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How Long to Spend on A & B of the Personality Study? (1 Viewer)

Fake-Name

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Hey, I know we have roughly 45 minutes to spend on each section of the exam, I'm guessing this is closed to halved for A & B of the personality study? So we have roughly 23 minutes for each question. I write round 5 - 8 pages for the period and the society question, how many pages am I expected to write for A and B? 3 or 4? It really doesnt seem like enough.

Thanks.
 

ArtemisOrthia

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I generally break it down to 20 minutes for Part A - the ten marker, then 25 Minutes for Part B - the 15 marker. And yeah, 3-4 pages for each question should be sufficient, unless you have monstrously large hand writing or something. n_n
 

Fake-Name

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I generally break it down to 20 minutes for Part A - the ten marker, then 25 Minutes for Part B - the 15 marker. And yeah, 3-4 pages for each question should be sufficient, unless you have monstrously large hand writing or something. n_n
Ah Thanks. I'm definitely going to have to work on this section.
 

enoilgam

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I did about 300-400 words on part A and 700-800 on part B. I found that the recommended 1000 words for this section often wasnt enough, as there was usually a lot to say.
 

slyhunter

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I generally break it down to 20 minutes for Part A - the ten marker, then 25 Minutes for Part B - the 15 marker. And yeah, 3-4 pages for each question should be sufficient, unless you have monstrously large hand writing or something. n_n
Something like this. Don't go overboard on part A as some do.
 

cem

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As someone who has marked this section for years a few pieces of advice:

1. Don't spend too long on A
2. If something you said in A is also relevant to B say it again - both sections are marked independently and what is in one can't be credited in the other.
3. Read the quote for B and refer to it regularly to show how you are answering the question and relating it to the actual question asked - yes there will be one.
4. Don't go overboard on the quotes - use quotes in support of your response but not as the bulk of your response - we want to see what YOU think not what others think.
5. Know the dot points of the syllabus - if it says 'rise to prominence' then that is what you need to talk about.
6. You should be writing about as much for this section as for your National and Internation Studies. Unfortunately I have often seen kids who think that they have to write as much for each part as they do for the full essays - so regularly I have seen 8 pages for A and then 10 for B.
 
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SpreadTheWord

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In Ancient i write pretty succinct, therefore i could get everything i need to say for the 10 marker within 1 page, and within the 15 marker 1.5-2 pages. If you need an indication as to how long you should spend on the 10 marker - look at the core for pompeii/herculaneum. Im planning 10-15 minutes for the 10 marker max.

For the B-part, i will spend a max of 20 minutes, thus giving an extra 10 minutes on my Historical period.
 

slyhunter

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As someone who has marked this section for years a few pieces of advice:

1. Don't spend too long on A
2. If something you said in A is also relevant to B say it again - both sections are marked independently and what is in one can't be credited in the other.
3. Read the quote for B and refer to it regularly to show how you are answering the question and relating it to the actual question asked - yes there will be one.
4. Don't go overboard on the quotes - use quotes in support of your response but not as the bulk of your response - we won't to see what YOU think not what others think.
5. Know the dot points of the syllabus - if it says 'rise to prominence' then that is what you need to talk about.
6. You should be writing about as much for this section as for your National and Internation Studies. Unfortunately I have often seen kids who think that they have to write as much for each part as they do for the full essays - so regularly I have seen 8 pages for A and then 10 for B.
Cem, is it possible to achieve maximum marks in part B without the use of historiography?
 

cem

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Cem, is it possible to achieve maximum marks in part B without the use of historiography?
If you mean by historiography the naming of specific historians and identifying their arguments then yes - I have given full marks - but if you mean historiography in the broader sense of different opinions and interpretations then no.

You do need to know the different interpretations even if you can't actually name the historians - e.g. if you are doing Speer and you are able to clearly see that there are arguments for and against him such as 'his testimony at Nuremburg has now been brought into question by later research' - it is clear you know what the issues are but can't remember, don't know or whatever the names of the historians.
 

rogerlam

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you should spend a MAXIMUM of 18minutes in part (a), recommended to finish it in 15-16minutes
for part (b), if youve done part (a) in 15minutes then youll have 30 minutes for part (b)

remember part (a) is only a description, so do not waste time using fancy words or using historiography
 

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