Well, cem is an actual HSC marker for Modern and according to her, you dont. My Modern Teacher was a senior marker and he pretty much said the same thing. There isnt anything wrong with having quotes or naming historians (I used a few personally), but it is needed for full marks.
My teacher too was a Senior HSC marker - that doesn't make one way correct and the other incorrect. Modern History is a subject which is fluid in nature, so one can easily argue one debate in a certain manner if they feel confident about it. I agree with you that historiography is not necessary - however if some students are able to strongly grasp the concept then why not use it to their advantage?
True - as I said, I used quotes from historians as well and I would use them again if I were to redo the HSC. But the point I was trying to make is that it isnt necessary. The issue is, many students dont know how to properly utilise historiography in their responses and this is something which I think markers are picking up on.
I completely agree with you. It isn't easy to understand the subjectivity of history in a matter of days - however students believe it'll make their essay much more sophisticated when really it does the exact opposite -- it makes it too complicated and convoluted. So i'd only use it if you understand it. Also if you feel like your going the extra mile 'for no reason' by including historiography then you are looking at the negative side of things. When I was looking at my personality I saw that I could have left out historiography completely and I probably could have achieved the same marks - although by looking at historiography it made it much more interesting and it broadened my personal view of history. So I basically went down that path because I found it more challenging and rewarding. I understand that your going through the HSC so you want to be able to do everything in a short-cut manner and still achieve high marks - but the HSC isn't just about that, it's also about you, and what you think of the topic, course and history in itself.
No. it is not hard at all to get the top band in for the personality question without historiography. however, it is nearly impossible to get full marks without it.