Beta History Revision February 2010

A Note to Parents as well as Pupils

• This sheet and the history folder contain all that is required for this exam. 
  (The exam will not test last year’s work.)
• Children are not expected to write practice answers during this half-term.

The Exam is 75 minutes long.

 

Section A:  Evidence Questions (30 minutes)

You will be given a number of unseen sources - i.e. they deal with a topic or information that you may not have encountered before. That is not a problem: you do not need to know about them in advance.  This exercise is a test of your intelligence and the application of the skills we have been developing - not a test of factual knowledge.

 

Section B:  Detailed Knowledge (10 minutes)

This is your opportunity to show detailed knowledge.  You may think of it as a factual gallop.  It tests your ability to retain (remember) a significant amount of information and to record it accurately and swiftly.  You will not be asked for a whole topic here (e.g. Henry II and Becket) as that would take far too long. Instead you will have to choose from a short list of possible parts of topics (e.g. the Constitutions of Clarendon, Henry II’s penance).  The choice will not be especially generous, so revision is important.

 

Section C: Essay (30 minutes)

There will be one essay question.  Your planning will be very important  -  just as on our planning sheet and as we did for our Norman essays.  I’ll be looking for the clear introduction, for topic sentences, for the carefully selected detail to back up your points, and for an intelligent conclusion.  (We have more practice at planning in class before the exam.)

Remember that a scholarship essay is not just about information.  (This is not Section B!) We have spent some time on how to write essays effectively, so look over those points. You must finish the essay, so you must stick to the time limit for your paragraphs.

 

Do revise…but don’t worry!

When you set yourself to revise, use time efficiently!

Useful revision tips

For Section A - look very closely again at the sources in your 1066 pamphlet and elsewhere, to see how we analysed them.  Revise the terms (words like contemporary, reliable…) and remember to consider nature - origin - purpose for each source you meet.

 

For Sections B and C - work your way through your folder. Learn the headings and subheading first, to give you a framework into which the details fit. Some details are more important than others.  Revise the main points of a topic before you worry about the little details.

• If notes are in bold type or highlighted, they are obviously important!
• If you had to fill in the gaps on a sheet, learn the answers you wrote in.
• If you have a set of pictures and captions, learn them in order. Let your memory for
  pictures help you. Try to see pictures/maps in your head, so they help you write the details.
  Use summaries, mind-maps, lists, jingles and rhymes if they help. 

1. When starting on a big topic:

• Whizz through it and decide what the main few points are.
• Allow yourself a fixed amount of time on each section of this topic to read notes carefully, then to go over it without your notes. Stick to the more important points! If you can’t learn them in a short time, you’ve got too many!
• Scribble down this very short version of the topic you have learned as a set of headings, sub-headings, sub-sub-headings and further facts…
• Then work swiftly to add smaller details to your knowledge. There will be some details which you do not need to learn. Be sensible about your time!

2. Remember to look at this list again a couple of times in the next two days - and a week later, making sure that you still know the details.  (‘Review it or lose it!’)

 

3. Do not spend time writing out things you already know! Be efficient!

 

4. Do not spend time testing your friend or vice versa, and wasting valuable learning time in such an inefficient way!

 

5. Do not doodle or feel sorry for yourself!