Sammy Posted June 6, 2013 Report Share Posted June 6, 2013 "To what extent was 1941 a turning point in WW2?"How would I approach this essay?Can someone talk me through the structure and analysis required to write a decent essay?Thank you ! Reply Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
GirlwiththeBlueBox Posted June 6, 2013 Report Share Posted June 6, 2013 Could you give more details on the kind of essay? Is it an extended essay or a historical investigation? They both have different structures and requirements. Reply Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sammy Posted June 7, 2013 Author Report Share Posted June 7, 2013 Could you give more details on the kind of essay? Is it an extended essay or a historical investigation? They both have different structures and requirements.Sorry, forgot to mentionit is just a normal Paper 2 essay that we are going to do in class Reply Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
GirlwiththeBlueBox Posted June 7, 2013 Report Share Posted June 7, 2013 First, you need to present a thesis on whether or not 1941 was a turning point in WWII to a large extent or to a small extent and provide an explanation as to why. It really helps if you use the exact wording from the question. Organise the points of your thesis in the order that you plan on analysing them– in other words, your thesis would be: 1941 was a turning point in WWII to a large/small extent because of x, y and z. Then, paragraphs 1, 2 and 3 would be on points x, y and z in that order.Then you want to present 2 different historical perspectives. If you're aiming for more points, state the backgrounds of historians that would share this particular perspective. For example, an orthodox historian might share the perspective that 1941 was a turning point in WWII to a large extent. Then use facts that you stated in your previous paragraphs to support this perspective. The other historical perspective should be the opposite, such as a revisionist historian might share the perspective that 1941 was a turning point in WWII to a small extent because of such and such, and again, use facts that you previously stated to back this perspective up.Next, you want to come up with a rebuttal. Pick one of these perspectives and state facts and reasoning that would support this perspective over the other and explain why the other perspective is wrong.Lastly, if you have time (you really only have about 45 minutes to do this, which is sooooo little time!!) come up with a closing statement that nicely sums up your entire essay in 2-3 sentences.Hope this helped and good luck! Reply Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sammy Posted June 7, 2013 Author Report Share Posted June 7, 2013 Thanks a lot ! Reply Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Arrowhead Posted June 7, 2013 Report Share Posted June 7, 2013 I would suggest starting here. Read this post on surviving IB History This post on advice for IB History for newbies should have some relevant advice as well. Here's another one that might help and one more. Also, this post on History SL/HL help. Here's one more on Paper 2 exam technique. Here's a little something on general essay writing in History. Here's finally a little advice on "compare and contrast" essays. I hope at least some of that proves useful to you. Reply Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
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