HSC Modern History Question Thread

[bigsweetpotato2000]

Pretty much hits the nail on the head my opinion - great answer rodero! Though I'm no Speer expert (I'll leave that to jake and rodero!), your judgement is strong and direct which is great, and from the little I know of Speer can be backed up with some pretty solid evidence. However, as rodero says, you've got to make sure that it works with the question! When it comes to the personality study this isn't that hard as there is only 3 types of questions they typically ask;

- Interpretations (so for Speer it's the "Good Nazi" debate - your judgement would work well with this type of question)
- Shaped by/Shaped events (basically were they a product of their time? or were they and active contributor to the time?)
- Overall Significance (hint: if they're on the modern history syllabus, they're probably pretty significant  )

I'd recommend having a general plan for all three of these question types, and make sure that you do a practice essay for each one before trials to make sure that you are as prepared as possible!
Did either of you go to any of Bruce Dennett's lectures (particularly his WW1: Western Front one?) He's the man, love that guy.

Bruce Dennett.

He was literally - a bomb.

Loved it. 10000000%

[sudodds]

Bruce Dennett.

He was literally - a bomb.

Loved it. 10000000%

Ma man Was super lucky last year - he's friends with my modern/extension teacher, so we managed to have him come in twice to go over extension history stuff with my class! An absolute gem, after his WW1 lecture I went up and asked if he could read over my major work for extension and he said yes - gave me some of the best feedback ever! Credit him to a large extent for my success in that subject

Hope he didn't bully you guys too much with the vanilla ice-cream/milo analogy! I was personally victimised by that one  Does he still do the Turning Points joke? Where he walks across the stage?

[bigsweetpotato2000]

Ma man Was super lucky last year - he's friends with my modern/extension teacher, so we managed to have him come in twice to go over extension history stuff with my class! An absolute gem, after his WW1 lecture I went up and asked if he could read over my major work for extension and he said yes - gave me some of the best feedback ever! Credit him to a large extent for my success in that subject

Hope he didn't bully you guys too much with the vanilla ice-cream/milo analogy! I was personally victimised by that one  Does he still do the Turning Points joke? Where he walks across the stage?

Oh yes - We were all shamed for not having eaten milo and ice-cream HAHAHHAH
And then after he shames all those who turn it into mush
I was soooo lucky I had him both for Western Front and the European Conflict and both were soo amazing - And yes his turning points HAHAHHAHHAHAH SOO GOOD - the only way I can remember it now HAHHAH
I didn't write much notes in his lectures - too busy laughing!

[herb123]

Pretty much hits the nail on the head my opinion - great answer rodero! Though I'm no Speer expert (I'll leave that to jake and rodero!), your judgement is strong and direct which is great, and from the little I know of Speer can be backed up with some pretty solid evidence. However, as rodero says, you've got to make sure that it works with the question! When it comes to the personality study this isn't that hard as there is only 3 types of questions they typically ask;

- Interpretations (so for Speer it's the "Good Nazi" debate - your judgement would work well with this type of question)
- Shaped by/Shaped events (basically were they a product of their time? or were they and active contributor to the time?)
- Overall Significance (hint: if they're on the modern history syllabus, they're probably pretty significant  )

I'd recommend having a general plan for all three of these question types, and make sure that you do a practice essay for each one before trials to make sure that you are as prepared as possible!
Did either of you go to any of Bruce Dennett's lectures (particularly his WW1: Western Front one?) He's the man, love that guy.

Thanks alot!
Yeah i actually had Bruce Dennett for Albert Speer!

[herb123]

Hey sorry for all the questions but ive got an essay coming up on: evaluate hitler's role on the nazi state
if i were to go for the opinion that: he was very important but his role was more complex so like while he wasnt that much of a "weak dictator" he wasnt exactly ‘Master of the Third Reich’,
so i was thinking of talking about: fuhrerprinzip, lacked organisational capacities, polycratic system etc. etc.
does that sound alright? can you give me some tips on what else i could talk about?
thanks alot

[jakesilove]

Hey sorry for all the questions but ive got an essay coming up on: evaluate hitler's role on the nazi state
if i were to go for the opinion that: he was very important but his role was more complex so like while he wasnt that much of a "weak dictator" he wasnt exactly ‘Master of the Third Reich’,
so i was thinking of talking about: fuhrerprinzip, lacked organisational capacities, polycratic system etc. etc.
does that sound alright? can you give me some tips on what else i could talk about?
thanks alot

That sounds absolutely perfect.

Your thesis is nuanced, the evidence you plan to discuss is totally correct. Perhaps you could also talk about specific events in the Nazi period; eg. Kristallnacht, in which thousands of Jewish businesses and places of worship were destroyed. There was a general sentiment, at this time, that 'Hitler would never have allowed this!' and 'Hitler mustn't have known!'. Just goes to show the strength of the fuhrerprinzip, and more generally the brilliant position Hitler put himself in.

Not much to add; write an essay outline, and we'd be happy to take a look!

[Thebarman]

Where can I find quotes for historiography? I'm specifically looking for quotes related to the impact of war on civilians for Conflict in Europe. So far I've been using my textbook for quotes, but it's not always the best source or content. Any ideas?

Thanks

[jakesilove]

Where can I find quotes for historiography? I'm specifically looking for quotes related to the impact of war on civilians for Conflict in Europe. So far I've been using my textbook for quotes, but it's not always the best source or content. Any ideas?

Thanks

The sources I used was google (search around for the topic area that you're particularly interested in) and books that I borrowed from the library. I know it sounds old fashioned, but I seriously recommend heading to your local library and finding the WWII section. You'll have access to plenty of resources, written by highly distinguished historians. I would have an idea of who are the 'good' historians before heading in though!

[maria1999]

hey jake!
This isn't a question or anything but you marked a speech on Albert Speer that I wrote aaaaages ago. Essentially, I got it back yesterday and somehow managed to get a 19/20 which was the highest mark! I wouldn't have been able to do it without the stellar feedback you gave me so I just wanted to say thank you again!

[jakesilove]

hey jake!
This isn't a question or anything but you marked a speech on Albert Speer that I wrote aaaaages ago. Essentially, I got it back yesterday and somehow managed to get a 19/20 which was the highest mark! I wouldn't have been able to do it without the stellar feedback you gave me so I just wanted to say thank you again!

Hell. Yeah.

So glad that you're happy with your mark! Freaking congratulations; I definitely helped you out a little, but that was basically all you. 19/20 is just utterly fantastic for Modern, I hope you're seriously proud of yourself.

Aha I'm so happy for you. With the Personality Study, once you've written a good one, you're basically sorted for the rest of the year, so seriously congratulations! You deserve it

[sudodds]

Yeah I guess really when you're saying let's say "anti-war protests were a contributing factor in the US withdrawal from Vietnam" you're by extension saying that they're weren't not a factor and you could say "some historians believe the students' movements had little impact as Nixon continued bombing Cambodia in the early 1970s but we must consider..."

But I'd be uncomfortable spending more than a sentence or two doing that for any essay really. That video and my teacher are saying to spend an entire paragraph considering them before refuting them in the next. I'd 100% screw that up if I tried it in 40 mins.

</non English-specific discussion>

Exactly I'm definitely not advocating for you to be constantly referencing the opposing view (except in the personality study - debate is so important there you actually want to be doing that a lot!) - a couple of sentences will do It provides a bit of nuance to your essay - allows the marker to see that you have still considered both sides, and are making an informed judgement! Just don't go overboard to the point where it looks like you are sitting on the fence

[JoyMaalouf]

Hi! I have an in class essay topic test (it goes for one hour) tomorrow and I was wondering how many pages should I aim to write?

Also I've heard a lot about markers being impressed by the amount of pages which are written as opposed to a shorter but better quality essay, so should I aim for a better essay or very long one?

Thanks! (Hope that made sense haha)

[jakesilove]

Hi! I have an in class essay topic test (it goes for one hour) tomorrow and I was wondering how many pages should I aim to write?

Also I've heard a lot about markers being impressed by the amount of pages which are written as opposed to a shorter but better quality essay, so should I aim for a better essay or very long one?

Thanks! (Hope that made sense haha)

How long is a piece of string?

Honestly, there's no answer to this question. As long as you're writing more than, like, two and a half or three pages, you're fine! Quality over quantity is definitely the best advice I can give.

[sudodds]

Hi! I have an in class essay topic test (it goes for one hour) tomorrow and I was wondering how many pages should I aim to write?

Also I've heard a lot about markers being impressed by the amount of pages which are written as opposed to a shorter but better quality essay, so should I aim for a better essay or very long one?

Thanks! (Hope that made sense haha)

Hey! Actually going to semi disagree with jake here (sorry bro).

Though in most instances I'm very much on the "quality over quantity" side of things (and overall I still am when it comes to essays), the standard they expect is that you fill all (or at least almost all) of the booklet. The markers expect about 1000 words per 45min section, which is roughly 7-8 pages. A lot of markers are lenient on this, but I have definitely heard horror stories. That's why my teachers where so insistent that I make my handwriting bigger last year, because they were worried I'd lose marks because of a dumb marker who thinks I hadn't done enough because it was shorter page wise. Had a senior marker for Modern and Extension come in and tell us the same thing. I personally think you'd struggle to get in as much detail as you need in under 1000 words for an essay anyway - and I think that is where this expectation has developed at the marking centre.

So for Sections II and IV aim for 7-8 pages. For the personality study roughly 3 pages for Part A and 5 for Part B. For Section I work within the lines (and preferably a teeny-weeny bit over).

Hope this helps! Overall the quality of the essay IS the most important thing, however don't give a marker any excuse to doubt the quality 😉

Susie

[maria1999]

hey guys!
I'm in the midst of writing a practice essay on the impact of Nazism on German society by 1939 and I'm try to do a paragraph on the economic impact but I'm really struggling. In what ways did the Nazis help the German economy after the Weimar? I know that they helped virtually eradicate unemployment but I still need a bit more. Any help would be great. Thank you!!