There will be three sections to the test

Section A - Factual recall
(Criterion A)

30 questions based on the facts you have encountered in this year. Most of the answers will be one word and all can be found in your textbook or in earlier assessment. This ought to be easy if you have learnt your facts.

Section B - Analysis of documents
(Criterion D)

You will be given sources of historical information.

You will be asked to compare and contrast two sources and to conclude on to what extent they agree with each other.

You will be asked to evaluate the utility of two sources in so far as they help you answer a particular historical question. (OPCVL) Always focus on developing the relative value and limitations of the source in relation to the question set.  Use my 3R model to help with this, and if stuck always concentrate on the value/limitation of the type of source you are examining (e.g. diary is useful because it was not intended for publication etc.) or its provenance (who, what, when = why?). On the value of different types of sources see this section of my website.

Section C - Structured response
(Criterion A and C)

This section is divided into three questions.

(a) will ask you to briefly describe something from your own knowledge.
(b) will ask you to explain something.
(c) will ask you to evaluate a debatable question.

These are the sort of questions you need to be able to answer.

Descriptive/Factual

What technological advances made 19th century European imperialism possible?
What motivated imperialists like Livingstone/Rhodes etc.
What examples of raw materials were European's interested in obtaining and from where in Africa?
What alliances were established before World War One?
What was the Schlieffen Plan?
What was the ‘blank cheque’ that Germany gave to Austria in 1914?
What reason did Britain give for declaring war on Germany in 1914?
What were Wilson’s 14 points?
Who were the leaders of the ‘Big Three’ at the Treaty of Versailles?
What was the Council of the League of Nations?
What was the International Court of Justice?
What happened in Russia in 1917?
What were the main terms of the Treaty of Versailles?
Which countries made up the Axis Pact?
What was agreed at the Munich conference of September 1939?
What were Jim Crow laws?
What happened at Central High School, Little Rock?
Who were the Freedom Riders and what did they do?
What did the Civil Rights Act of 1964 do?
Who was Malcolm X?

Explanatory

What were the consequences of the Moroccan Crisis of 1905 or 1911?
What were the main consequences of the Balkan Wars of 1912-13?
Explain why and how the Balkans created international instability before World War 1?
What were the reasons for the rapid expansion of empire building in the 19th century?
Why did the League of Nations fail in the 1930s?
Why did the Paris Peace treaties satisfy no-one?
Why did the assassination of Franz Ferdinand lead to war?
What were the causes of Manchurian crisis?
How did the League of Nations respond to the Abyssinian crisis?
Why was the 1936 Rhineland crisis an important turning point of the road to World War II?
Why did Japan bomb Pearl Harbour?
Why has genocide taken place in history?
What factors led to the Holocaust?
What was the situation of black Americans in the southern states of the USA?
How did the American civil rights movement use direct action?

Debatable (Examples)

How significant were economic causes of imperialism?
How important was nationalism as a cause of World War One?
To what extent do you agree with the assertion that Hitler was most important cause of the Second World War? ·      How important was World War II as a cause of the Holocaust?
Evaluate the role of legal action in helping to bring about civil rights changes in the USA in the 1950s and 60s?

Come prepared to use factual knowledge (name, date, and place) which can be applied to the question you are answering. Avoid vague explanations.

·     All extended writing tasks must be well organized. Remember to produce an introduction and conclusion and to PEE your paragraphs. You have written lots of essays in class and at home. Apply what you have learnt in exam. Make sure there is enough detail and depth in your answer to allow the examiner to credit your response.

Command Terms

Identify – Remember something relevant from your own knowledge, ‘Identify a cause of one war you have studied’.

Describe – Show what you know about events, causes, consequences, historical characters etc., e.g. ‘Describe how military alliances were established before one war you have studied.’

Explain – Give a number of reasons for something, e.g. ‘Why do wars start’?

Compare and contrast - Give an account of similarities and differences between two (or more) items or situations, referring to both (all) of them, e.g. ‘compare and contrast the causes of two wars you have studied’.

Examine - Consider an argument or concept in a way that uncovers the assumptions and interrelationships of the issue, e.g. ‘In reference to one war that you have studied, examine the reasons why the war began.’

Evaluate, to what extent, how far, (Debatable question) - Consider the merits or otherwise of an argument or concept. Opinions and conclusions should be presented clearly and supported with appropriate evidence and sound argument, ‘to what extent was ideology the most important cause of any war you have studied’