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Author Topic: 5 Top Tips for History Essay Success  (Read 26221 times)  Share 

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jakesilove

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5 Top Tips for History Essay Success
« on: March 04, 2016, 08:53:07 am »
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Modern History is one tough bugger of a subject. Between memoring statistics, learning content and just trying not to fall asleep, often the actual essay writing component falls through the gaps. Whilst we have a FREE essay marking thread here, I thought I would share my top tips for a successful History essay, based on the essays I’ve marked and the ones I wrote in my HSC year!

1.     Not using enough specific, accurate, relevant and detailed examples

Remember that this is a history essay. You can’t just say things and assume that the marker believes you; you have to back up EVERY substantive sentence with a statistic. That can be a date, a number, a quote, literally anything at all. Even if you can’t remember the EXACT statistic, say something like “More than 40%” or “In early 1915”, or even use a historian (“According to historian Richard Evans…”).

The point of the essay is to build up your fact-base so that you can draw whatever conclusions you want. Saying that the Allies won WWI is about as useful as saying Germany invaded America in 1918; explain HOW the Allies won WWI, on what date you think they defeated Germany, how many tanks they used at the Battle of Marne, how many political prisoners did they take? For a list of EVERY SARDE you need for the WWI section, click here.

Remembering a billion statistics is extremely difficult. If you want a really great method to retaining a huge amount of numbers and quotes, click here for a guide explaining how to utilise worksheets to your advantage. However, to achieve a top level response you really DO need to memorise hundreds of facts. An essay will not be strong without hard evidence supporting it.

As difficult as this seems, it really is an achievable goal for all of you. If you put the work in, and study smart, you’ll be writing out top level responses in no time!


2.     Not maintaining a thesis throughout


This is probably one of the most difficult things to get right in a history essay, or in any essay for that matter. My main recommendation is to, for your own benefit, write out what your thesis IS in one or two sentences. This doesn’t need to necessarily be included in the essay itself: just have it there for you to refer to. As you’re writing the essay itself, try to constantly refer back to your thesis. If you go an entire paragraph without referring to your thesis, you may as well not include the paragraph. Use sentences like “this supports the notion that…” and “This solidifies the idea that…” etc. etc.

Your topic sentence (ie. The first sentence of each paragraph) should introduce the general idea of the paragraph. The concluding sentence should directly link it to your thesis, and also perhaps allow for a quick introduction of the link between your current paragraph and the next. These things are really difficult to get right, and in this case practice makes perfect. Try going through a past essay you’ve written and highlighting the sections that directly refer to your thesis. If you are going too long without a highlighted section, rethink the way you are approaching your thesis (or maybe re think your thesis!).


3.     Explaining what happened, without drawing meaning from events



It is really easy to spend an entire paragraph explaining what happened 100 years ago in Germany or Indo-China. However, that won’t get you a very high mark in a history exam. What you want to be doing is spending a sentence or two explaining the events, and then a few sentences explaining their IMPORTANCE to your thesis/the time period etc. Saying that there were 478 Tanks at the Battle of Cambrai is all well and good, but where you get the marks (other than knowing the statistic) is by linking that to the question: For instance, the success of the tanks at Cambrai display the tactical advantage Britain had over Germany due to highly developed technological equipment, which would eventually lead to the end of the war.

Again, try going through and highlighting sections where you are just stating what happened. Whilst obviously this is a necessary part of any history essay, if you’re finding that more than half of the essay is “tell” rather than “theorise”, try rethinking the way you are constructing your essay.


4.     Building a simplistic thesis



So many of the essays I mark start with quite a simplistic thesis in their introduction, and then go on to build quite a complex one throughout their essay, ending in a good conclusion. Writing out your thesis beforehand, like suggested above, and constantly referring to it is the best way to mitigate this. However, not having a simplistic thesis in the first place is the best way to get a top level response in this course!

It is never a good idea to attribute an entire thing (ie. Collapse of Weimar republic, fall of German armies in WWI etc.) to a single cause. A thesis saying that “WWI ended because of Tanks” is obviously simplistic and, as all history thesis’ attributing events to a single cause are, just plain wrong. A thesis should be complex, incorporating a number of different factors. Think through your thesis in depth. Some students attribute, for instance, the fall of the Weimar republic entirely to the Treaty of Versailles. However, they then go on to discuss the role of the Great Depression, which evidently has nothing to do with the Treaty. It would have been smarter, therefore, to have initially said that Versailles was a large factor, compounded by the Great Depression. Think through your thesis carefully before you start your introduction, or even leave your introduction until the end so you are confident with you thesis when you write it!


5.     Structure


Plan your structure at the beginning of your essay. If a question asks about Social, Political and Economic factors, you already have your structure; One paragraph on each! If it is a more complex question, you should still plan (at the start of the exam period) how you are going to set out your answer so that it flows logically.

There are two main ways to structure an answer: Thematically or Chronologically. I would say that, the majority of the time, structuring it by theme works far more successfully. However, obviously answering a question like “outline the significance of the events leading up to the breaking of Stalemate” should be answered chronologically, simply because it’s easier for you.

The best way to prep for in-class essays is with essay plans. Go through each potential question and just write out the structure of your paragraphs: What the order will be, what statistics you will use, what your thesis is going to be etc. It is in Thesis, and Structure, that students often lose the most marks!



I hope this list helped you! If you have any questions about Modern History in general, click here, and if you want your essay marked FOR FREE, click here.
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KarenCho

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Re: 5 Top Tips for History Essay Success
« Reply #1 on: March 11, 2016, 07:06:31 pm »
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Thank you so much Jake :) Doing an essay for modern at the moment and this really helped!
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Emerald99

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Re: 5 Top Tips for History Essay Success
« Reply #2 on: September 28, 2016, 07:44:02 pm »
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Thank yout! Ideally how many body paragraphs should we aim to write for the 25 mark essays? 3 or 4?

birdwing341

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Re: 5 Top Tips for History Essay Success
« Reply #3 on: September 30, 2016, 06:36:11 pm »
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Thank yout! Ideally how many body paragraphs should we aim to write for the 25 mark essays? 3 or 4?

Depends a lot on the question, and your structure. For some questions I like to write three paragraphs and others four (although I generally try to go for this), although I know someone who used a six-paragraph structure and still was able to achieve top marks. It's mainly impacted on by your own knowledge and content, and the way you split this up thematically or chronologically. Hope this helped!

Stefan K

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Re: 5 Top Tips for History Essay Success
« Reply #4 on: October 06, 2016, 11:39:49 pm »
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History is a nightmare :(

sudodds

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Re: 5 Top Tips for History Essay Success
« Reply #5 on: October 06, 2016, 11:42:11 pm »
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History is a nightmare :(
What about it is making you feel that way? I'm happy to help out if you need anything :)
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Looking for a history tutor? I'm ya girl! Feel free to send me a PM if you're interested!

jakesilove

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Re: 5 Top Tips for History Essay Success
« Reply #6 on: October 07, 2016, 11:45:36 am »
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History is a nightmare :(

Let us know if we can help you with anything! I certainly felt the same way in my HSC :)
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tennis1

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Re: 5 Top Tips for History Essay Success
« Reply #7 on: October 16, 2016, 04:21:27 pm »
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Hi ATAR notes,

To get a really good mark in history essays, would you recommend memorising essays that have had feedback on them or writing them on the spot during the exams (with a plan)?

because I've been getting the same (or sometimes better) in the essays that I don't memorise.
 I don't really find it that hard to memorize whole essays (by recording them) but I'm not sure whether this is the best thing to do for my final exams?

jakesilove

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Re: 5 Top Tips for History Essay Success
« Reply #8 on: October 16, 2016, 04:51:39 pm »
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Hi ATAR notes,

To get a really good mark in history essays, would you recommend memorising essays that have had feedback on them or writing them on the spot during the exams (with a plan)?

because I've been getting the same (or sometimes better) in the essays that I don't memorise.
 I don't really find it that hard to memorize whole essays (by recording them) but I'm not sure whether this is the best thing to do for my final exams?

I personally wouldn't bother memorising essays. Potentially, have a thesis or two up your sleeve for each section, but coming in with a memorised essay is the best way to get an okay mark, but not a good mark. Answering the question properly requires you the think about the required structure of your answer, generally by breaking it up into sections outline in the question given to you. As such, smashing out a memorised essay will almost always be the wrong structure. So, go with your gut, and don't memorise your History essays; just have essay plans up your sleeve!
ATAR: 99.80

Mathematics Extension 2: 93
Physics: 93
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Modern History: 94
English Advanced: 95
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Studying a combined Advanced Science/Law degree at UNSW

tennis1

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Re: 5 Top Tips for History Essay Success
« Reply #9 on: October 16, 2016, 11:38:06 pm »
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thanks heaps! you just saved me so much time


jakesilove

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Re: 5 Top Tips for History Essay Success
« Reply #10 on: October 16, 2016, 11:39:49 pm »
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thanks heaps! you just saved me so much time

Glad it helped! Keep using the forums, good luck, and I'll catch you around :)
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

ld0898

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Re: 5 Top Tips for History Essay Success
« Reply #11 on: October 18, 2016, 10:47:49 am »
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Thanks very much for the Modern History tips Jake!! :) They've helped immensely!! ;D

jakesilove

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Re: 5 Top Tips for History Essay Success
« Reply #12 on: October 18, 2016, 11:37:10 am »
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Thanks very much for the Modern History tips Jake!! :) They've helped immensely!! ;D

No problem; good luck for the exam!
ATAR: 99.80

Mathematics Extension 2: 93
Physics: 93
Chemistry: 93
Modern History: 94
English Advanced: 95
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Studying a combined Advanced Science/Law degree at UNSW

pughg16

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Re: 5 Top Tips for History Essay Success
« Reply #13 on: October 18, 2016, 04:06:54 pm »
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Thanks for the advice Jake, it helps a lot.
My main worry now is....what if I forget key dates?? When I get stressed, I tend to forget heaps of important info, and I'm dreading forgetting key dates and stats...any help here? :-[

jakesilove

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Re: 5 Top Tips for History Essay Success
« Reply #14 on: October 18, 2016, 04:08:28 pm »
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Thanks for the advice Jake, it helps a lot.
My main worry now is....what if I forget key dates?? When I get stressed, I tend to forget heaps of important info, and I'm dreading forgetting key dates and stats...any help here? :-[

If you do happen to forget a key date, just use the month/year! If you forget the month, just say 'early 1919' etc. Seriously, makers understand the fact that exams situations are stressful, so if you need to do things like that it won't impact your overall result :)
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