gleeek
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If any past students can share some tips, it will be very much appreciated!
Any tips for source analysis exams? (1 Viewer)
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History 101
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TIPS ON ATTACKING WWI SOURCES:
- Make sure you read the question and see what it is asking you.
- Study the sources thoroughly
- Whilst doing this ask yourself questions like: why is this person in the foreground/background? since this was published in 1980 however it is discussing the 1916 Battle of Somme does this affect the reliability? Because this source is in the British magazine does it make it biased?
- Answer these questions within your essay -- this in turn answers IS THIS SOURCE RELIABLE???
- Do not be afraid to say "no this source is not reliable" - many students believe they have to agree with the source when really you don't
- Read the question AGAIN - because this will help you answer IS THIS SOURCE USEFUL? If they have an image of women however the question wants you to discuss how the Battle of the Somme changed the morality of soldiers, then obviously the source is NOT useful. Hence reading the question and linking it to the source is imperative
- You must make a judgement about these two sources e.g. Source A and Source B have become corroborating evidence supporting the argument that the Battle of the Somme affected British Soldiers severely. OR, Source A and Source B are contradicting pieces of evidence, hence proving that more evidence will be needed in order to make a firm judgement on how the Battle of the Somme affected the British soldiers.
- Also to bring your essay to a 10/10 or 15/15 you must bring in background knowledge. DO NOT just rely on the source, give dates or stats to back up what you are trying to say. E.g. On the first day of the Battle of the Somme 60, 000 British men died hence severely reducing their morale. Background info will raise the quality of your essay
Hope that helps!
- Make sure you read the question and see what it is asking you.
- Study the sources thoroughly
- Whilst doing this ask yourself questions like: why is this person in the foreground/background? since this was published in 1980 however it is discussing the 1916 Battle of Somme does this affect the reliability? Because this source is in the British magazine does it make it biased?
- Answer these questions within your essay -- this in turn answers IS THIS SOURCE RELIABLE???
- Do not be afraid to say "no this source is not reliable" - many students believe they have to agree with the source when really you don't
- Read the question AGAIN - because this will help you answer IS THIS SOURCE USEFUL? If they have an image of women however the question wants you to discuss how the Battle of the Somme changed the morality of soldiers, then obviously the source is NOT useful. Hence reading the question and linking it to the source is imperative
- You must make a judgement about these two sources e.g. Source A and Source B have become corroborating evidence supporting the argument that the Battle of the Somme affected British Soldiers severely. OR, Source A and Source B are contradicting pieces of evidence, hence proving that more evidence will be needed in order to make a firm judgement on how the Battle of the Somme affected the British soldiers.
- Also to bring your essay to a 10/10 or 15/15 you must bring in background knowledge. DO NOT just rely on the source, give dates or stats to back up what you are trying to say. E.g. On the first day of the Battle of the Somme 60, 000 British men died hence severely reducing their morale. Background info will raise the quality of your essay
Hope that helps!
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If the question is the standard HSC question you won't be asked to compare the sources at all. The HSC question simply asks you to assess the usefulness of the sources for an historian studying something specific with reference to reliability and perspective - no comparison required. Some teachers ask you to do that but that is going beyond what the HSC requires.
History 101
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If are able to go beyond, then why not? Also some teachers do like a comparison, it's purely up to you. Source analysis like any other essay is a something where there is no 'right or wrong' approach.
If the question doesn't ask for a comparison and a student does a comparison it is often to the detriment of what has to be done.
The HSC question doesn't ask for a comparison and having read many of them over the years (marked WWI until about 2005 and have been on the aligning panel a number of times as well involving reading even more of them) that have decided to 'go beyond' and do a comparison and waste time and space on that comparison to the detriment of answering the question asked I advise my students to not do a comparison when they aren't asked to do so - afterall they aren't answering the question if they do do so.
Any part of a response that is not relevant to the response is ignored so doing a comparison when not asked for one is a waste of time as it is ignored. It doesn't get a student extra marks as it is beyond the question and thus irrelevant - it is treated the same as information that is outside a given time frame for a question.
The HSC question doesn't ask for a comparison and having read many of them over the years (marked WWI until about 2005 and have been on the aligning panel a number of times as well involving reading even more of them) that have decided to 'go beyond' and do a comparison and waste time and space on that comparison to the detriment of answering the question asked I advise my students to not do a comparison when they aren't asked to do so - afterall they aren't answering the question if they do do so.
Any part of a response that is not relevant to the response is ignored so doing a comparison when not asked for one is a waste of time as it is ignored. It doesn't get a student extra marks as it is beyond the question and thus irrelevant - it is treated the same as information that is outside a given time frame for a question.
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History 101
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When I said doing a comparison I did not mean a full page summary, one sentence is sufficient like in the example I have provided. I do agree that going around in circles is a waste of time and ignored, however students are given two sources for a reason and giving one sentence linking the two I feel ties the two sources together in a effective way and is a nice way to conclude the essay - this too was said by my teacher who was a senior HSC marker. This is also seen in the past HSC exam responses by students who received a Band 6. Calling upon your HSC marking skills does not mean that all HSC markers see the same way as you do. 
Take a look at the image yourself.
Take a look at the image yourself.The reason why HSC markers have as many hours as they do on the briefing before they start marking (about 7 - 8 hours) is so that they are all marking the same way. If they are different by either 2 or 3 marks out of 10 (the source analysis is out of 10) is it discrepant so they have to be on the same page. With the online marking for the Core they are able to pick up discrepant markers far more quickly and they are locked out of marking - can't mark and thus can't earn any extra money until they have been rebriefed on why they were wrong the first time - so it is essential that they are marking the same thing the same way.
Just because a person put a comparison is doesn't mean it would get any extra marks - it won't as that isn't what is required by the question. Having an SM make a note that someone did a comparison is fine but it won't have changed the mark. If it was already worth 7/10 it will still be worth 7/10 (or whatever the recommended cut-off for a Band 6 for that question was that year - it varies from year to year and judge to judge - one judge might say it should be a 9/10 while another might say is should be an 8/10 and another 7/10 and over 6 judges there will an average of their recommendation.
Just because a person put a comparison is doesn't mean it would get any extra marks - it won't as that isn't what is required by the question. Having an SM make a note that someone did a comparison is fine but it won't have changed the mark. If it was already worth 7/10 it will still be worth 7/10 (or whatever the recommended cut-off for a Band 6 for that question was that year - it varies from year to year and judge to judge - one judge might say it should be a 9/10 while another might say is should be an 8/10 and another 7/10 and over 6 judges there will an average of their recommendation.