Hi Ancients and Moderns. The end is very nearly nigh, as we cruise into the home straight before the HSC next month.
We have started our revision in class (the whole syllabus has been tackled - hurray!) but you should now be formulating your home study plans.
Everyone has a different way of learning, but I will give you some very general tips.
1) First, print off a copy of the four relevant syllabus pages for your class topics. You can access them via the link to each syllabus to the left of this post.
Ancient: Pompeii, Sparta, Greek World 500-44BC, Xerxes
Modern: WW1, Germany, Conflict in Europe, Albert Speer
2) For each dot point in the syllabus, take a sheet of A4 paper, and try to write a page of notes on that point. You could do it as a mindmap, or as full sentences, or as dot points. Whatever works best.
3) If you can't scrape together a page of notes - you need to study that topic in more detail! Go back to your books and do some reading!
4) Then, have a go at some past exams. Go to this page to access past exam papers, from 2001 to 2008:
http://www.boardofstudies.nsw.edu.au/hsc_exams/
5) Download the papers, try writing responses in Word (set yourself the same time limit as you would have in the HSC), and email them to me. I will gladly read and comment on them.
6) Get used to all of the relevant terms used by the Board of Studies. Go to this page to make yourself familair with words like describe, outline, assess, explain, evaluate, account for:
http://www.boardofstudies.nsw.edu.au/syllabus_hsc/glossary_keywords.html
7) Make some judgements about what we have learned this year. As you are revising, ask yourself, 'What do I think about this?' Was Xerxes a tyrant? Was Speer a self-serving opportunist? Was Hitler a madman? Did the Great Depression cause the rise of the Nazi party? Was Sparta a democracy? Was the battle of Salamis really a turning point? Why did Germany lose WW1? Was the Treaty of Versailles too harsh? Did the Soviet Union win WW2 for the Allies? What is the most important building excavated at Pompeii? Should we display the casts of human bodies pioneered by Fiorelli?
Remember - take a stance, and support it with evidence.
8) For each topic, memorise four or five short and general quotes. Quotes always look good in an essay! Find some that you could sue in a wide range of essays. Maybe some Pliny for Pompeii, Herodotus for Xerxes/Greek World, Plutarch for Sparta...
9) If there are gaps in your knowledge - now is the time to fill them. Email me - I'm here to help!
Good luck!!
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8 years ago
thanks for the advice sir!
ReplyDeletehttp://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4hvtXuO5GzU&feature=player_embedded
ReplyDeleteJust wondering where certain parts of the syllabus fit in to the different kindsof questionms.
ReplyDelete1) Comprehension: restricted to what syllabus point? Eruption only?
2) Streetscapes: and what else? this has prviously also included water supply, so I'm wondering what else it would cover.
3) Architecture: public, private, temples?
4) Section 3.
Also, where can we find more Pompeii questions?
Pompeii has only been tested since 2006, so three times so far. Question 1 (a) and (b) has been on these dot points: 2006 = eruption, 2007 = Pompeii's geographical location, 2008 = eruption. Most likely it will be a short source referring to one or more of the first few dot points. 1 (c) may be on a smaller topic, such as streetscapes, water supply, sanitation, food preparation, taverns and bars. The 8-mark question could be on any largish topic, not just building-related (last year was religion). It could be entertainment, women, religion, economic life, public buildings, private buildings. It won't be overly specific, unless it refers to an area that is very important, such as the forum. Question 3 is always about archaeological and technology issues to do with the excavation and conservation of the site.
ReplyDeleteYou can find the 2006 exam at http://www.boardofstudies.nsw.edu.au/hsc_exams/hsc2006exams/pdf_doc/anc_history_06.pdf
The 2007 exam is at http://www.boardofstudies.nsw.edu.au/hsc_exams/exam-papers-2007/pdf_doc/ancient-hist-07.pdf
The 2008 exam is at http://www.boardofstudies.nsw.edu.au/hsc_exams/hsc2008exams/pdf_doc/2008HSC-ancient-history.pdf
You can also access the 2006 specimen paper at http://www.boardofstudies.nsw.edu.au/syllabus_hsc/pdf_doc/ancient_history_specexam_06.pdf
Thanks for the links!
ReplyDeleteI don't actually have an email to send you responses. Ms gagic has been understandably busy over the holidays, and while I know there's only a week to go I was wondering whether you could look at my responses to past HSC questions?
Also, I'm not quite sure what I should be doing! I think my general tiredness at writing responses deters me from writing answers to the same questions again and again. I've removed things I definitely know from my full notes, so now I'm pretty lost as to what to do for the next week. I feel obligated to continue studying, but don't want to waste my time.
This feels like a Dear Abby question.
Sure Steph...send me any responses to thomas.griffith@det.nsw.edu.au
ReplyDeleteIn answer to your other question...just keep reading and writing...once you're in the exam, you will be thankful for that extra ten minutes you spent reading about Xerxes or Leonidas...