History-a Joke?

Naikon

So Far in my final year of school, I have come to a point where i have acquired
a lot of apathy for this subject.
I mean when comparing it to the likes of Geography, the amount of information needed to be "learnt off" is crazy.

The lack of analytical reasoning for a history subject is weird.
The subject is more like a big memory test.
This used to be one of my best subjects, but i dont even know how i will fare in june.
I could prepare an essay, and the next day, all that hard learned material becomes a distant memory. constant revision helps but doesent solve the underlying problem.


I dont even know if i should switch, because as every day passes, I feel i probably wont even get a C in this subject due to my pessemistic attitude when its comes to exam marking.
What if some weird essays show up?
anyone who has done this subject in june 2006 LC---how did you find it?
Any memory tips would be GREATLY APPRECIATED along with some tips, as if the situation doesent improve, I will have to drop this
subject.


***I may be moaning, but i need to make a decision***

Gerard.C

If you have an Interest in it, then it's much easier. Think about it....

Nehpets

Didn't keep it up for the LC because I heard it was a lot of work. (And my career choice at the time didn't involve it so it would be work for nothing). I kind of regret it. I wish I had taken it instead of say.. physics:rolleyes:

Mushy

The amount of stuff that has to be "learnt off" for the Leaving in all subjects is a joke. Its just a big memory test so thats why ya learn them. But if your interested in the subject, it should me much easier. just think of it positivetly and you should bef ine. Fom what you say, you could easily do very well in this subject

im...LOST

'm in the exact same boat!

I got a B in higher level in the junior cert (Althought the teacher said I should have received an A)

Now I'd be lucky to pass ordinary level at all.

They seemed to take all the good aspects of the jc history and threw them out the window.They left all the boring stuff in.


I mean for some of the essays I just get bored and I re write the whole chapter.
And guess what mark I get for copying the book!
Around 70%!

How are you supposed to improve on that when you won't even have the book in front of you in the exam is beyond me.


God I wish I was allowed to do geography instead.....

balzarywex

Did hl history last year, got an A2, rerally intersested in it but i have to admit it was the biggest waste of time ever!
With roughly an essay per nite as well as notes, i spent more time on this subject than any other, studywise and homework-wise, and it ended up being my second worst result! while it is really interesting, i neglected other subjects in favour of it, and did better in the neglected subjects (like geography, french etc.) I really should have done chemistry instead.
However, that said, a knowledge of history really helped me in the geography, english and even irish (staair na gaeilge - athbheochan na gaeilge!).
Some advice:
1. Make sure your research topic is tip-top ie. make sure the subject matter is not too broad, follow the departments guidelines exactly and make sure you have a good review. make sure it is analytical and NOT NARRATIVE!!!
2. Dont neglect the documents question- often ends up being the most difficult. In the comprehension, comparisson and criticism, though it may appear the answers would be only one sentence long, they are not (somethinkg which i found out from my mocks). Detailed answers with refs to sources are needed. For contextualisation, include an introduction and conclusion. Stay within the date parameters. Write about 2-2 1/2 pages.
3. For essays, always include an introduction directly adressing the question and a strong conclusion tying together all the points without simply repeating them. Each paragraph should contain one major point, discussed analytically and in detail with points of historical information to back them up. Use the marking scheme to your advantage. Each paragraph is marked out of 12- but its almost impossible to obtain the full 12 marks. Therefore, write as many paragraphs as possible and they will all be added up in the end.
4. Regards tips for learning, i was at a loss as much as you are. The only thing ill say is play to your strengths. For dictatorship and democracy 1919-45
i found it helpful to divide the course into the different countries- italy, russia, germany, france, england etc. Also pay attention to sample papers- though you wont have time to write all those essays, write out a plan for as many as possible.

Hope i've been somewhat helpful and good luck!

balzarywex

o i forgot:

CASE STUDIES, CASE STUDIES, cASE STUDIES, CASE STUDIES!!!!!!!!!

Mushy

balzarywex,is that info for if your aiming for an A? Obviously Im aiming high, but I wont get that now. My comparitive study now only seems ok, after what you said. It seems a bit too narrative.

For essays, Id average out at about 70%, but Id be confident of repeating that in an exam, if not better after the notes the teacher writes for us on them. If I get up to about 10 or 11 paragraphs on each essay, the percentage does raise much higher so is that ok? As in, what mark should ya be getting in essays? Get an essay a week(for the weekend), so it appears enough.

JC 2K3

lol, History is the one topic where you can't really complain about it being learning off. That's the nature of history. You have to be skilled at writing essays though. It's interesting that it's the one subject that I was getting Ds rather than Bs in at the start of 5th year, but now I'm up to getting Bs and improving all the time. It's a nice subject if you stay up to date, but without enough consistant work it could be suffocating and undoable.

marco murphy

One idea is to put a lot of effort into your Project, thats an immediate 20% if you do it well. All that involves in waffling on about a particullar topic and providing a few quotes from a couple of sources.

TerrorFirmer

Its not difficult if you like History. To someone who hates it its viewed as learning reams of information off. To someone who likes its, it is I suppose essentially the same but liking something tends to mean you take in the required info alot better and actually find it interesting rather then a chore.

I personally found that with the special topic, history was quite easy, and i didnt do much study.

Rockerette

I did it there in June, came out with a B1.

I dont want this to come across as arrogant or anything, gosh no, but i never really had the same problem, in terms of difficulty learning things off.


My best piece of advice -->
For each topic, do one of those spider web diagram thingies that you're always told about, but never bother doing..
I did, and had about 25 (about 8 for each book), and they really helped me. At the top of the page, I'd have what should be in the intro just written across, and the same at the bottom, with a rough conclusion idea. Then in between, about 5/6 words for paragraphs, and a few details about each.

It really helped me. Triggered stuff. Instead of learnign off paragraph after paragraph, i had about 6 words.. and then it all would come back kinda.

Because i used to write notes in 5th year, but in my mind it would all blur into page after page of writing, with different coloured pens occasionally thrown in..


Oh, and i completely ignored topics that bored me. Which meant i only worked with stuff i really liked.
World War 1 happened in Europe?? Who knew... :rolleyes:

Learnt nothing about it, apart from its impact on Russia. and guess what i got to write about.. - Russia ba-haby. good times.



Oh, and get your arse in gear re: the special topic.

But yeah, i was never gonna be an A1 student, lacked that... focus i suppose. But dont lose heart people, its a helluvva lot more interesting that geography :eek:

exiot

I loved History, but it wasnt until I started revising for the LC that I realised how much there is to the course! Start early, remember History is just a big long story!

Do a good special topic and your already in the lead

csk

I did my history Lc the year before the switch to the new format so I'm not sure how much of this is relevant.
However I would say don't become too disheartened with it. It might look like you have 80+ essays to learn off and it might seem impossible but its not! I went into the exam knowing at max 20 (sure that was down to my lacksadaisical (sp) manner and gamblers instinct and not necessarily advised) but I was completely okay seeing as often times it is easy to see which topics are repeated (for me it was Bismarck and Parnell etc.) Certain patterns emerge and it is easy to pinpoint the important ones while also easy to have a few back ups just in case. By the way I got a B1.
so with a bit of work and some luck;) you'll be grand. the main thing is not to worry. I had a friend in a similar situation who was doing honours right up until the day of the exam where he switched to pass and fell flat on his face. funny thing was he would have been alright if he had have stuck it out as every thing he studied came up.

Dagnir Glaurung

You can cut out quite large sections of the course. Having said that you'll still need to read quite a bit and it helps to have an interest in what you're reading. You're probably told this all the time but you really should read a section/chapter and then do the questions at the end of it. You don't need to write them out or anything, just think about them. If you can't quite answer a question then go back and look up the answer. I hated doing this at the start but it really works.
Hopefully you're doing essays regularly in class. If not, do one every fortnight at least under tighter than exam conditions. By that I mean, if you've worked out that you have 40 minutes an essay, give yourself 38 minutes.
Lots of paragraphs. Take it to a ridiculous degree. This doesn't mean split your pargraphs into smaller paragraphs because that usually isn't a good idea but concentrate on throwing in as many points as possible into as many paragraphs as possible rather than having proper paragraphs that have well-discussed points. 12 paragraphs is what you should be thinking. It shouldn't work, it's crap that it does, the system should reward deep analysis but it doesn't.
Related to that, know random small bits of policies and wars. A weak point in a three line paragraph is still gaining marks. Very, very cheap marks but marks nonetheless.

(I got an A1 btw so it worked for me)

Naikon

Thanks for the advice so far.
The spider web idea is a good suggestion rokerette;)

Setun

I was getting a high B all year round for my essays and in the exam I got a C1 due to coasting on only certain areas I knew well. My advice would be to not under-study at all - try to cover everything, know certain areas better than others, but don't completely leave out any area of your selected topics.

Vince135792003

If you go on to studying it in college, you'll realise what a joke it is.