You may not have studied your entire course, but this is a

great opportunity to learn about the exam format and your

stamina.
You could be doing the mocks in the same hall that youll
sit the Leaving Cert, so anything that familiarises you with it
and takes away the nerves of the real exam is valuable.
Do not bring fizzy drinks to your exam. If you need a drink, it
should be water.
Remember that if you take a toilet break during a Leaving
Cert exam, the supervisor has to stamp your exam paper with
the time you leave and the time you return what a waste of
valuable writing time.
The key to this opportunity is TIME MANAGEMENT. Give
about 42 minutes per question and no more, or you will
endanger your mark on the next question.
DANGER AREAS:
Spending too long on the first part of the document, ie on
the 3Cs (comprehension, comparison and criticism), and not
having enough time on contextualisation.
Overwriting on one essay: dont write elaborate plans. You
do not get any marks for plans unless there is something in
them that is not in your essay.
Its unlikely that you will get full marks for any essay, so
leave a page and come back to it if you have time at the end.
Remember, any essay question that has two sections
does not have to be dealt with evenly; you can get up to 50
cumulative marks (cm) for dealing with one part of a
question.
But if the question requires you to answer on two parts, for
example Anglo Irish relations from 1922-38, then you have to
refer to Cumann na nGael and Fianna Fil even if you
dispatch Cumann na nGael in a paragraph. If you dont, you
will be penalised on overall evaluation (oe).
Do not spend time writing to your examiner apologising for
lack of time or wishing them a happy easter. Put that time to
good use in writing points or a conclusion.
POST MOCKS:
There is only one message for the history student and that is
preparation of the research study report (special topic). This
is now your priority.
Essay-type question: 100 marks.
Cumulative marks [cm]: 60 marks.
Overall evaluation [oe]: 40 marks.
Remember, the history exam works on a cumulative [adding
up] marking scheme. This means relevant information is
rewarded, so the more relevant information you write, the
better.
The essay is divided into paragraphs that earn a maximum
of 12 marks. It is very difficult to get full marks for a paragraph,
so the more relevant paragraphs you write, the better.
You may have background information: it is often good to
start with this as it calms the nerves.
You may outline what your approach is going to be: I intend
to . . .
Make sure you know your key concepts.Think of them as
definitions; they always pick up marks at the beginning of your
answer. For example, anti-Semitism, totalitarianism, attrition,
balance of power, socialism, etc.
Make sure you can write about 10 lines on the key
personalities they are very handy for filling up a few
paragraphs.
When you are writing the body of your answer, make sure at
the end of every event or phase of information you link that
information back to the question asked. This will only require a
sentence. If necessary, mention the words used in the
question.
In your conclusion, make the summary short. But you could
expand by including something new, for example, a new fact,
statistic, name, historians view or quotation.
Remember, the conclusion is the last part of any answer
that your examiner reads: it must be strong.
There is no correct answer. Questions usually end in a
question mark, so you have to use your information to argue
your view, not just describe. Your examiner is going to decide
whether you actually answered the question. If you have done
that, you will get a high overall evaluation.
Document-based question: 100 marks
Remember the four Cs:
Comprehension = 20 marks. The answers are usually in the
text so dont over-complicate your answer, keep it simple.
Comparison = 20 marks. Make sure your refer to both
documents.
Criticism = 20 marks. Apply the terms: primary, secondary,
objectivity, bias, propaganda, satire, provenance, etc. Know
why a newspaper, speech, cartoon, election result,
parliamentary report, etc are useful for the historian and what
weaknesses they would contain.
Contextualisation = 40 marks [24 cm and 16 oe]. This is a
mini essay: you must set your answer in historical context. You
should aim to write about two pages.
THE IRISH TIMES LEAVING CERT STUDY GUIDE
MONDAY, JANUARY 29, 2007
10
Susan Cashell teaches senior
history at the Institute of
Education. She is an advising
examiner and appeals advising
examiner for history at Leaving
Certificate higher level.
She also lectures to the History Teachers Association, as
well as to students on the new syllabus and the marking
scheme. One such lecture, organised by the association,
takes place on Saturday, March 24th, at 9.30am at the
Edmund Burke Theatre, Trinity College Dublin. Entitled The
marking scheme and how to maximise your marks, it is open
to all sixth-year history students on a first-come, first-served
basis.
HISTORY
HOW TO MAKE THE
MOCKS WORK FOR YOU
HOW TO MAKE THE MARKING SCHEME WORK FOR YOU
Where to fromhere?
THE
EXPERT
WHERE TO GO FROMHERE?
The key at this stage of your preparation
is overlap. Howcan I use the same
information for more than one
perspective so that I dont have to revise
every part of the topic?
There are many approaches; choose
one that is easiest for you. You may
study:
An important personality and all
related aspects;
Acountry and all related aspects;
Acase study and all related aspects;
An event and all related aspects.
Topic 2: Nation states and international
tensions, 1871-1920
Take, for example, an important
personality: if you know everything about
Bismarck, you will have covered aspects of
every perspective:
The Second Reich and the changing
balance of power = politics;
Bismarcks foreign policy = politics;
Industrialisation in Germany =
economics (this will include special
personality the Krupp family);
Church-state tensions in Germany =
religion (this will include special
personality Leo X111).
If you combine Bismarck and Wilhelm
11:
Widen to include:
The Serbian problem/ Eastern question =
politics;
Now you have all the causes for the
outbreak of the first World War =
politics.
You must know your case studies; here
there is also overlap. The case studies
alone will not get you 60 cumulative
marks.
The naval policy of Wilhelm 11 [case
study] = politics.
Widen to include:
Wilhelm 11 and Weltpolitik = politics;
Anglo-and Franco-German tensions =
politics;
New imperialismand colonial rivalries =
politics.
Women in the workforce during the
first World War [case study] =
economics.
Widen to include:
The impact of war on society and
economy = economics (this will include
some of Marie Curies career and the key
concept conscription).
The invention and early history of the
motor car [case study] = science.
Widen to include:
Key developments in science, technology
and medicine = science (this will include
key personalities Marie Curie, Karl Benz).
Topic 3: Dictatorship and democracy in
Europe, 1920- 1945
If you choose to take a specific country
and to study all the relevant aspects:
Nazi state in peace = politics.
Widen to include:
Anti-Semitismand the Holocaust =
society;
Nazi propaganda, state control and the
use of the mass media = culture;
The Nuremberg Rallies = culture (this
will include special personalities Leni
Riefenstahl and Joseph Goebbels);
Church-state relations under Hitler =
religion.
Stalinist state in peace = politics.
Widen to include:
Lenin = politics;
Stalins show trials = politics;
The Soviet alternative = economics.
If you choose to take a specific event
and to study all the relevant aspects:
The second World War, Hitler and
Stalin = politics.
Widen to include:
War-time alliances 1939-1945 = politics;
The technology of warfare = science;
Vichy state = politics;
Society during the second World War:
collaboration and resistance = economics
and society.
If you choose the case study approach
and study all relevant aspects:
Stalins show trials [case study] =
politics.
Widen to include:
Communism in Russia, Lenin and Stalin =
politics;
Stalinist state in peace = politics;
The Soviet alternative = economics.
The JarrowMarch, October 1936 [case
study] = economics and society.
Widen to include:
Economic and social problems of the
inter-war years with particular reference
to Britain and Germany = economics
(this will include key personality JM
Keynes).
The Nuremberg Rallies [case study] =
culture.
Widen to include:
Nazi propaganda, State control and use
of the mass media = science (this will
include key personalities Leni
Riefenstahl and Joseph Goebbels);
Church-state relations under Hitler and
Mussolini = religion.
Topic 6: The United States and the world,
1945-1989
If you take the case study approach and
choose to study all relevant aspects:
The Montgomery bus boycott 1956
[case study] = society and economy (this
will include key personality Martin
Luther King).
Widen to include:
Troubled affluence: racial conflict, urban
poverty = economy and society;
Demographic growth: affluence the
changing role of women and the family =
economy and society (this will include
key personality Betty Friedman).
Lyndon Johnson and Vietnam,
1963-1968 [case study] = politics.
Widen to include:
The VietnamWar, the federal deficit,
domestic recession = politics;
The presidency fromRoosevelt to Regan
= politics;
Domestic factors in US foreign policy;
McCarthyism, the anti-war movement,
race relations = politics;
US foreign policy, 1945-1972: Berlin,
Korea, Cuba, and Vietnam = politics;
Withdrawal fromVietnam = politics.
The moon landing 1969 [case study] =
science.
Widen to include:
Advances in military, space and
information technology = science;
Decline in Cold War certainties,
1973-1989; Star Wars = science.
Topic 3: The pursuit of sovereignty and
the impact of partition, 1912-1949
If you take the case study approach
and choose to study all the relevant
aspects:
The Treaty negotiations,
October-December 1921 [case study] =
politics (this will include key
personalities Eamon de Valera Michael
Collins and Arthur Griffith).
Widen to include:
The War of Independence = politics (this
will include key personality Countess
Markievicz);
Civil War = politics.
Belfast during the second World War
[case study] = society and economy (this
will include key personalities James
Craig and Richard Dawson Bates).
Widen to include:
Impact of the second World War =
society and economy;
State culture education and religion in
the North = culture and religion;
Northern Ireland the Unionist Party in
power = politics.
The Eucharistic Congress [case study]
= culture and religion (this will include
key personality Eamon de Valera).
Widen to include:
State and culture: education and religion
in the South = culture and religion (will
include the key personality Evie Hone).