History Special Topic

curtains

First off, congrats to the Leaving Certs and no I don't expect any replies to this thread tonight!

Going into 5th year and I have to do a special topic for History. I want to do something a bit different that's not your normal Himmler/Michael Collins/Battle (insert here).... but that's still quite interesting, perferably a perosnality. That said I'd like it to be smeone that a perspective examier will have heard of.

I ahve no problem writing or researching it but I just can't think of anything that jumps out at me, any suggestions anyone?


Thanks.

the tipster

D-day

newgrange

Why would it have to be someone the examiner has heard of?

How about some solid research, spending time in archives and museums, not just with books?

How about something like a selection of soldiers from your area who died in the First World War**?

Social and political reasons why Irish soldiers fought in the first war, their regiments, the battles they died in, where (if anywhere) they are commemorated, Ireland's attitude towards the Irish dead of the First War...etc.

I haven't been involved in LC history for a couple of years, and not so far with the new syllabus, but would that sort of thing be appropriate?

**edit** or similar in WWII

segadreamcast

I did Oscar Wilde's final years (bought loads of books on the topic and met Wilde's grandson) and my teacher loved it...

...Having said that, I just got a C2 so...

rosa

I based my special topic on the subject of Irish soldiers in WWI like newgrange suggested. Once I started researching it I realised that it's such a broad topic that the best thing to do was narrow it down as much as possible. Ended up writing about the execution of Irish soldiers by the British army during the war. I think that's the best way to go about it, start out with a general topic, read up on it then follow up on something that's only mentioned briefly but that interests you. Worked for me anyway!

curtains

Do you know I actually thoguht about the local soldiers thing, but to my great surprise when I looked it up there were very few, if any, from my area who left.
Actually I'd be interested in doing something regarding the war of independance/civil war or the early free state period. As I said preferably I'd like a particular person. Perhaps one of the leaders of the 1916 rising, do any strike anyone as particularly interesting or ecentric apart from the obvious Dev/Countess Markevich etc. (who we're not actually allowed to use). Revolutionary or Stalinist Russian also interests me but I know few personalities who come under those topics.

Gileadi

personally i did de valeras role in the 1916 rising and from reading some of the books out there i think you might struggle to get a good 3-4 pages on some of the lesser known leaders

even people like eoin mac neill,bulmer hobson,clark etc wouldnt have nearly the back catalogue of reference material as de valera,connolly,pearse

Dagnir Glaurung

Do Rasputin. Everyone loves Rasputin.

Vainglory

Do it on the obstruction Parnell and Co. did in the Westminster parliament. They held up business for whole days at a time.

I wanted to do that, but then I was too lazy and just stole someone else's.

Dinxminx

I did Erwin Rommel -- you know, the desert fox? -- and it was really interesting. Having said that I love reading about crazy military strategies and this dude was awesome. He crept up on a village with only six other men at night and fired at it from all different directions, and at dawn he went up into the village and told the garrison there (about 1000 soldiers) that they were surrounded. They all surrendered. How cool is that? Also how he died is really sad, and he was a great guy-- he just happened to fight for the germans, but he wasn't a nazi. I'd really recommend him!

Macka

I did the battle of Kursk, largest tank battle ever, which was the last roll of the dice for the Nazis in Russia, if they'd won there was a good chance the war in the east could've been saved. Of course they lost but it was an interesting topic.
Another one I'd considered doing (and wish I had) was on the liberation of Caen (one of the unreached objectives of D-day). It was liberated by some division from Ireland, that's why I thought it might have been a good idea.

d4gurl

omg im going to sixth year i have spent the whole summer dossin and u a fourth year goin into fifth year jus reminded me that i have a special topic to do ahh crap!!! oh and here some new information:

The New History Course for Leaving Certificate.

What students need to know.



OLD and NEW

This new Course was introduced this September 2004 for the first time.

In the old exam, students had to write FIVE essays in 3 hours and 20 minutes

In the new exam, students have to answer THREE essays and answer ONE question on DOCUMENTS.

In the old exam, students did a RESEARCH TOPIC, memorized it and then wrote it in the actual exam.

In this new system, ALL students MUST do a RESEARCH TOPIC

The RESEARCH TOPIC will now be written and submitted BEFORE the actual exam



TOPICS TO STUDY

The following is a list of the topics that students may study. ONE topic is compulsory as this is the one that you shall be getting your DOCUMENTS Questions from. You then have to study THREE more topics. Your teacher will decide which topic to study!



IRISH TOPICS.

You MUST study TWO of these. Click on a topic for more detail. Topic 2 is COMPULSORY for the Documents Question for the Exams of 2006 and 2007.

IRELAND from 1815 to 1870

IRELAND from 1870 to 1914

IRELAND from 1912 to 1949

IRISH PEOPLE OVERSEAS 1840 to 1966

NORTHERN IRELAND from 1949 to 1993

IRELAND from 1949 to 1989



EUROPEAN TOPICS.

You MUST study TWO of these.

EUROPE from 1815 to 1871

EUROPE from 1871 to 1920

EUROPE from 1920 to 1945

EUROPE from 1945 to 1992

ERA OF DECOLONISATION 1945-1990

USA from 1945 to 1989



SOURCES OF INFORMATION

In this new course you will have more opportunities to examine both Primary and Secondary Sources such as old NEWSPAPERS, old PHOTOS, LETTERS, DIARIES etc....

You shall still use a TEXT-BOOK but will also make greater use of the vast amount of great information available on the INTERNET and in various TV DOCUMENTARIES

I shall also be developing a student-centred website which may also be of assistance to students.

Dave!

I did one on D-day in 5th year, but it was atrocious, so I scrapped it and I did a new one on Oscar Schindler(ever see the film Schindler's List?). I had to dedicate a lot of time to it and it nearly killed me, but it was very interesting and I have to say I enjoyed writing it(not in the exam, lol). I thought it was a brilliant idea, my brother thought of it. I don't think I've heard of anyone doing it before, but it's something most people will be familiar with somewhat. Another idea he gave me but which I wasn't too enthusiastic about, although you may be, was Leni Riefenstahl. She was a film-maker who made lots of propaganda movies and documentaries for the Nazis. Maybe?

Let us know what you decide on anywho!

Droogie

I did German Military Official and 'organiser' of the Holocaust, Adolf Eichmann. An interesting chap with loads of info about him around the place. My title was "The life of Adolf Eichmann" and it suited me grand. So if you're into the Nazi's, do something like that, a fringe/less well known but still important character. And most of all, good luck with it.

StickyMcGinty

i got an A1 2 years ago, my special topic was the LuftWaffe - 1939-44.... interesting stuff, and there's bucketloads on the luftwaffe off the net!!!

dont go anywhere near irish history for your topic, so hard to get stuff off the net you'll be solely relyin on books

curtains

DaveMcG wrote:

I did one on D-day in 5th year, but it was atrocious, so I scrapped it and I did a new one on Oscar Schindler(ever see the film Schindler's List?). I had to dedicate a lot of time to it and it nearly killed me, but it was very interesting and I have to say I enjoyed writing it(not in the exam, lol). I thought it was a brilliant idea, my brother thought of it. I don't think I've heard of anyone doing it before, but it's something most people will be familiar with somewhat. Another idea he gave me but which I wasn't too enthusiastic about, although you may be, was Leni Riefenstahl. She was a film-maker who made lots of propaganda movies and documentaries for the Nazis. Maybe?

Let us know what you decide on anywho!

that actually sounds like a really good idea, did you mind me asking if you think you got high marks for it?

Dave!

Not really, to be honest I got a C1 overall, but at the start of the exam, I just started writing it really quickly cos I was panicked, so I left out some bits, got bits jumbled up, etc., and it was really messy too. It got better towards the end, though. I thought the essay was actually quite good, and I spent ages learning it all off, it was just cos I'm a slow writer, so I panicked in the exam.
I can email it to you if you're interested(have it typed up already), and you can have a look-see. PM me with your email address if you like

BTW, I have this book at home, which my brother bought for me, and it cost a fortune, like €60, maybe cos it's a big hefty book, so shipping, etc., added loads. I'm not sure, my brother might wanna read it, but I could sell that to you for cheaper than on the internet, if you want it(again, not sure if he'll want it or what). I personally didn't find it terribly useful, though(gotta be honest, I'm not a businessman:p). It was full to the brim with information and facts and figures, but the way it was written and laid out made it very disengaging, so I didn't use it as much as I maybe could have. It's very detailed, though. While I didn't use it much, you or someone else might prefer this kind of book rather than say a superficial synopsis of his life.

ps. you can't get the book over here(or any bio on Schindler, actually, lol), believe me I've rang up every bookshop I know!

d4gurl

guys erm wat do i do for mine! im clueless id love to just steal some ones ohh i hate research dis is y i want to drop history!!help!!

StickyMcGinty

help?? you've a year to do it calm down ye mad thing!

you can do it on anything ye want, just has to be within the years of the course

d4gurl

yeh but how am i meant to calm down when someone in 5th year is worrying aobut it and i had forgotten all about it till this thread was published! and i dont have a year i have less than 9 months! cuz we have to give ours in earlier!!ahh!!

Pitseleh

The "Battle of...." needn't really be a humdrum and ordinary topic, just do a relatively obscure one. I started off with the Battle of the Somme and ended up doing one on the Bzura Counter-Offensive - a counter-offensive by a division of the Polish army upon the Nazi invasion. I came across it by accident when I stumbled across a book chronicling the Nazi-Polish war which is generally reduced in History books to three or four sentences. It turned out to be really interesting and informing - y'know all the stories of the Polish armies attacking tanks on horseback? Turned out 'twasn't like that and the story was perpetuated by Nazi propaganda and fillums.
Also, an more obscure research topic would interest the marker who'd be sick to death of "the usual ones" I'd have thought.

d4gurl

yeh ill start researchin that thanks a million!do u mind me askin how u did?cheers again

Corruptedmorals

Eh, I've just started 5th year after TY and I don't know what I'm gonna do yet. Some of the 6th years have good ones, Night of the Long Knives, Kristallnacht, Titanic, Tom Crean, The Desert Fox, Battle of Britain, Auschwitz...can't remember anymore.

You should pick something you;re interested in, not something that's going to be made worse because you have no interedt in it! Personally I'll probably go with Kristallnacht, I find it very interesting..

Pitseleh

d4gurl wrote:

yeh ill start researchin that thanks a million!do u mind me askin how u did?cheers again

Well if you're talking 'bout my Bzura Counter Offensive thing get yourself "Poland 1939 - The Birth Of Blitzkrieg" by Steven J. Zaloga. It chronicles the entire Nazi overrunning of Poland in 90 readable pages with clear diagrams. You may even find an aspect of the war more interesting to you.

Again, if your post refers to mine, I got a HB3 - an ickle disappointed (I don't mean to sound arrogant or anything - it was a worse result than previous history exams) but 'twas my seventh subject and I really lacked enthusiasm for it towards the end of sixth year - I hated the "5 essays in 200 minutes" idea, the new course seems more user-friendly.

curtains

Thanks everyone, i've actually picked my topic now - Kevin O' Higgins.

Cheers!

d4gurl

Pitseleh wrote:

Well if you're talking 'bout my Bzura Counter Offensive thing get yourself "Poland 1939 - The Birth Of Blitzkrieg" by Steven J. Zaloga. It chronicles the entire Nazi overrunning of Poland in 90 readable pages with clear diagrams. You may even find an aspect of the war more interesting to you.

Again, if your post refers to mine, I got a HB3 - an ickle disappointed (I don't mean to sound arrogant or anything - it was a worse result than previous history exams) but 'twas my seventh subject and I really lacked enthusiasm for it towards the end of sixth year - I hated the "5 essays in 200 minutes" idea, the new course seems more user-friendly.

yeh i was tlkin to ya! you kno i always loved history for the JC i got an A but i jus tink there is too much work load this year....even though the coruse is meant to be easier now its still all new and i hate that! Im thinking of pickin up accounting instead or as an 8th subject! I jus want a quick easy topic because ill be spendin a lot of time pickin accountin up!tanks for all the help!

InFront

Most of the examiners have been examining for years, and they've been listening to research from the same era all of that time - they're sick of it! Personally, I did mine on Baldur von Scirach and the Hitler Youth, but I wouldn't recommend it for newbies. Go outside of the old course to spice things up a bit for the examiner. An old workhouse in your area, for example - make it very original.

newgrange

..and use as many primary sources as you can. Do some real research - don't just take it from books other people have written.

Funkstard

Who's doing it on Titanic!? My teacher told us it had to be something important and influential in history. Would doing it on the Titanic be acceptable? If so I could have it done in a day

Sfix

Im having loads of trouble trying to think of a special topic. The only thing I can think of is the Magdalen Launderies. Would that be a good thing to do?

d4gurl

I'm thinking world war one! Some significant event....there is nothing about world war one in our history books... so I don't know! I found a really usefull section of my history book (modern europe and democracy.....by dermot Lucey) that explains all aobut the new research topic and what to do! I'm so tempted to steal their special topic its just staring at me telling me to copy it!

patzer117

I did my special topic on a guy called Albert Speer, the little known Armaments minister for the Third Reich. And Hitler's 'idol'. And the man who single-handedly prolonged world war 2 for over 2 years. And Hitler's chief Architect. And lots more... A bit like Leni Riefenstahl only more fascinating, inticate and mind boggling. A great topic if ever there was one...

Oh, and I got the A1

Dinner

I am doing a double agent in WW2, Garbo. He was one of the huge reasons as to why D-Day suceeded.

Rredwell

I did my special study topic on the Galway - Clifden Railway (1895 - 1935), as transport history interests me, and it was local. I recently went to view my scripts and I got 80 out of 80 for it, which was cool. Overall, I got a B2.

To whoever asked about the Magdalen Laundries: bear in mind that the course is 1870-1970 (at least it was in the old course), so if you can keep it before 1970, stroic leat. It's very controversial, so you should have no problem.

Sfix

what about the Einsatzgruppen? they were a group within the SS that were resposible for some of the worst Jewish killings :cool:

Funkstard

I've found someone to do it on - Grigori Rasputin. He was killed just before the Tsars were overthrown so it just covers the dates of study on the course. I'm so happy I've found something to do it on!

Quick question - What length are the finished topics usually?

Dave!

Mine was about 7 A4 pages

Dave!

d4gurl wrote:

I'm thinking world war one! Some significant event....there is nothing about world war one in our history books... so I don't know! I found a really usefull section of my history book (modern europe and democracy.....by dermot Lucey) that explains all aobut the new research topic and what to do! I'm so tempted to steal their special topic its just staring at me telling me to copy it!

That's way too broad, matey, sorry. Do something within the context of WW1, like weaponry, or advances in weaponry or something like that. Just WW1 -- way too broad.

Dagnir Glaurung

Funkstard wrote:

I've found someone to do it on - Grigori Rasputin. He was killed just before the Tsars were overthrown so it just covers the dates of study on the course. I'm so happy I've found something to do it on!

Quick question - What length are the finished topics usually?

I'm doing Rasputin too (well, his death anyway). Pretty interesting guy. For higher level it's supposed to be 1500 words.

Funkstard

Thats what is amazing about him - the bollocks just refused to die!

d4gurl

DaveMcG wrote:

That's way too broad, matey, sorry. Do something within the context of WW1, like weaponry, or advances in weaponry or something like that. Just WW1 -- way too broad.

yeh i know - Ive changed my mind im thinkin Lord haw haw - William Joyce - its really interesting stuff i was watchin a programme aobut it earlier! I'm going to do like The life of William Joyce during World war two! But i hope too many people havnt written about him! Funkstard we can do it on any period of history

Funkstard

Really? Féck sake, my teacher told us it had to be on something that happened within the years of study, and that it must be significant. Thats why I wondered about someone doing the Titanic

Dave!

It does! It has to be from about 1870 to 1970, and it has to be Irish or European history(ie. not American or Asian or Australian)! I don't know how significant Titanic was on a political scale, though... Maybe ask your teachers or somethin. My friend did his on the sinking of the Lusitania -- that might be more the kind of thing you should do. I dunno, ask a few teachers.

Riveta

so you can do it on any part of the course? would someting like the fall of communism or how the soviet satellites gained independance be suitable??

Dave!

Yeah that's more like it Although "the fall of communism" is still a bit vague... should be alright I guess. Maybe "X's role in the fall of communism" would be safer. I think there are people in the Dept. of Education that you can ring about this, actually. I did grinds in Ashfield and the teacher rang up someone to make sure something about my topic was ok. Might have just been a teacher friend, though.

d4gurl

the course has changed dave!!are u doin ur leavin dis year???

Funkstard

I am so confused with history its unbelievable. I can't wait until I get the past papers so I can whittle down what I'll need to study.











Wait...........there are no past papers! ****! AAARRRRRGGHHH!!!!

d4gurl

I loved history for the JC! But I regret picking it for the LC!! If I can pick up accounting easily for these first two weeks of school then it is bye bye History!!wooo!! I refuse to do eight subjects! I'll be doing eight for the first two weeks of school starting tomorrow but after that I'm going to drop either history of accounting!

curtains

I know the history teachers here in donegal have an in-service day about this in october where they meet with one of the chief examiners. I presume everyone's teachers will have these and if you have any questions make sure they raise them on the day.

Dave!

d4gurl wrote:

the course has changed dave!!are u doin ur leavin dis year???

Ahh fook, lol.

Disregard everything I've ever said with regards history

What's on the course now? You guys aren't doing the Reformation, Martin Luther, and all that ghey stuff, are ye? Cos that sucks BIGTIME, if ye are!

Funkstard

Nope, you choose what periods of history you want to study with your teacher to an extent. We're doing i)the movement for home rule 1870 - 1916, the Free State & partition 1922 - 1945, and Europe and the Modern World which covers European & later on American studies which goes from 1911 or so to 1992. I think we picked the American topic in Modern Europe.... too.

Does anyone realise we have a good bit of the test already known? The special topic, and the document has to be about the GAA or the Lockout