Any words of advice for next year modern HSCers? (1 Viewer)

[gleeek]

I'm entering the HSC course in a few weeks and am seeking some form of advice in terms of essay writing, study tactics, just anything.

If you have any, it will be much appreciate

 

[avro]

Practice essays. Do your notes early - there's so much content for Modern so this is a must.

 

[D94]

I found the HTA Modern History Study Guide pretty helpful for revision.

Make notes as you go along and then once you understand and remember content, make them briefer so that when it comes to HSC exam time, instead of reading through 50 pages of notes, you're only reading through 10 pages for the whole course.

Do practice essays throughout the year, not just at trials time. After you complete a topic, you will have learned what's necessary to answer any HSC question regarding that topic.

 

[gleeek]

Practice essays. Do your notes early - there's so much content for Modern so this is a must.

Thank you!

 

[Atar Hater]

Studying consistently is especially helpful for modern when synthesising the massive amounts of information.

Also, if you haven't mastered how to essay skills, do so. But i also noticed heaps of people lost marks in the short answers for WWI and the personality, so don't neglect these for 24/25 out of 25 in the essays.

 

[gleeek]

I found the HTA Modern History Study Guide pretty helpful for revision.

Make notes as you go along and then once you understand and remember content, make them briefer so that when it comes to HSC exam time, instead of reading through 50 pages of notes, you're only reading through 10 pages for the whole course.

Do practice essays throughout the year, not just at trials time. After you complete a topic, you will have learned what's necessary to answer any HSC question regarding that topic.

Thank you, too! I shall do this

 

[gleeek]

Studying consistently is especially helpful for modern when synthesising the massive amounts of information.

Also, if you haven't mastered how to essay skills, do so. But i also noticed heaps of people lost marks in the short answers for WWI and the personality, so don't neglect these for 24/25 out of 25 in the essays.

Good point. Thank you

 

[Atar Hater]

Good point. Thank you

Also, tbh learning your arguements/sophisticating them is greater than learning heaps and heaps of content.

So don't be too stressed if you don't remember everything as long as you make your points and back them up with the evidence. (I reckon content is wayy overrated in modern)

 

[enoilgam]

Also, just to emphasise, dont neglect your essay writing skills. Quite a few people spend most of their time learning every minute aspect of the course and gathering quotes but neglect the whole essay component. Knowing your content is all very well and good, but if you cant convert your knowledge into an essay, then you are really going to struggle in this subject. So make sure you regularily do practice essays and get your teachers to mark them.

 

[Thief]

This might be a silly question, but what do you do the practice essays on?

Like.. would you look at syllabus dotpoints and make a question from that?

 

[D94]

This might be a silly question, but what do you do the practice essays on?

Like.. would you look at syllabus dotpoints and make a question from that?

Past HSC exam papers.

 

[Thief]

Past HSC exam papers.

Oh righto, thanks

 

[enoilgam]

Oh righto, thanks

You can also use the syllabus to make your own questions as well, so long as you have a rough idea on the types of questions usually asked. Also, you can ask your teacher to give you a few practice questions.

Just another point, if you are really strapped for time and cant be bothered writing a whole practice essay, you could try writing essay structures from old questions.

 

[Memento-mori]

I dropped Modern History a couple of months ago. Here is a list of things the high achievers in the subject were doing
-Using historian's opinions.
-Primary/ secondary sources

You need to be able to write very well, in a fluent manner. A pet hate I've noticed from a lot of history teachers is alot of crossing out. Sophistication and analysis of the material (there is a lot of) is vital.

I wish I was good at history.

 

[OzKo]

Don't freak out.

If you think you are struggling, take a break and do something else.

 

[LoveHateSchool]

Don't get bogged down in the detail. The most important thing in Modern History is to answer the question. Deconstruct the question, note the verb (Assess, evaluate, describe etc.), note all parts of the subject (i.e women's lives AND experiences) and note the confines of the question (1954-1965).

 

[NinaChapps]

If you have a cool teacher who's bothered to spend extra time on you, write practice essays and ask him/her to check over them and give you an approximate mark. And, definitely start studying for modern history at least a week ahead of any major exams ( trials/hsc). You need the time to understand the content as well as practicing past papers.
With quotes, use them effectively. More than 3 or 4 quotes in a essay is overkill, and allows you less time to explain your own understanding of the question.

 

[Eduard_Khil]

Work on your essays, without a doubt, work on developing a strong argument over a massive load of content, of course if you have a massive load of content that is relevant that's awesome, but the main thing to get marks is to argue your own idiosyncratic opinion effectively. If you do that fine, you'll have fun. But if you can't, you're gonna have a bad time.
If english isn't your forte, it'd probably be best to drop history, because often that's the difference between good essays, sophistication as well.

 

[asadass]

Ken Webb

Buy his shit.