Study Tips for History?????

IrishLassie26

History is the one subject I hate to study. Nothing seems to stick unless I spend hours on it. I am mostly worried about writing accounts in the exam as there is such a wide variety. Does anyone have any tips for studying history and how do you study it yourself?

Xgracie

I actually think I've a good method of studying history (although it works for me it mightn't for you) anyway exam papers!!!
Short Qs, picture,document just practice exam papers!
People in history I've a narrowed down list of the ones I'm gonna learn (from looking at past papers etc) which I could pm you later if you want? For those try just learning the keywords
For Q5 I think it'll be revolutions (or exploration maybe?) so look at those previous exam questions to see what you need to know e.g. For revolutions you really just need to know 1
But don't bank on either those make sure all the Q5 topics are fresh in your mind going in
Then Q6 first off pick your questions (Social change, Irish history & international relations appear every year) then study these chapter by chapter, this is what I do: say I'm studying the international relations Q I'll start with the chapter Facist Italy I'll then go through the papers and write out all definitions that have come up for this topic (using marking schemes for help) and then I'll write out every account that's come up for this topic (e-xamit is good for help with these)
I do this for every chapter for the Qs I'm gonna do and then just learn them!
I've a pretty good memory but I realise this method mightn't work for you, I hope I helped pm me if you have any Qs

spurious

The trouble with the social change question is that none of the text books cover it properly, as it really should be done by interviewing an older person who has lived through the changes. People who rely on the text books for answers don't score as well as people who have actually researched it. It's a very poorly answered question, even if it comes up every year.

Xgracie

spurious wrote: »

The trouble with the social change question is that none of the text books cover it properly, as it really should be done by interviewing an older person who has lived through the changes. People who rely on the text books for answers don't score as well as people who have actually researched it. It's a very poorly answered question, even if it comes up every year.

Yeah our class didn't even cover it because there wasn't enough interest! I'm sticking to Irish history and international relations :cool:

yvngceebs

History is really unpredictable, unfortunately. Anything at all could come up and there's so much to learn. However, it is not impossible.

On the exam day itself, I strongly suggest you start with Q6, as this accounts for one-third of the entire paper -- that could change an entire grade! Of course, if you feel more comfortable starting with Q1, by all means, do so.

Exam papers are our best friends at this point. I understand how theory-rich History is and it can be a bore to study, but exam papers work wonders. Go through everything; short questions, documents, sources/picture questions, people in history q's and the longer questions.

I suggest you get a blank A4/A3 page, write, for example "Ancient Rome" in the middle (your class may have done Ancient Greece, I'm not sure) and draw arrows from the centre of the page. Write out all the key definitions and write out all the necessary accounts associated with it (Clothing in Rome/Food & Drink/What the Ancient Romans did for entertainment/The role of women in the household etc) Hopefully on the day of the History exam, you will have a visual image of your mind-map in your head.

I have noticed that part A of Q6 on the paper seems to come from the first-year part of the course quite often. Of course, don't just learn the first year part of the course and expect it to come up, something else could easily reveal itself. Anyways, the social change question, Irish history and International Relations are certain, so it always pays off to know those sections well.

Best of luck with your studies!

IrishLassie26

Thank you all for your help! It seems that I will just have to keep my head down and learn it. As ye have mentioned I will try and predict from past questions and base the accounts on that. I was planning to do Social Change and the 1st or 2nd year question for Q6?? Are these good options or do I need to "upgrade" to a safer question?

Xgracie

IrishLassie26 wrote: »

Thank you all for your help! It seems that I will just have to keep my head down and learn it. As ye have mentioned I will try and predict from past questions and base the accounts on that. I was planning to do Social Change and the 1st or 2nd year question for Q6?? Are these good options or do I need to "upgrade" to a safer question?

Don't do the 1st/2nd year Q!!!! You have 2 other guaranteed questions that you can study what definitely will come up for (from looking at previous accounts) why waste your time going for an unpredictable Q?
Also IMO history is predictable, probably one of the more predictable exams

IrishLassie26

Xgracie wrote: »

Don't do the 1st/2nd year Q!!!! You have 2 other guaranteed questions that you can study what definitely will come up for (from looking at previous accounts) why waste your time going for an unpredictable Q?
Also IMO history is predictable, probably one of the more predictable exams

I was thinking 1st/2nd year question because I would have the 2nd year section revised for Q5 and then I would be left with just 1st year to revise also. At this point though, I`ve changed my mind so many times, God knows what I will end up doing!

VG31

I love history and I enjoy studying most of it. I read history books in my own time outside of school. I did the best in my class in history in the mocks. This is how I study each question:

Q1: You always get pictures A, B and C. Each one has three parts for it. Parts (i) and (ii) can be answered just by looking at the pictures and part (iii) will ask you a question from what you have studied related to that picture. The best thing to do for this question is practice questions in exam papers.

Q2: You will be asked questions on two documents. The last question on each document, again, is from your study of the period but the other parts you should receive full marks in if you can read an extract and answer questions.

Q3: The 20 short-answer questions come from the entire course. You should aim to answer as many as you can. I would recommend answering the ones where there is one straight answer (e.g. Name the leader of the USSR in WWII).

Q4: This should be an easy question to get full marks in as long as you are well-prepared for it. I wouldn't bother learning any of the third year ones, but focus on the second year ones in particular with a few first year ones to cover you.
I would strongly recommend preparing 'A person living in a named ancient civilisation OUTSIDE of Ireland.' as that one is likely to come up.
People in History questions do not have to be long essays. One A4 page is sufficient as long as you are giving valid pieces of historical information and are not rambling. Avoid giving your answers in the first person, otherwise it may become a story.

Q5: This question covers the second year topics. Practice questions in the exam papers for this to familiarise yourself with the type of questions that are asked.

Q6: I would recommend answering C and D as they are definite questions. For D know in detail topics such as D-Day, Operation Barborossa, the Battle of Britain and very importantly a Cold War crisis.
For C, again know topics like the War of Independence, the Civil War, the Home Rule Crisis etc.
I wouldn't do part A unless it happens be be a topic you know well.
Part B - Social Change is often badly answered as it attracts the people who have not studied, so they think they can make up answers on this easily. I would not answer this question unless you know it very well.

I hope this is some help to you. If you want more advice on anything PM me.