is going to answer the much-asked question everyone wants to know the answer to, and that is how to get a Band 6 in Ancient History. This guide will focus on all the tips and tricks to smashing the Trial/HSC exams specifically, although I must stress that getting a Band 6 in Ancient is based on your performance in internal assessments as well. But if you’re feeling a little disappointed with the marks from those hand-in essays or in-class exams, never fear! The HSC exam is your time to show the markers you know your stuff and that you deserve that shiny Band 6 (a Band 5 is also extremely good, but let’s aim high – yeah?). In the HSC,
I received a score of 93 (Band 6) in Ancient, both for my assessment and exam marks – and today is my opportunity to tell you guys how I did it!
Studying Effectively for the ExamKnowing how to do this is extremely important. The last thing you want to be doing is spending a whole day looking at your Ancient History textbook for 5 hours hoping your brain acts a sponge and is magically absorbing all the information.
The first thing you’ll need is a good set of notes that you have (hopefully) been developing over the past year. If not, don’t fret! It’s never too late to start writing study notes. Refer to my previous guide
here for some helpful tips to writing study notes! Or for some inspiration,
here are some GREAT study notes for Ancient.
The question I’ll ask you today is “Do you study better in a group or by yourself?” This is something you need to work out before you start forming study groups or planning days of just hours at your desk. I personally study much better by myself, although occasionally I will meet with friends to discuss difficult concepts or to teach them the concepts myself. Ancient was my best and most loved subject, so I always jumped at the opportunity to help my fellow Ancient classmates out, knowing that their marks also effected mine in the end.
When trying to form a study group, look for people who you know are going to work hard and challenge yourself to work harder. The most effective way to study in a group is to ‘test’ each other. Pair up with someone in the group and ask each other questions from the syllabus. Ask your partner what their weakest point is in Ancient and teach them what you know about that topic. Studying by teaching others has been scientifically proven to boost memory retention and it is also much more enjoyable than sitting at a desk by yourself for 5 hours.
But if you’re the social recluse like me when it comes to exam study time, independent study is the way to go! Studying is like a process, in that it has stages, and the stage you are at is dependent on how far away the exam is:
Stage 1: Firstly, sit your notes in front of you, and read them out aloud as if you are teaching a class. As previously mentioned, teaching others (or pretending to) has actually been proven to help you remember concepts better than just reading them in your head, or worse, just looking at them. Grab a younger or older sibling, a parent, or a friend, and teach them about the Economy of Pompeii and Herculaneum or the Religious Practices of Sparta. Or if all else fails, the furniture in your bedroom or living room will be just as keen to listen.
Stage 2: Now that you’ve read your notes aloud at least 3-5 times, and the exam is in around 2 weeks, it’s time to really start focusing on the most difficult or challenging content of the course. This is when you should be looking at your notes, picking out the dot points that you just can’t remember or are potential essay questions/long answer questions and writing out your notes for those dot points, again and again, until you confidently know the content of the dot point without having to look at your study notes.
Stage 3: This stage should be started in the last week before the exam, where you should be reading your notes aloud again, and writing down concepts you’re still stuck on. At this stage, you pretty much should be doing anything to try and remember as much as you can before the exam. Let me reinforce that there is an emphasis on ‘as much as you can’ for a reason.
Advice from a Band 6 StudentThe concept of having to remember over 100 pages worth of study notes (you can find Band 6 study notes
here for your Trial and Final HSC Exams can get a little overwhelming, which leads me to my next tip: don’t stress about your trials. I did and I totally regret it now. I remember the day before my trial exam, I was that stressed and anxious about feeling like I knew nothing that I couldn’t even physically study. I look back now and think why on Earth was I so stressed? In reality, Trials are just there to prepare you for the real thing, and they only weigh a small percentage of your final HSC mark by the time your assessment marks get scaled against your final exam mark. The stress I experienced through Trials allowed me to realise just how much I needed to prepare for the final exam in order to prevent experiencing the same levels of anxiety. Instead, the day before my exam, I was feeling a little stressed, but much more positive and confident in my self and my abilities.
By nature, Ancient History demands a lot from its 17/18-year-old students, in terms of remembering its content. But don’t let this overwhelm you. You are not expected to know everything. You are expected to have a thorough understanding of the syllabus, enough to be able to easily answer questions on them in an exam situation. You are a high school student. Not a University student, nor a Professor. Don’t expect too much of yourself. The HSC markers want to reward you for what you know, and not punish you for what you don’t know. My parents have always told me
“You can only do your best” and it’s important to me that I remember that. It’s also important to not put too much pressure on yourself to get a state rank or a 99 ATAR. Aim high, but aim realistically. It’s dangerous to aim too high in not only the HSC, but everything in life post-HSC (yes, there is a life after HSC), as it often leads to disappointment and dis-belief. I spent the HSC aiming for a Band 6 in Ancient because deep down, I knew I could achieve it. I’m not telling you not to aim for a Band 6 because it’s too high, go for it, but don’t let it stress you. The trick is just to study hard, eat well, and trust that
YOUR BEST marks will follow.
The ExamIn this section I’m going to explore some of the tips you’ll need to know to impress the HSC markers in your exam. Because of the overwhelming amount of content Ancient students are required to remember for the exam, we can get so caught up in just dropping all our knowledge onto the page that we forget some easy ways to impress the markers and maximise our chances of receiving full marks for a written response.
1. Using SourcesIn the exam, your responses to questions should not be just a regurgitation of facts. You need to back up all these facts with archaeological and/or written sources that suggest that these facts/events are true/did occur! You need to be incorporating sources consistently throughout your responses. An easy way to make sure you are doing this is to stem from the source: state the source and then explain what is reveals/suggests about question you are trying to answer. You also need to make a link between archaeological and written sources in your responses, while emphasising your answer to the question asked. For example,
“The mosaic in the House of the Faun in Pompeii suggests that the people of Pompeii and Herculaneum’s diet was mainly comprised of seafood, further emphasising the two cities geographical location. This suggestion of the presence of seafood in their diet has been reaffirmed through Jashemski’s findings of fish bones and sea urchins in Pompeii.” 2. Historiographical IssuesIn your responses, the HSC markers will definitely be looking to see if you have considered the historiographical issues of the sources you have mentioned, which sometimes is the difference between a Band 4 and a Band 5/6 response. You may or may not be thinking, ‘what on Earth is a historiographical issue’? When you have finished expressing to the marker what you think the source reveals about your topic, you need to show them that you know the limitations to the source. Historiographical issues are problems regarding
the way history was written. For example, artists who designed statues of emperors and other political figures would have wanted to portray them in the most positive light possible, in order to act in favour of the government. So therefore we can’t conclude that Julius Caesar was as handsome and striking as the statues and coins suggest he was, instead we have to take these sources and appreciate them on a face value. When analysing written sources, especially Ancient sources, we need to consider the audience the writer was writing in favour of and who they themselves were influenced by. For example, the writings of Tacitus will have you believe that Agrippina the Younger was a wicked stepmother, a sexual transgressor and an insane controlling woman. But, yet again, we must consider the historiographical issues associated with his harsh account. Tacitus was a biased Senator, and thus hated Agrippina the Younger’s family, and he was also a male, meaning that everything Agrippina did that was powerful, political or anything 'unfeminine’ was disgusting on his behalf. And this definitely showed in his writing. Therefore we have to consider all the issues associated with the sources we are using in our essays, because the markers are interested in knowing if you are a true historian, in that you consider the problems regarding the way Ancient History was written.
3. Essay Writing and Structure I’m not going to spend too long on this section because you guys have probably had this concept drummed into your head since day one of HSC, but it’s always good to have a quick refresher.
Introduction: Your introduction should immediately tell the marker your answer to the question. It should clearly include your academic opinion on the topic, what your body paragraphs will include, with a great emphasis on your use of sources and consideration of historiographical issues. The introduction of your essay is your first opportunity to tell the marker why they should read the rest of your essay, and most importantly, why they should give you 25/25 – make it good.
Body: The best way to structure your paragraphs is to remember the following acronym:
S: Source
E: Explain the source. What does it reveal/suggest?
W: What are the historiographical issues (context of historians, bias, purpose of writing etc)?
Conclusion: The final paragraph of your essay is your last chance to prove to the marker that you deserve a good mark for your essay, so make it count. Make sure you directly answer the question and restate the main argument of your essay. Your conclusion should be very similar to your introduction to ensure consistency from start to finish.
Exam Tips:- Make sure you keep track of time. The last thing you need is to be running out of time in the exam. Follow the time guide on the front of the exam booklet and you should be set.
- Don’t stay too long answering the multiple-choice questions. Use the required time and that is it. The majority of your marks will come from your long responses/25 markers.
- Make sure you pick the right options in Sections 2, 3 and 4. The last thing you want to be doing in the exam is writing about Egyptian religious practices when answering a question on religion in Sparta.
- When picking the essay question, pick the option that will best allow you to show your analysis of sources and historiographical issues.
- Don’t be afraid to ask for more booklets! Write as much as you can, but in saying that, be concise and straight to the point.
I hope you guys find this guide helpful! Be sure to
leave a message if you have any questions! Remember to
check out these great Ancient History study notes!
All the best!
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