Home | Business News | Browse by Publication | H | History Review

Essays with commentaries: Richard Hughes lends us the benefit of his expertise.

Article Excerpt
While the two short essays (with comments) which follow are based specifically on the requirements needed for Edexcel AS Unit 2, they do illustrate issues applicable to all structured history essays.

The Questions

A structured essay always requires a candidate to make maximum use of the limited length of time provided. Anyone who strays into unnecessary diversion is likely to lose marks. The first essay tests descriptive skills and has a maximum mark of 20; the second essay places the focus on causation and has a maximum mark of 40. With (a), the descriptive question, the top level of marks is awarded to candidates able to establish explicit links to the question. In other words, the relevance of the points raised must be made obvious to the examiner. The same applies to (b) where, in addition, a high-achieving candidate will be expected to display integration--how the causal points link together with some sort of overview being offered. It is important with all questions to adhere to the assessment objectives--less prepared candidates all too often mix them up and so emphasise causal links in (a) and not (b), and descriptions in (b) and not (a). This will inevitably mean the examiner has to reward such students with the lowest bands.

The Rubric

Below is an example of the type of question that might be set as a structured essay on a key theme of the reign of Charles I. The first point to stress here is that neither of the responses is all-encompassing. Any student with a fair knowledge of the chosen period will think of relevant points not included here. The examiner does not want or expect a heavily detailed response--impossible anyway in the time provided. What is required is sufficient factual support for the points made. The...

View this article FREE - Now for a Limited Time, try Goliath Business News
Free for 3 Days!