Modern history/society and culture. (1 Viewer)

[the.chosen.one]

hi all... i know i'm in prelim year and should stick to that forum...but again , i wanted some help from ppl who've done prelim yr already.

i'm thinking of changing a subject to perhaps modern history or society and culture, but i want to know what it involves.

i've looked through the syllabus, so i know about the case studies and stuff, but apart from that what exactly is mod. history like?

i've heard you're expected to remember many dates for exams - to be able to write them in the long response answers...?

what can i expect if i do modern history?


for society and culture, i didn't get much out of the syllabus...so any general idea on that would be great..


cheers =]

 

[nwatts]

Modern History is divided into three parts.

1. CORE STUDY - everyone in the state does this. WWI and its Aftermath. Look at the beginnings, the gory details and then the resolutions behind WWI. Note: this section is very boring.

2. NATIONAL STUDY - your teacher will pick a nation and you'll study it over a time period, examples include Germany, Russia, USA. This will also include a PERSONALITY STUDY of one of two influential figures throughout your national study.

3. INTERNATIONAL STUDY OF PEACE AND CONFLICT - probably the best part of the course, you'll chose a peace/conflict study and work through it, examples include arab-israel conflict, indo-china, ireland.

That's the HSC course. You can expect a very slimmed version of it in your prelim course.

And next time do some searching before you ask a question.

 

[the.chosen.one]

...i did....

i've looked through the syllabus, so i know about the case studies and stuff,

i kinda wanted info aside from the topics and major areas we'd be studying....

things like what exams would be like? am i expected to memorise lots of dates? are we expected to write essays for exams? ...etc etc...

 

[nwatts]

Exams? www.boardofstudies.edu.au

Dates? Of course.

Essays? Of course.

 

[hopeles5ly]

MODERNHISTORY,then pick up extension history in yr12. and yes modern history in yr11 is very boring and also the core study of the hsc course but then after that things finally get interesting (well for me anyways as i am doing hitler and ww2 XD)

modern history exam's are all esssys. however the corestudy ww1 consists of three questions.

-question 1: Practically 10 free marks. you look at a variety of sources and get questions based on them. the question will be like what aspects are shown in the picture and whatever is in the picture you write it down. lot of it just listing so you dont have to write sentences for it.

-question 2: in this section you use your own knowledge and the sources and write like a mini essay based on whatever the question is.

-question 3: you look at the reliability and usefulness of the source. again this is a mini essay but it is the hardest section.

you are expected to Memorize dates, informatant events, quotes for evidence, know a lot of background information etc . the subject is actually a lot of reading but don't get turned down by it.

 

[PaleReflection]

Society and Culture is a lot easier than Modern History. Both involve writing essays, but you're expected to write a lot more in Modern than Society in exams.

The Society and Culture HSC exam is only 2 hours (Modern is 3 hours), because during the year you do your Personal Interest Project (PIP), which is a 6000-7000 word long assessment worth 30% of your HSC.

Society can be either really boring or really interesting, depending on what topics you do. There is the CORE topic (Social and Cultural Continuity and Change), in which you study a country and how it's change over time, etc., and different research methodologies.

Then you do two Depth Studies out of a possible 4: Popular Culture (for example, a genre of music), Belief Systems (eg. a religious or political system), Work and Leisure, and Equality and Difference (I don't really know the specifics of the last two).

Society and Culture exams are quite easy. The first section involves basic questions that you should be able to answer no worries if you've studied the syllabus.

There are 9 basics concepts that you apply to everything you study and write about in essays/exams: persons, society, culture, environment, time, gender, technology, power and authority. The syllabus has straightforward definitions of these and you can get easy marks in the exam by knowing them.

eg. a question from last year's exam was What is meant by the concepts of persons and environment? Then you had to write about how persons and envrironments interact.

As to which you should choose, it's really up to your personal interests. I found it really fun, mainly because I had a good teacher. Prelim is especially easy, we watched so many videos.

 

[the.chosen.one]

you are expected to Memorize dates, informatant events, quotes for evidence, know a lot of background information etc . the subject is actually a lot of reading but don't get turned down by it.

yeah i found that a lil intimidating....

 

[askalyssa]

Hey!
I do both of those subjects and they both have good and bad points.
Modern history is tons of reading and you have to remember lots of details. For example in the World War 1 section you have to learn sooo much about it and then you will get asked a fairly specific question. HOwever that being said, its pretty straightforward memory stuff and not that much thinking to do.

Society and culture as someone said is a concepts based course, so you just learn those few basic things and their definitions and your pretty set. And you dont have to write many essays and if you do they are fairly short and easier to bullshit on in. It also has the "personal experience" aspect, so you get to make up your own examples for stuff based on your life experiences. But the personal interest project is pretty big and you will need to do a lot of work over it for the first 2 and a half terms.

So it really depends what you like. If you are interested in history and have a good memory modern would be pretty good. But if you prefer to look at more contemporary issues in a more analytical way,and are prepared to take on a major work, then society and culture is for you.

I hope this helps! good luck

 

[hopeles5ly]

yeah i found that a lil intimidating....

but still modern history is really good !

 

[etc. etc. etc.]

I would have to say.... if you're not good with dates, quotes, remembering key events etc.... Modern is probably not the best for you.

I never did Modern, but did Ancient in year 11 and couldn't stand it, and was absolutely hopeless at it.

Considering I'm on Pathways anyway, I've started doing the preliminary Society and Culture course this year (along with two HSC subjects), and am thus far enjoying it much more than I ever did Ancient History.

Consider talking to the teachers and getting their opinions too. Although in the end it is of course up to you.

Out of interest - what are you looking to drop? And why?

 

[Mandzi]

I love modern history!!!
We're doing Nazi Germany at the moment and it's heaps interesting.
You do have to write essays and things but I guess you have to do that for most non-sciency subjects. I also do extension history, and thats okay, too.
My friend does Society and culture and she really likes it (she also does ancient and extension history and says that s+c is heaps easier than those).
The syllubus doesn't require you to cover as much in Nazi Germany (we only go to 39 now, I think, instead of 1945) so thats another bonus.

 

[pritnep]

Nazi Germany 1932-1939 I believe

 

[hopeles5ly]

I love modern history!!!
We're doing Nazi Germany at the moment and it's heaps interesting.
You do have to write essays and things but I guess you have to do that for most non-sciency subjects. I also do extension history, and thats okay, too.
My friend does Society and culture and she really likes it (she also does ancient and extension history and says that s+c is heaps easier than those).
The syllubus doesn't require you to cover as much in Nazi Germany (we only go to 39 now, I think, instead of 1945) so thats another bonus.

yeah germany's the best ! XD

 

[nwatts]

The syllubus doesn't require you to cover as much in Nazi Germany (we only go to 39 now, I think, instead of 1945) so thats another bonus.

That's hardly a bonus. You miss all pre-33 Germany, so you have a superficial understanding of where the NSDAP came from. You throw away all WWII, which apart from being the most interesting and well documented part of the course, will limit your understanding of how Nazi "policies" eventuated.

It was a very stupid move to pull down the timeframe from 18-45 to 33-39.

 

[^CoSMic DoRiS^^]

Modern History is really really good, seriously. the core topic is as boring as hell but it picks up after that. We're doing post WW1 Germany at the moment (the Weimar Republic and the rise of Nazism) and although there is a lot to remember it's very interesting. i don't know anything about Society and Culture so no comment there.

 

[hopeles5ly]

Modern History is really really good, seriously. the core topic is as boring as hell but it picks up after that. We're doing post WW1 Germany at the moment (the Weimar Republic and the rise of Nazism) and although there is a lot to remember it's very interesting. i don't know anything about Society and Culture so no comment there.

yeah everyone i know thinks the core study is boring including myself. and yes like cosmic doris has said things do begin to pick up ! they have for me anyways =]
but IMO the core study section of the hsc exam is easy marks because you practically have the information infront you. all you have to do is to integrate it with your own knowledge. q3 is a bit more difficult though but once you have starteda nalysed heaps of sources based on their reliability, perspective etc prior to the exam the question will become a lot more easier.