Leaving Cert History shrewd tips? (exam skills)

Paddyg96

Doing higher history and would love an A in a months time;)

Any shrewd tips on the exam itself i.e can you leave out topics and learn others really well etc.

Lune

And do others find timing impossible?

Consonata

Depends on which way you approach the essays. Our teacher is following the method of 8 paragraphs: Intro, Conclu, 6 on topic which works out at 4 pages or so. I find that I can just about get 4 down in the 42 minutes that you have. I think that trying to do 5 would be silly and just stick to 4 as a general rule. I know some teachers teach that you should do lots of small paragraphs but from what I can tell, doing 6 beefy paragraphs should build up your OE

hotmail.com

I would recommend 9 to 11 paragraphs. If you can manage 10 paragraphs for example, and each gets 6 out of 12..then you get full marks in the CM.

Consonata

hotmail.com wrote: »

I would recommend 9 to 11 paragraphs. If you can manage 10 paragraphs for example, and each gets 6 out of 12..then you get full marks in the CM.

Would you be able to get 6/12 though if you're paragraphs are only 1/4 to a 1/3 page long though. Would you be able to squeeze in enough detail.

hotmail.com

Consonata wrote: »

Would you be able to get 6/12 though if you're paragraphs are only 1/4 to a 1/3 page long though. Would you be able to squeeze in enough detail.

That example was an average really. So a shorter paragraph might get 5 out of 12 and a longer one might get 7 out of 12. 1/4 page is too short and might only get 4 marks and may be grouped into the next paragraph.

You have to be clever to maximise the marks you get in the time allowed. I would recommend half a page generally for a paragraph, give or take a few lines. Don't be afraid to spend two or even three paragraphs on a specific theme related to the topic. Some students make the mistake of writing really long paragraphs and while the examiner is meant to split the paragraph up if they feel it deserves more than 12 marks, shorter paragraphs generally tend to score higher marks.

This all presumes that what you write is relevant and accurate.

Consonata

hotmail.com wrote: »

You have to be clever to maximise the marks you get in the time allowed. I would recommend half a page generally for a paragraph, give or take a few lines.

Do you think most people would be able to get 5/6 pages down though if you recommend 1/2 a page? That can be a push within the time given and doesn't allow for a lot of thinking time.

hotmail.com

Consonata wrote: »

Do you think most people would be able to get 5/6 pages down though if you recommend 1/2 a page? That can be a push within the time given and doesn't allow for a lot of thinking time.

4.5 pages is 9 paragraphs. That should get you an A1 or 2 depending on the quality of the essay.

Write fast!

spurious

hotmail.com wrote: »

This all presumes that what you write is relevant and accurate.

(my emphasis)

This. Above all. Number one cause of people losing marks is not answering the question asked - even where candidates are obviously very literate and know their stuff.

hotmail.com

spurious wrote: »

(my emphasis)

This. Above all. Number one cause of people losing marks is not answering the question asked - even where candidates are obviously very literate and know their stuff.

Most marks are lost from candidates not writing enough in my experience.

Consonata

hotmail.com wrote: »

Most marks are lost from candidates not writing enough in my experience.

However if you write 5 or 6 pages of things that are irrelevant, you will lose more marks than somebody who writes 4 pages of clear and concise work.

hotmail.com

Consonata wrote: »

However if you write 5 or 6 pages of things that are irrelevant, you will lose more marks than somebody who writes 4 pages of clear and concise work.

You don't lose marks as such but you don't get any marks either for the irrelevant parts. This only tends to happen with the weaker candidates (the chancers).

The odd person may genuinely misinterpret the question.

Most essays I saw were 3 pages or so long, very well written and relevant etc, but they still only managed to get a low B or a high C. It's just not possible to get an A with 3 pages even if what's written is excellent. The history exam does reward quantity over quality despite what they protest. 60 marks are given for the CM. (I suspect others will disagree with me on this point, but that's the reality).

Some of them may well have been only aiming for that, but to get an A, which is perfectly attainable for any student, you have to write 4 1/2 pages.

randylonghorn

Paddyg96 wrote: »

Any shrewd tips on the exam itself ...

Prepare your topics as points, look back over them often and be sure you know them, rather than rote-learning long essays.

Practise adapting those points to different possible questions / angles on a topic or area. Plan out your essay approach depending on the question. The plan is the important thing: bullet points will do for this and you don't need to write every possible essay out, though it would be a good idea to do so for a few, ideally constraining yourself to the time you will have in the exam as this will be good practice.

eoins23456

Aren't 2/3 sections of each book on the exam? So you could leave out 1/3 sections from each book I guess