History SL/HL Help

[flinquinnster]

I've been working on my first IB history essay, and was a bit confused about historiography (like many people on this forum). The essay is on the causes of WWI, and the question is "Discuss the part played in the outbreak of WWI by 2 states (excluding Germany)". I've chosen to take a tack that looks more at Russian and Austro-Hungarian responsibility, and am just highlighting the important of the Balkan regions, and looking at responsibility for WWI outside the German state.

The problem is that I can't find many historians that blame Russia and Austria-Hungary for the outbreak of WWI, or at least not that many non-revisionist historians that have an argument that fits in with my own. Is it alright for me to plough on ahead, only taking small bits and pieces of other historians' perspectives whilst not fully exploring or agreeing to any one historical point of view? Is it okay to have an argument that sort of extends from a historian's argument and is not stated explicitly as any historian's point of view? And also, do I have to quote historians, or is a summary of their viewpoint enough?

[Award Winning Boss]

I've been working on my first IB history essay, and was a bit confused about historiography (like many people on this forum). The essay is on the causes of WWI, and the question is "Discuss the part played in the outbreak of WWI by 2 states (excluding Germany)". I've chosen to take a tack that looks more at Russian and Austro-Hungarian responsibility, and am just highlighting the important of the Balkan regions, and looking at responsibility for WWI outside the German state.

The problem is that I can't find many historians that blame Russia and Austria-Hungary for the outbreak of WWI, or at least not that many non-revisionist historians that have an argument that fits in with my own. Is it alright for me to plough on ahead, only taking small bits and pieces of other historians' perspectives whilst not fully exploring or agreeing to any one historical point of view? Is it okay to have an argument that sort of extends from a historian's argument and is not stated explicitly as any historian's point of view? And also, do I have to quote historians, or is a summary of their viewpoint enough?

You do know that you can go through a whole essay with next to no historiography right?

Plus you can have historiography without mentioning any names...

to answer your question... the essay is your argument not someone else's so you'll be fine.

[Emmi]

The point with historiography is not to have like 50% of your essay being the views of other historians. Doing so wouldn't show your thoughts and analysis. What IB likes is to see you incorporating these views into your analysis to prove a point. So you don't have to fully agree with a historian's viewpoint or fully explore it. In regards to the part about a summary vs. quoting a historian, it depends on the type of essay. If this is an essay you're doing out-of-class with time to research and look up information, you could quote since you'll have the source right there. If you were writing an essay in class or for an exam and didn't have the source right in front of you, you would obviously have to summarize the argument since you wouldn't know word-for-word the argument (if you did, that'd be amazing and I envy you )

Just say something like this: One reason why Russia is partially responsible for the outbreak of WWI is because of X. Russia did ............ which caused Y to happen and as a result spurred the outbreak of WWI. Historian John Doe adds that X was also important in causing Z which made WWI occur because of .................. Of course just fill this in with your own analysis and arguments. But integrate historiography into your argument smoothly.

[Chandrahas]

I have taken route 2 SL

Arab Israel Conflict

origins and developments of the Cold War

and the rise of single party and authoritarian states..

Any suggestions on the books I should use??

I really could use some help here...

[nametaken]

Well, I study the cold war and I'd recommend the Pearson's baccalaureate book. It's the one I use, and it's decent.

As for the other topics, I don't study them......so sorry.

Edited February 11, 2012 by nametaken

[Rizal Saifullah]

I am doing HL History and I need some help for finding reliable sources that are succinct in their information. My question for my history internal assessment is based on to what extent did the british play a role in the rise of zionism in the middle east.

[nametaken]

Well, for a history internal assessment, you need to look around for books relating to what you're doing. Have you had a look on Amazon or ebay?

Also, google! Have you tried searching for sources online? There are loooooooooooads of things out there online.

Edited February 11, 2012 by nametaken

[lollero]

First, a quick question: can the Algerian conflict be used to answer a question about civil wars?

And second, how exactly should I use historiography? Because until now I've added small references in my essays (e.g. someone did this and this and that; although it can be argued that he did this to do this, historian X has stated that this was to (do the thing I am arguing for)) but I don't think has been the right way to do it? And I'm afraid that it seems too much like name-dropping which I guess would be worse that not having any historiography at all.

[HiggsHunter]

First, a quick question: can the Algerian conflict be used to answer a question about civil wars?

Yes, for 10 years from 1991 the Algerian conflict was serious enough to be considered a civil war.

And second, how exactly should I use historiography? Because until now I've added small references in my essays (e.g. someone did this and this and that; although it can be argued that he did this to do this, historian X has stated that this was to (do the thing I am arguing for)) but I don't think has been the right way to do it? And I'm afraid that it seems too much like name-dropping which I guess would be worse that not having any historiography at all.

By all means cite the names of historians when discussing the veracity of their analyses in a historiography.

[Award Winning Boss]

I HAZ QS

I have history soon

Ok, here's the question. I have precisely 0 idea how to improve my marks but I'd like to get a 7 after my dreadful English exam. History essays aren't my friend in any sense of the word. I would say how I structure a paragraph but I can't remember how. Do I need to assess what I think of the view the historian I might mention?

Also, if I had a question like "Aggressive koala bear nationalism was the cause of the unicorn revolution. Discuss" or something like that... how would I go about answering it? Especially if there are a lot of factors that seem to blend into each other.

Vielen Dank

[Arrowhead]

I have taken route 2 SL

Arab Israel Conflict

origins and developments of the Cold War

and the rise of single party and authoritarian states..

Any suggestions on the books I should use??

I really could use some help here...

I really suggest Keylor's account for 20th century European History. It's a university-level textbook, but my History teacher insisted we used it. It's a challenging textbook, but one with a very technical and detailed account of most important events. The only thing it lacked in was covering a Russian perspective on things, but since you're not too focussed on Russia, you should be fine.

[Abulnara]

Hi

This is my first year that I am taking history class, can you give me some tips about that how to start, which method of learning of history is better and etc.

Thank you

[Emmi]

Hi

This is my first year that I am taking history class, can you give me some tips about that how to start, which method of learning of history is better and etc.

Thank you

There is no "best" method of learning history. The exact method on how you will study and learn history will depend on your study habits and how you learn best, but this is how I did it:

When I had to read from a history textbook I always took notes. I did them two-column/Cornell style with the main topic/event on the left-hand side of the page, and then all of the details and information on the right side of the page (such as in the example http://martinabex.files.wordpress.com/2011/07/cornell-notes-example.gif). I would read the paragraph or section, and then take my notes on what I remembered and processed in my head. And I always wrote them in my own words unless I wanted to quote a historian or something, because they would make more sense to me.

Notes are very important, and make sure you make your notes legible. Not just handwriting, but make sure your notes make sense. For example, if you were taking notes on World War II and wrote something along the lines of "Hitler appeasement bad" that would make no sense, you'd want to write something such as "The Allied nations policy of appeasement as it related to Adolf Hitler and Mussolini in the years leading up to World War II set dangerous precedents for future events such as the invasion of the Sudetenland and Poland." If you use any abbreviations, be consistent and know what they mean, perhaps make a key at the beginning of them so you can recognize your abbreviations.

When preparing for essays, quizzes, discussions, etc the exact way you will remember the information depends on your learning habits. However, blindly sitting there staring a textbook and trying to absorb the information or briefly skimming over notes will not suffice in IB history, nor will cramming twenty dates into your head five minutes before an essay will give you a 6 or 7. To learn vocabulary my teacher had us define a list of relevant vocabulary terms as well as tie each word to the person or event we're studying, basically why it's significant (i.e. what were the einsatzgruppen, how did they help Hitler stay in power, and why where they important). This will help you get details into your essays. You might find making note cards with each term on one side helpful (I never really did, but some people like them). Some people make time lines and break up major events such as a war or dictator's rule into smaller events. What worked best for me was basically reading over my notes and re-writing them, because when I rewrite things I remember them as opposed to just reading over something again. If you're a visual learner, try drawing something out. If you're a more hands-on learner, try acting out the event or explaining it out loud. Just find a way that works best for you, and stick with it.

To score well on essays, you need to learn how to write fast while still maintaining a high level of analysis and detail. Your first few essays probably won't be that great, but as you write more you will become accustomed to the time limit and how much you need to include for a 5, a 6, and a 7. The best essays will contain many details, lots of analysis (and detailed analysis at that!), a high level of synthesis (meaning you have thought about all of the information, processed it, and come up with your own answer to the question), and sometimes will either challenge the assumptions of the question or introduce and use historiography (other historians' opinions) in the essay. Don't worry about writing a level 7 essay on the first time, 99% of the time you won't. My first essay only scored a 3. Just learn how to write, and how to read the questions, because misreading the question can result in a poor mark for not understanding the terms of the question even if the essay's quality was excellent.

History is a lot of work, but in the end it's quite fun and if you know how to do well, you most likely will. Good luck

[Gemma B]

Hi Julie! For some reason I couldn't quote in the reply. I've done a lot of the same topics as you however my teacher isn't that good at giving us notes/ information. You you be willing to email me any notes - namely Spanish civil war? I have a good set of Imperial Russia and Russian Revolution notes as well as some half decent Communism in Crisis ones. If anyone else needs these notes I would be happy to send them to them as well!

[Emmi]

Hey im in Euro and i need help with a topic. I need to design a political cartoon about an event/conflict during the interwar years (1919-1939), any ideas?

Open up your textbook to the interwars years and find something that interests you? There are a dozen things that easily come to mind. We're not doing the work for you.

[IBstudying1]

Anyone know if this is a good research question for my HL history IA: To what extent were political and economic factors the cause of the Nicaraguan Revolution?

[Emmi]

Anyone know if this is a good research question for my HL history IA: To what extent were political and economic factors the cause of the Nicaraguan Revolution?

I would probably just pick either political or economic factors, not both. Simply because in the IA you don't have that many words to work with, so you need a tight research question. You can use the factor that you didn't pick as a counterargument in your analysis section of your IA to explore other sides to the argument.

[Sammy]

Hey,

I've been having trouble with structuring questions similar to this:

"With reference to one country of the region, analyse the developments in two of the following in the fifty year period you have studied: health; education; gender issues." (usually the last question in History HL P3)

What do I write in the introduction, Body and Conclusion ?

A main problem is that I start writing narrative about the topic, which doesn't help.

Any suggestions/help on how to improve ?

Thank you

[Emmi]

Hey,

I've been having trouble with structuring questions similar to this:

"With reference to one country of the region, analyse the developments in two of the following in the fifty year period you have studied: health; education; gender issues." (usually the last question in History HL P3)

What do I write in the introduction, Body and Conclusion ?

A main problem is that I start writing narrative about the topic, which doesn't help.

Any suggestions/help on how to improve ?

Thank you

The introduction should be short and to the point, containing mostly just a little bit of background information and then your thesis statement. Just introduce what country you're going to be using, set into context what's going on (X country just emerged from a civil war, X country recently saw a new government take control of the country with Y as its leader, etc), and introduce your thesis/argument (Through Country X's health initiative programs, updated education curriculum, and construction projects to design and build new hospitals, country X saw significant improvements to its health and education systems which in turn allowed the country to modernize and see a much higher standard of living, etc).

The body is where you bring in all of your evidence. To avoid being narrative, take each statement/fact that you bring in and show HOW it proves your thesis. For example, instead of saying something like "The Happy Health Group built lots of hospitals in rural areas" and move on to another point, elaborate on that. "The Happy Health Group built lots of hospitals in rural areas through the National Health Initiative Law, which increased medical access for people in rural areas who once could not receive treatment for health issues. This helped to eradicate diseases that once killed many people living in rural areas, improve infant mortality, and overall increase the health of rural villagers. With a new modern health system, the country saw its citizens living longer and enjoying a better quality of life." would be a lot better. You can have as many paragraphs or as few as you need, as long as you fully answer the question.

In the conclusion you introduce nothing new. Just sum up what you've said so far, and tie everything back together. Perhaps write one sentence that furthers the context of what happened after the scope of the essay, but don't bring in anything that's new.

[mariekur]

Hey can anybody help me and say what should be included in a history essay which should get a 7 ??? I'm a little bit lost since i got my first essay back and it was only a 3 my teacher just said it was not that much analysis in it.

thanks xx marie