History Help

sckool

I really what to do history but it clashs with French, i was wondering if it would be possible to study history outside of school on my own.

Any advice would be great thanks a million:)

PictureFrame

I don't do History (going into 6th year) but my best friend does. He got an A in HL J.C. and is dropping it next year as he found it was too much work!. He's taking up Business instead, so based on that I don't think it would be the best Subject to do by yourself!. Also I think it's a very big course but if you have the passion and determination to do it go ahead! Best of luck! ..

^
P.S. there's also quite a hard project to do along with the written exam! So ti could be quite difficult to do without a teacher!

Laika_

I think of all subjects to study on your own, history is probably most suitable. Unlike subjects which require understanding and a large amount of comprehension and grasp, history is quite straight-forward. A natural flair for english and writing will help, and, if you have this, you should seriously consider taking up history as the exam composes of four essays and a comprehension-like question.

I did history for my LC and got an A1 by going to hardly any classes but by doing a serious amount of work every weekend in my own time (more than I had to for any other subject). I loved the subject and I think with a subject like history, you really do have to have a keen interest in what you are studying as the course is so vast that it can easily bore people who are not absorbed in it.

I found the project the easiest part of the course as it is done on your own time and I chose an area that I was very interested in (as most people do, I'm sure). The only draw-back with history is that it is not always reliable as a "points" subject. Time pressure is a large factor during the exam and the ability to write quickly and organise your thoughts efficiently is important. Of course, this can be very much improved over two years of study. If you are not banking on an A1 from history and would enjoy the subject, my advice would be to go for it as it is a hugely interesting course. If you do decide to take it up, I would advise you to speak to a teacher before you start in order to decide upon topics as there are many to choose from and some may suit you better than others. You may also need to look at some projects that others have completed to see if you are interested in this aspect of the course as it is a large undertaking. Very best of luck!

dambarude

You'll need a teacher to sign off on the project work.

bscm

History is an interesting but tedious course. At Higher Level, the hardest part is the exam as you are writing essays on 3 subjects and doing the Document question, not answering shorter questions and demonstrating knowledge on a vast array of topics like most other subjects.

If it's what you love, and you are willing to put in the time, then go for it. But do bear in mind you will only be recalling small sections (sometimes as little as 5-10 years) of the course in the exam even though you covered 20-40 years in 3-4 areas/countries.

njd2010

I really really really recommend not doing History. It can be a really interesting course, but I know from experience that the History exam is among the most unfair and difficult exams on the entire Leaving Cert. Just check the History threads from June, and see what I mean.
The syllabus is HUGE, you can be asked all kinds of crazy questions and it's difficult to prepare for them. History was my favourite for the JC and I got straight A's, but it was the only subject I regretted keeping on when the Leaving came around.

Even those who work their asses off for 2 years (as I did), people still struggle to get good marks in it, because writing a 4-5 page essay in 38 minutes (you need to be that precise, timing is way more difficult than any other exam) is one of the hardest things you can be asked to do for the Leaving Cert, and you'll have to do it 4 times in that exam!

So please, if you are doing an extra subject outside of school (which is a great idea), make it a less demanding one. You can always do History in College, where you'll be learning more interesting stuff than in Secondary School anyway and without the crazy pressure.