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Trying to pick a History special topic. Any ideas?

Scarface · 2005-02-23 18:30:09

Trying to pick a good leaving cert special topic. Does anyone have any suggestions? Was thinking about something in WW2, but not sure. http://www.boards.ie/vbulletin/newthread.php?do=newthread&f=330# Confused

23-02-2005 7:30pm

#1

Scarface

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Trying to pick a good leaving cert special topic. Does anyone have any suggestions? Was thinking about something in WW2, but not sure. http://www.boards.ie/vbulletin/newthread.php?do=newthread&f=330#
Confused

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#2 23-02-2005 9:46pm

Dinner

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Is there any particular area you are interested in about WW2, you could try El Alemain or a part of D-Day or Kursk. I suppose you could do Rommel or another General if you are interested in any of them.

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#3 24-02-2005 2:15pm

PHB

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I recommend something like Mussolinis rescue by Hitler from the allies in WW2.
I did Hitler in WW1.
Its very important thaat you dont do anything which has any relevance whatsoever to a question you might want to anwser

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#4 27-02-2005 5:27pm

Cousin it

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ist aslo important thta youu kan spel corectly in yer test. PHB - try lurnin unglich bee4 poastin :rolleyes: :mad: :cool:

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#5 27-02-2005 8:48pm

PHB

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Indeed, its actually to do with my spacebar unfortunately, can't afford a new one, want to buy me one

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#6 27-02-2005 9:11pm

AllStar

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pick somthing off the wall because then the examiner wont know anything about it and will prop just give u full marks. i did "new weapons and technology of ww1" went back to look at my paper and i had got full marks
best of luck :cool:

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#7 28-02-2005 1:30am

fade2black

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I did a nice tasty one on the siege of Waterford during the Irish Civil war. I presume the examiner didn't know anything about it and probably didn't care so I got an honour.

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#8 01-03-2005 12:37am

Chinafoot

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yea i did the Sack of Balbriggan and got full marks. Was able to get loads of info also because its a local topic......the guy in the library does like to waffle though!

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#9 03-03-2005 12:35am

regeneration

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If you want to do ww2, then I suggest steering clear of any "popular" aspects of the war; D-day, stalingrad etc; perhaps instead write something on the invasion of Poland (you would get much kudos for dispelling the "polish cavalry" myth) or France, or the longest conflict of the entire war: the Finnish-Soviet conflict...

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#10 11-03-2005 3:13pm

ionapaul

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I spent a few summers correcting history papers for the Dept. of Education, and if you want my advice, go for a local topic as fade2black and peachypants did. A friend did the life of Noel Browne for his LC, the man himself lived in the country and was willing to be interviewed, great angle to take TBH.

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#11 11-03-2005 8:54pm

PHB

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But don't do anythign that limits you in your course in general.
For example don't do a project on DeValera in the 30's since you could then not do a question in the exam on it

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#12 11-03-2005 9:07pm

Mark

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I recommend something like Mussolinis rescue by Hitler from the allies in WW2.

I did that very topic (having steeled the idea off someone from this forum in an old thread of this) and it served me well. Good topic, not an over-abundance of information on it though. Starting 5 minutes early in the exam helped too.

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#13 11-03-2005 9:14pm

Dub13

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I recommend The Lost Colony At Roanoke it would be abit unusual and it should stand out.

some links
http://www.nationalcenter.org/ColonyofRoanoke.html
http://www.coastalguide.com/packet/lostcolony01.htm

and this one is very intresting...

The Melungeons
http://members.aol.com/bbbenge/page15.html

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#14 11-03-2005 11:51pm

Leisha101

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Hiya, im in the middle of looking for someone for my special topic 2 and we have a great teacher.. her best advice was to pick someone really obscure but important.. Enrico Fermi is a great one!!! he invented the atomic bomb and lived in italy under mussolini and had to flee because his wife was jewish!! if he hadnt fled hitler would have more than likely been able to use the atomic bomb in ww2!! i thought u miht like this idea as you suggested ww2... just a though.. (",)

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#15 12-03-2005 2:03am

Dub13

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In 1587, over 100 men, women and children journeyed from Britain to Roanoke Island on North Carolina’s coast and established the first English settlement in America. Within three years, they had vanished with scarcely a trace. England’s initial attempt at colonization of the New World was a disaster, and one of America’s most enduing legends was born.

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#16 21-03-2005 1:41am

F Fiesta

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I find it a great pity that the History honours paper is set out in the way that it is. It might have changed since the last 2 years, but when I was studying history in school I just knew I wouldn't be able for the honours paper. All the other subjects, perfect (to a certain extent) but this one was tough.

Time limit being the biggest concern. 4 or 5 essays in a very limited amount of time is pathetic. How is one supposed to enjoy the subject with such constraints? Goes for all subjects really. I would have loved to have done the special topic, pity.

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#17 21-03-2005 2:28pm

regeneration

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F Fiesta wrote:

I find it a great pity that the History honours paper is set out in the way that it is. It might have changed since the last 2 years, but when I was studying history in school I just knew I wouldn't be able for the honours paper. All the other subjects, perfect (to a certain extent) but this one was tough.

Time limit being the biggest concern. 4 or 5 essays in a very limited amount of time is pathetic. How is one supposed to enjoy the subject with such constraints? Goes for all subjects really. I would have loved to have done the special topic, pity.

That's cos the Leaving Cert is a (speed writing) memory test - nothing more - nothing less.

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#18 21-03-2005 2:40pm

spooydermot

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peachypants wrote:

yea i did the Sack of Balbriggan and got full marks. Was able to get loads of info also because its a local topic......the guy in the library does like to waffle though!

Just came across this thread and thought i'd throw my tuppence in, most likely a bit late though...

I did the exact same topic , and went to the exact same source, Jim in Balbriggan library, to be honest though he's a fantastic source of knowledge on local history.

I've been told by a few sources (a few different history teachers and leaving cert survivors) that they like to see 'local history' topics done, it shows a willingness to dig into a topic (or to listen to a local librarian)

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#19 21-03-2005 4:40pm

Dinner

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F Fiesta wrote:

I find it a great pity that the History honours paper is set out in the way that it is. It might have changed since the last 2 years, but when I was studying history in school I just knew I wouldn't be able for the honours paper. All the other subjects, perfect (to a certain extent) but this one was tough.

Time limit being the biggest concern. 4 or 5 essays in a very limited amount of time is pathetic. How is one supposed to enjoy the subject with such constraints? Goes for all subjects really. I would have loved to have done the special topic, pity.

For the leaving '06 it is changing I think its down to 2 or 3 essays written in the exam and you research topic handed in before the exam. I'm happy, there is no way I could write 4 - 5 essays in a couple of hours.

EDIT: It is probably right to do someone obscure yet important, thats what I've settled on. Examiners probably get bored reading the same topics year in year out.

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#20 21-03-2005 4:50pm

TrickyDicky

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I did "the Rape of Europa", the cultural devestation left in the wake of WW2, it was pretty hard but it helped get me an A1 . Btw it was really interesting, covering such topics as the fate of Europes prized art work and famous monuments.

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#21 22-03-2005 12:39pm

Nuttzz

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I did the "History of the Irish Army in WW2" real facts and figures stuff, you find a good source of infomation to start with here http://www.military.ie/introduction/history.htm It got me an A2 in 92, happy days

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#22 22-03-2005 5:13pm

F Fiesta

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Jees,

Doing it in '92 must have been pretty difficult considering the availability of information to students today?

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#23 23-03-2005 5:49am

billy the squid

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I did rural electrification of Ireland and and wrote about the conparison between life before and after electricity, as well as people's misconceptions about electrical power. The ESB was a good source of information.

it was the part of the history paper where I got the highest marks.

that was back in 1995 I had to write to them, although you might be able to find most of the stuff on the web nowadays.

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#24 24-03-2005 2:02am

ozt9vdujny3srf

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I did Gheorgy Zhukov and i found at times getting good sources apart from books on stalingrad was a wee bit difficult.

I ended up getting a lot of the stuff from a massive tome about him that was written in the 60's. Library > Interweb btw folks.

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#25 25-03-2005 3:13am

Nuttzz

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F Fiesta wrote:

Jees,

Doing it in '92 must have been pretty difficult considering the availability of information to students today?

dont know how, its the same information but its on the net now, "back in my day" information like that was in books, the net is a glorified book...

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#26 25-03-2005 1:29pm

Dub13

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Arabel wrote:

EDIT: It is probably right to do someone obscure yet important, thats what I've settled on. Examiners probably get bored reading the same topics year in year out.

Your right....as I said above do it on something strange like

The Lost Colony At Roanoke

Or better still do it on The Melungeons...its a great story

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#27 25-03-2005 2:57pm

REDZ

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try to do it on something your interested in or something that might be useful for you in the future.
I did mine on the on leon trotskys role in the russian civil war, am still glad i did as he was one of the few decent communists and i'm glad i know about him.

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#28 25-03-2005 3:42pm

tim3115

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Decent communists

hahahaha

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#29 30-03-2005 1:18am

GusherING

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I did the Battle of Stalingrad, easy to do and a great quote I used to describe the death. "The street was no longer measured in yards but in corpses". By a German Lieutenant. I got 79 out of 80!!!!!!!!!!! Oh yeah, try to get your hands on a copy of Purnells History of the 20th Century, a serial published in the 70's. Luckily, my dad was an avid collecter and I have about 2 dozen large volumes of it. Covers everything in WWII, try your library, its an indespensible series of books for a special study topic. I can't recommend it enough.

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#30 13-04-2005 12:43am

foxybrowne

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Try "Hitlers Irish Voices", a book about the Nazi propaganda station broadcasting to Ireland in Irish during WWII. I got an A1 in LC history.

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#31 19-04-2005 10:41pm

RagShagBill

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I plan on doing mine on the 1968 Paris Student Revolt. I have about 6 sources on it, but finding it pretty hard to find some primary ones. Le Monde's archive doesn't go back that far, so I'll have to settle with articles from Time Magazine and the UK Times.

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#32 28-04-2005 2:46am

DadaKopf

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RagShagBill wrote:

I plan on doing mine on the 1968 Paris Student Revolt. I have about 6 sources on it, but finding it pretty hard to find some primary ones. Le Monde's archive doesn't go back that far, so I'll have to settle with articles from Time Magazine and the UK Times.

Excellent! There's some great books and web sources about that. I honestly wouldn't delve in deeper than you need to in order to get three or four pages written. I think the key to writing about the 1968 revolt would be to set the general context in which it happened (post-war economic prosperity, consumerism, political and cultural disillusionment, disillusionment with post-Yalta international world-order, ascendency of left-wing critical philosphers) and the fallout from it (general strike and repercussive protests around the industrialised world). Then you could just explain the sequence of events that led to it - Cohn Bendit etc. Interesting that some of its ideologues, the Situationist International, were inspired by the Paris Commune of 1871, and that the motives that underlay the 1968 revolt are being reinterpreted for today's context. So it's a good topic.

If I was 17/18 again, I'd be doing my special topic on this.

You can PM me for books, info etc if you want. What sources have you got so far?

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#33 04-05-2005 10:36pm

beanyb

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RagShagBill wrote:

I plan on doing mine on the 1968 Paris Student Revolt. I have about 6 sources on it, but finding it pretty hard to find some primary ones. Le Monde's archive doesn't go back that far, so I'll have to settle with articles from Time Magazine and the UK Times.

Doesnt the course end in 1966? They're crazy strict about it being inside course parameters! I did mine on Bloody Sunday in 1921. But didnt think it was that great and did one of the essay questions from section e. Ended up with an a1 so I think it paid off!

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#34 04-05-2005 10:38pm

Dinner

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beanyb wrote:

Doesnt the course end in 1966? They're crazy strict about it being inside course parameters! I did mine on Bloody Sunday in 1921. But didnt think it was that great and did one of the essay questions from section e. Ended up with an a1 so I think it paid off!

Depends what year your in. The new course, which is what 5th years are doing, allows any topic anytime throughout history. There are no more time frames to fit within.

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#35 10-05-2005 7:29pm

chubbenblobb

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Cousin it wrote:

ist aslo important thta youu kan spel corectly in yer test. PHB - try lurnin unglich bee4 poastin :rolleyes: :mad: :cool:

u must be thee most amused person in here., loser

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