exam /study tip # 12 HSC Exam Advice 2015 Ancient History Make sure that you know which options you are answering and are familiar with the syllabus. The Ancient History syllabus is available from the Board of Studies website: http://www.boardofstudies.nsw.edu.au/ You should review the requirements for all four sections of the HSC Examination, especially the principal focus, key features and issues, outcomes and contents dot points for each section. Remember that the HSC Exam can only ask what is outlined in the Syllabus. Completing past exam papers and having them marked by your teacher is one of the better forms of study because it combines revision and active examination practice. Past papers are also available on the Board of Studies website, The best study practice is to answer past HSC questions under timed circumstances to try to replica the exam situation. The marking guidelines and the examiners comments are also available and make for valuable guidance. Read these to see what the HSC Markers reward and also what they don t reward -- for example, the Examiners Comments will often mention the problem of students writing pre-prepared essays that don t deal well with the question asked. The HSC Markers can only mark to the Marking Criteria; if you have included information in your response that does not address the question asked or is evidence to build on your argument then the Marker is unable to reward you with marks for this information, (even if the information provided is factual and correct). Pre-prepared answers are a poor option for the Ancient History HSC examination. There are a number of great websites for the study of Ancient History. Probably the best one to start with is http://hsc.csu.edu.au/ancient history which is the NSW HSC online site. It has primary sources and notes on the most popular options in all sections of the syllabus, as well as links to other websites that you can use to practice your skills of analysis. Another very useful site is http://www.fordham.edu/halsall/ancient/asbook.html which is a great primary source site for all topics and you can go from there to also find websites for specific ancient societies, personalities in their times, and so on. A good site for study tips and discussions on various topics as well as how to survive the HSC is http://www.boredofstudies.org/ It is a poor choice to base your study information on a popular movie, as these are rarely historically correct. However there are available a range of useful documentaries via the internet and sites such as utube. However, do be careful to check the reliability of all documentaries before including these within your HSC arguments. The journey of a thousand miles starts with a single step. Chinese Proverb
Format: The Ancient History exam paper is divided into four parts: Section I: Core Study: Cities of Vesuvius -- Pompeii and Herculaneum Section II: Ancient Societies Section III: Personalities in their Times Section IV: Historical Periods Each student is to answer ONE Option from each of the four Sections. Each part is worth 25 marks and to maximise possible mark potential it is strongly advised that you allow for equal amounts of time to be spent on each of the four sections. This is a threehour examination. To maximise your ability to achieve the maximum level of marks in each section allow 45 minutes for writing and planning time per section. All four Sections have extended response components. The Historical Periods Section is the only Section that requires an essay response. Planning is an important examination technique as the Ancient History Examination clearly states that sustained, logical and cohesive responses are rewarded with marks. Students can only achieve this if a planning process during the examination has occurred. Better to plan and make your writing count than produce answers that are undirected and unsure. Before answering an extended response always take a few minutes to think carefully about what the question is asking. Brainstorm a couple of planning ideas and then take the time to organise these to ensure that your answer will be coherent and logical. Tick off these ideas as you incorporate them into your answer. Use the five minutes of Reading Time that is given to you before the Ancient History Examination wisely. It is best practice to decide before the examination on a strategy. The Ancient History examination does not specify in which order the four Sections need to be completed. From your assessment tasks and class work you should know your strengths. For example, some students feel that completing the multiple choice questions first calms them into the examination while other students who feel that they are most challenged by an essay decide that they will complete Section IV first reasoning they are most clear thinking at the beginning of the examination. Students sometimes start writing immediately, but the different formats require some thinking about. It is best to be familiar with the Ancient History Examination format as every section is structured differently and to use this to your advantage. Section I: Cities of Vesuvius Pompeii and Herculaneum (25 marks) The Core is the only compulsory section of the Ancient History Examination; it is the only Section that all 12000 plus 2015 Ancient History candidates will answer. Due to this, this Section is often viewed as the moderating part of the Examination Paper and has the largest spread of marks due to the quantity of responses. All questions within this Section are compulsory and have a mixture of source analysis and own knowledge components. All answers are written on the spaces provided on the examination paper. This Section of the paper is marked digitally. Answer papers are scanned and then marked. Black pen, especially black felt pen is the easiest to read by the Markers who are viewing answers digitally. The Core Section also is supplemented with a Source Booklet. Within the Source Booklet there will be a variety of written and visual sources that are a mixture of archaeological, primary and secondary sources. There may be up to eight sources provided. Some of the sources you may have seen before in your study, others will deliberately be chosen by the Examination Committee to be included because they are not popular and will force students to think carefully and apply historical context and historical analysis. Expect to have not seen some of the sources provided or be unfamiliar with the archaeologist quoted. However all the sources will need to be referred to in your answers. Guidebooks and Internet travel sites from Pompeii and Herculaneum are fantastic resources as these publications often have colour photos of the most famous sources.
The first part of this Section is worth 15 marks and consists of a mix of multiple-choice and short answer questions. The number of multiple-choice questions is not a specified and ranges from year to year. The short written answers need to be succinct. Use the spaces provided and the marks as a guide as to how much is expected within each answer. Keep your answer to the length of the space provided. Avoid over-answering the short answer questions as only the maximum marks indicated can be awarded. This strategy will also help with time management within this Section of the examination. Do not answer with dot points and, where possible, answer simply with direct quotes, statistics, etc., from the texts to support your answer rather than elaborated or lengthy paraphrasing / rewriting. The second part of the Core Section is worth 10 marks and traditionally has addressed the part 3 of the Core Syllabus Investigating, Reconstructing and Preserving the Past. Questions have traditionally assessed conservation, preservation and heritage issues. This extended response will ask for you to use your own knowledge and one or several of the sources from the Source Booklet. The extended response will need you to integrate the sources specifically cited in the question. If you do not include evidence from all the sources referred to in the question asked, then the Marking Criteria will not allow the Markers to award full marks for this response. Remember that you need to do more than quote at the end of a paragraph or retell the sources. The sources need to be integrated within your answer to provide evidence of your argument. Be clear when using a source from the Source Book with statements such as; As shown by Source A, or Source A clearly demonstrates. Remember to clearly quote from a source through the use of quotation marks and including the source in brackets after the quote. For example, Tourism creates destruction. (Source A) This question requires that students demonstrate a use of own knowledge to answer this question. Any information from historians, archaeologists, archaeological sources or written sources, which is not provided in any source from the Source Book, falls under the own knowledge category. To obtain full marks then this own knowledge information needs to also be incorporated within the answer. Section II: Ancient Societies (25 marks) Students have a choice of question in this section. The class teacher has already made the choice of which Ancient Society you have studied. Only one question is to be answered in this Section. Each question comprises up to four or five parts. All of the parts within a question are compulsory and together add up to 25 marks. The parts will be labelled (a), (b), (c), etc. -- with marks increasing from the lowest for the first to the highest for the last part. All parts for this question should be written in order together in a separate writing book. Students are required to clearly label the part that they are answering. It is recommended that students leave two lines between each part. As with the Core Section, even if the question is worth 2 marks do not give answers in dot points. The Marking Criteria will not enable an answer in dot points to be awarded full marks. This Section will require students to be able to demonstrate an understanding about specific historical facts and concepts that are unique to this Ancient Society. Be sure to be able to define each term that appears within the syllabus as these often appear as definition questions within this section. The last part of this Section could be worth 12 or 15 marks (this will vary depending on whether there are five or four parts respectively). The last part is an extended response. There may be a source provided which the question will ask you to refer to in your answer. To achieve full marks in this Section, students must take the time to plan an answer. Your answer is expected to be in essay form and demonstrate that it is a well-structured, coherent argument or judgement supported by precise, detailed, relevant historical examples. To demonstrate structure also ensure that paragraphs are used in the answer. The two essentials of the Ancient Societies section is first, mastering the content, and second, the ability to apply that knowledge in across all parts when answering the question. Be sure to undertake practice writing using previous HSC questions. Timing is very important in this Section. Use the marks as a guide as to how much time you need to spend on answering a part. Getting the right balance between what is required for a question worth 2 marks and then for a question worth 6 marks, requires an understanding of the examiners requirements and significant practice to get that right in the time allowed.
Section III: Personalities in their Times (25 marks) Students have a choice of question in this section. The class teacher has already made the choice of which Personality you have studied. (Usually the Personality will fit into either the Ancient Society or the Historical Period studied.) Only one question is to be answered in this Section. Part III consists of two separate parts; (a) and (b), for each of the twelve personalities listed in the syllabus for study. Both parts (a) and (b) need to be answered in a separate answer writing book. Students may use as many answer writing booklets, as they need to answer the question. Part (a) is worth 10 marks and part (b) is worth 15 marks. Both (a) and (b) parts within a question are compulsory and together add up to 25 marks. Any of the dot points within the syllabus may be examined. However it is impossible for all of the dot points to be addressed. Rarely are stimulus sources provided in this Section and if they are they are most often literary sources. Part (a) usually asks students to describe a period in the individual personality s life or describe the role they played in their historical time period. Be sure to break down the question in your opening phrase in order to define it in relation to your chosen study -- for example, if the question says Describe how Hatshepsut became Pharaoh, you could begin with: Hatshepsut s rise to the position of pharaoh began with (insert event)... This allows the marker to see that you understand the core demand of the question and will structure your response accordingly. This strategy will also help a student keep to the set question and not spin off on a tangent that does not award marks. Part (b) asks students to demonstrate that they can make a judgement and will begin with words such as to what extend, assess or evaluate this is a higher order question and is reflected by the Marking Criteria. It is harder to receive full marks in this part. Better answers set their own criteria for judgement and consider to what extent interpretations of your personality have changed over time. This consideration should revolve around the existing historical debate. Reference to Historians is very important if aiming for a Band 6. It is very important that students have a range of both modern and classical historians as evidence. Also students need to address the interpretive disputes (differences of interpretation and opinion) relating to your chosen personality. Remember that all sources have perspective and better answers address this within their discussion. Don t forget that every personality has a broader historical context and it often helps, therefore, to consider the debate in light of this context. Section IV: Historical Periods (25 marks) There will be two (essay) questions offered for each of the sixteen Historical Periods of study. Students have a choice in this section and must answer one question -- either (a) or (b). This is to be answered in essay format. Essay writing is a skill that requires a substantial amount of practice. Addressing past HSC questions and writing answers to these by hand in 45 minutes is essential to refine technique. These questions will require higher order thinking as they will be asking students to assess, evaluate or show judgement through a to what extent question. It is recommended that this be a part of study. The more practice you have on writing timed essays the better you will become at addressing the marking criteria. Students must be very familiar with the key features section of the syllabus. Your essay question will require you to consider the study as a whole so ensure knowledge of each section. The question will be asking about continuity and change, essentially cause and effects or developments of historical concepts, rather than offer only glimpses into parts of the period. Do not gamble on the questions being from only two of the key features and, as a consequence, study only two. The questions are more likely to come from the key features and there is nothing to prevent the examiners from asking two questions from one key feature. It is very important to take the time to plan an answer for this Section. The key is to have a comprehensive knowledge base and the ability to apply that knowledge in a carefully structured, coherent and well-supported argument / analysis / evaluation, etc. On the HSC Examination it clearly states: In your answer you will be assessed on how well you: demonstrate historical knowledge and understanding relevant to the question, use relevant sources to support your response, communicate ideas and information using historical terms and concepts appropriately, present a sustained, logical and cohesive response. The more details that are address demonstrate a superior student knowledge base
and this then leads to a greater ability to offer explanation and argument. Every point of argument should be supported with detailed, accurate and relevant historical evidence such as archaeological, classical writing and modern sources. Use published historians and archaeologists to support your argument. Do not quote from textbook writers. However, do not defer responsibility of your argument to a quote. The Marker can only mark what you have written in your answer and can never guess what you mean. Better responses will include historiography where there is a debate pertinent to the question. HSC Markers are always looking to award marks not take marks away. Good luck with your exam preparations! TSFX More subject specific advice will be issued to students at our Trial Exam Revision Lectures.