History Extension Ideas - NEED HELP! (1 Viewer)

[sharnieg18]

Hey guys
I need your help... I am so stuck on trying to find a particular area to focus on/an actual question. I suck at developing questions but don't worry, I'm good with the research!
I really wanna do something with Feudal Japan or anything on Japanese culture. I've considered the justification of the atomic bombs but I think it's a topic which has been overly debated, so I'm looking to do something different which will capture the markers attention, but something with substantial historiographical debates/evidence. I've thought about Katsuyori and whether he is one of the most unfavorably and misjudged individuals in the Sengoku Period but I'm unsure
If the Japanese is too difficult to narrow down, I actually also wouldn't mind doing Ancient Greece or Rome (making sure I don't cross over on something with the Ancient History syllabus) or maybe even British history...

Okay so really I'm not totally fussed, as much as they say do something you enjoy, I enjoy majority of history so any ideas or developed questions would be awesome!

P.S: I'm new to the forums haha, this is my first post, so try not to eat me alive :3

 

[bored99]

I'm in the same position as you, I really want to do a controversial topic but I can't think of anything but Hiroshima, which I think I could do well but it's so cliche :s
For Japan, we did Meiji Japan in Prelim Modern which was really interesting and about how they industrialised etc. Obviously you couldn't do that because it's in the Prelim course but the period just before/ end of Feudal Japan we touched on and was also interesting, perhaps you could do something on the landing of Commodore Perry or up to then? But you'd have to be careful it doesn't clash with Meiji Japan so talk to your teacher.
Hope this helps and good luck!

 

[sharnieg18]

Yes! It's the worst position to be in right now.. I hate it..
Oooo that does sound interesting. Something I will definitely discuss and look into.
Thanks heaps! Good luck to you as well

 

[phy6au]

Hello! I was going to do Unit 731 (switched to an ancient not japan topic). that was pretty controversial and there are lots of things you can look up i.e. japanese cover up, western exposure, chinese historians etc. really big topic and you could look at similar camps etc.

 

[sharnieg18]

Unit 731!!! Of course! Definitely something I will look into possibly doing, I didn't even think of it (stupid me not using my brain...), thanks heaps! I was actually looking at doing the Bushido code (way of the samurai) but this will definitely be thought about.
But thank you
What have you chosen to do? (If you don't mind me asking )

 

[hope14]

If you are still doing Japan / atom bomb, definitely read 'Hiroshima'. Studying it for Ex1 and... wow! :O It is really moving / about experiences of those suffering / some issues re: moral issue of dropping bomb.

Good luck with it all

 

[phy6au]

No worries! Samurai stuff is super cool too. I'm doing it on pharisees and how historians see them differently today etc.

 

[sharnieg18]

@hope14 Yeah I definitely will thank you for that haha, and good luck with Ext 1 (I miss doing it )

@phy6au Knowing me, I'm a bit crazy with this sort of thing and I'll probably end up doing two essays, including the samurai way (considering the amount of time we've been given to do it ) and pick the best one to hand in. But thanks again, much appreciated! Oh and good topic so many different views upon who they were and how they were considered hypocrites by some etc.

good luck to everyone! thank you all for your help, i think i know what i'm going to do now

 

[cem]

Just a reminder - the Preliminary course isn't closed to choice as it isn't examinable externally and the Extension syllabus says 'substantially overlaps with any SC or HSC examinable course' so prelimary topics are fine.

Another reminder - the project is internally marked to the 'markers' are your teachers or whomever they choose not externally employed markers.

 

[History 101]

Finding a topic is hard - finding the right question is harder. TRUST ME! I literally changed my question 5 times during the process so don't be too surprised if you do to. This happens because once you find more and more information you automatically want to make your question more and more specific and complex.