The History Exam

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The History Exam

• Germany
• 1 hour and 15 minutes
• 4 questions

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The History Exam

• This paper is about
• What happened
• How it happened
• Why it happened

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The History Exam

• Show what you know, not what you dont know.

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• Question 14 marks
• Question 2 (a choice) .. 9 marks
• Question 3 or 4 (choose) 12 marks
• Question 5 or 6
• (a choice)25 marks!!!
• 5a or 6a 9 marks
• 5b or 6b 16 marks

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STEP ONE

• Read all the questions

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STEP TWO

• Do question 5 or 6 first.
• EITHER 5a and 5b
• OR 6a and 6b
• NOT a mixture of 5 and 6

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STEP THREE

• Read the question carefully.
• Read the question again.
• Read the question again and make sure you are
  clear what is being asked.

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STEP FOUR

• Note down your main points.
• Get ideas from the facts given but mainly from
  your own knowledge.

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STEP FIVE

• PFE
• Point Facts Explanation

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STEP SIX

• Start writing.
• First sentence
• your main point.

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Question 5a/6a

• 9 marks not more than 10 minutes
• You will be asked to describe something

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Describe

• This means the examiner is looking for a concise
  account that is organised.
• Jot down three or four points that you want to
  include. Arrange them in the most logical order.

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Question 5b/6b

• 16 marks not more than 20 minutes
• This asks for your opinion. Do you agree?

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Do you agree?

• You are free to agree, disagree, or partly agree
  and disagree.
• What makes a difference is how well you back up
  your case.
• Point Fact - Explanation

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Do you agree?

• Give points for and against.
• Back up your points with facts you know.
• Give a conclusion explaining your point of view.
• Check spelling, punctuation and grammar because
  they count in this question.

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Now for the other questions

• Go backwards through the paper.

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Question 3 or 4

• You choose one of these.
• It may be a why? question or an in what way?
  question.
• No more than 15 minutes on this question.

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why? in what way?

• Make notes of the main points you want to use.
• Decide a logical order for your points.
• Back up your points with factual evidence either
  from your knowledge or the examples they give.

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Question 2

• You get two topics and you can choose one.
• This is an explain how? question.

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Question 2

• The examiner is trying to discover if you
  understand the key elements in the history of
  Germany. The more detail you give, the more marks
  you will get.
• But spend no more than 10 minutes on this
  question

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Question 1

• Spend 5 to 10 minutes on this.
• It is a What can you learn? question with one
  source.

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Question 1

• What the source tells you
• What you can infer
• Any relevant points about the origin of the
  source.

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At the end

• Go back through carefully, reading what you have
  written and making corrections.