how to write a history 10 marker

A Level History Essay Structure – A Guide

• Post author By admin
• Post date December 1, 2022
• No Comments on A Level History Essay Structure – A Guide

Getting an A Level History essay structure right is by no means an easy task. In this post we will look at how we can build a structure from which our essay can develop.

Here you can see the most simplified essay structure for tackling A level History essays. All students should be familiar with this structure. We have broken the essay down into an introduction and conclusion as well as 3 separate parts of content. Running through the entire essay at the side is our line of argument. Whilst this may seem fairly simple, many students still fail to adequately follow this structure, when writing essay answers under exam conditions.

The reasons this structure works well is that it enables you to cover 3 different factors of content. These can be aligned 2-1 or 1-2 on either side of the argument. Your essay is now balanced (covering both sides of the argument), whilst at the same time being decisive in terms of your line of argument and judgement. It is also consistent with the amount you can write in the exam time given for (20-25) mark essay questions.

Expanded A level History Essay Structure

Let’s look at an expanded essay structure. Again, we have our introduction and conclusion as well as 3 separate parts of content. Now we can see that we have added whether or not each of our parts of content agrees or disagrees with the question premise. In order to have a balanced essay we can see on this example that; Content 1 agrees, Content 2 disagrees, and Content 3 can go either way. This overall A Level History essay structure ensures a balanced essay that also reaches judgement.

Furthermore, we have now broken down each individual part of Content/Factor. This can be seen as a mini essay in its own right. The Content/Factor is introduced and linked to the question as well as being concluded and linked to the question. Then we write 2 to 3 separate points within the body of the Content/Factor. We have 2 points that agree with the overall argument of this section of content. This strongly backs up our argument.

Then we can also potentially (this doesn’t have to be done always, but when done right creates a more nuanced analysis) add a third point that balances that particular section of content. However, it doesn’t detract from the overall argument of this factor/content. E.g. In the short term ‘point 3’ occurred but of much greater significance was ‘point 1’ and ‘point 2.’

How To Improve Further at A Level History

Pass A Level History – is our sister site, which shows you step by step, how to most effectively answer any A Level History extract, source or essay question. Please click the following link to visit the site and get access to your free preview lesson. www.passalevelhistory.co.uk

Previous and Next Blog Posts

Previous – A Level History Questions – Do and Avoid Guide – passhistoryexams.co.uk/a-level-history-questions-do-and-avoid-guide/

Next – A Level History Coursework Edexcel Guide – passhistoryexams.co.uk/a-level-history-coursework-edexcel/

Leave a Reply Cancel reply

You must be logged in to post a comment.

How to structure AQA A-level History Essays

• Dr Janet Rose
• December 14, 2019

For AQA History , at both AS and A level, you need to know how to write two types of essay – a block essay and a point-by-point essay.  To be able to structure AQA history essays you’ll need to know these essay styles and where to use them.

Introductions

You don’t really need an introduction for the source questions.  In the exam you will be pressed for time so it is sensible to just start with your analysis of extract A.  However, for the essay questions you will need a short, clear introduction that references the question and states your line of argument.

The most helpful tip I can give you is this; write the introduction last .  Why do I advise this?  Because if you state your line of argument and what you intend to include, you then have to make sure your whole essay and conclusion matches your introduction.  Obviously you should have a plan to follow but it is far, far easier to write the body of your essay and your conclusion,  then make the introduction fit the essay you have just written.  It makes writing the introduction a breeze because you will know exactly what you have argued, which evidence you have used, the order you have presented your material and what you have concluded.

No Surprises

Remember there should be no surprises for your marker or examiner in history.  You are not writing a best seller where you build up the tension and then do a dramatic ‘ta da’ reveal.  That will only confuse your examiner and lose you marks – potentially a lot of marks.  What we want is a nice, clear format where we can see exactly what you are arguing, exactly what evidence you are using, and exactly what you have concluded.  Importantly, we want to know this at the start of the essay.  If you make your marker or examiner keep stopping, re-reading chunks, and going back and forth to try and understand your argument, you’ll just end up with an unhappy and frustrated reader.  And this is the person who is going to award your marks!  Be clear.  Be concise.  Get to the point quickly.  Give evidence to back up your points.  Reach a judgement.

History Essay: How to write an A-Grade Essay

Block Essays

For AQA you use these for the extract questions; the two sources for AS and the three sources for A level.  You write the essay in blocks of text which are focused on one area.

For the source questions you don’t need to get too clever with hopping back and forth between sources and points. Decide and plan what you need to say and then write it clearly, with a clear assessment of each source, in big chunks of work. Do not worry about an introduction– just get straight into the analysis. First address Source A in a block, then Source B in another block and (for A level) Source C in a final block.

Remember that you need to assess the sources.  Keep doing that all the way through.  Assess each source as you write the block and do a mini summary at the end of each section.   You can then bring the sources together in a very short conclusion at the end (no more than a couple of lines) where you can summarise your convincing/valuable assessment of the sources.  It is very important that you make a clear judgement for each source, as that is what the question asks you to do.

By the way, when we talk about blocks it does not mean you have to cram everything into one enormous paragraph. If you have plenty to say (and hopefully you will) you should use a sensible paragraph structure. The reason it is called a block essay is that you deal with one section completely, in this case each source, before moving on to the next section.

Point-by-point essays

Point-by-Point essays are much trickier to master but are well worth the effort as, done properly, they tend to achieve higher marks. For AQA you can use this style for everything that is not a source question. The key to an excellent point-by-point essay is all in the planning; it will only come out well in the writing if you know exactly what you are going to argue and the order in which you are going to introduce evidence and points. So it is crucial that you make yourself a good plan!

Essentially, all the AQA essay questions at both AS and A level ask you to argue ‘for or against’ a hypothesis. They will look something like this:

‘Victorian governments in the years 1867 to 1886 had little interest in social reform.’ Explain why you agree or disagree with this view.

‘Henry VII had successfully established monarchical authority by 1509.’ Assess the validity of this view.

Your job, therefore, is to find evidence from your course for both sides of the argument i.e. both ‘for’ and ‘against’ the hypothesis. You absolutely must have evidence for both sides – not just one side. The evidence goes down on your plan, divided into ‘for’ and ‘against’ the hypothesis. Whichever side you end with more evidence for, or more convincing evidence for, that is the side you will conclude is most persuasive.

History Exams – How to avoid being narrative

Imagine it like a tennis match

Imagine it like a tennis match, where the ball starts on one side of the tennis court, is played and then sails over to the opposing side.  A point-by-point argument is like this – it is oppositional, with two opposing sides. You should aim to bounce back and forth between the points and the two sides of the argument. Begin with one of the points from your plan, either for or against the hypothesis. Deal with the point in detail, using clear examples as evidence and linking it firmly to the question.  That’s your opening shot.

Next, pop straight over to the opposing view and deal with that point, again using clear examples and linking to the question. Repeat this ‘back and forth’ technique until you have covered all the points and evidence in your plan.

To do this really well it is usually better to put up the side of your argument that you will oppose first. You outline the ‘other’ side of the argument and show that you understand the opposing view. Then you switch over to the other side of the hypothesis, i.e. ‘your’ argument, and use powerful evidence to back it up. Remember this is all about argument and analysis.

Back to our tennis match analogy; the ball is your argument, which bounces back and forth between the players, but you need ‘your’ side to end each point with the big shot – the one that wins the game.

How to use Provenance in History Exams

The Conclusion

You must conclude in line with the most persuasive and convincing evidence you have included in your plan.   This sounds really obvious, but I have lost count of how many A-level history essays I have marked that argue effectively for one point of view, but then conclude in favour of the other side.  The most common reason for this happening is that the student has moved off their plan when writing up the essay.  Follow your plan!

At the end of the essay your conclusion should sum up all the main points of argument and then should reach a judgement.  Don’t sit on the fence, no matter how tempting it is.  You need to make a judgement.  The conclusion should mirror your introduction and the main points of argument in the body of the essay, so the work ends up as a coherent, clear argument from introduction to conclusion.

The point-by-point essay takes practice, so it will help if you can get some feedback from your teacher or tutor, or even a parent who will be able to tell you if your argument is clear and makes sense to the reader. Do persevere, however, because when you get the technique right it will gain you more marks in the end.

Do you need help with History Essays?

Our history team is ready to help you.  all our historians are graduates, experienced teachers, and skilled at getting our students the very best grades., you can contact a tutor here , or contact our friendly and knowledgeable office team to get a bespoke tutor match.

The Tutor Team Guarantee

How can we help you, share this post.

0333 987 4603

• Privacy Policy
• Handbook & Policies

Privacy Overview

How to write a conclusion for a history essay

Every essay needs to end with a concluding paragraph. It is the last paragraph the marker reads, and this will typically be the last paragraph that you write.

What is a ‘concluding paragraph?

The conclusion is the final paragraph of your essay that reminds the reader about the points you have made and how it proves the argument which you stated in your hypothesis .

By the time your marker reads your conclusion, they have read all the evidence you have presented in your body paragraphs . This is your last opportunity to show that you have proven your points.

While your conclusion will talk about the same points you made in your introduction , it should not read exactly the same.  Instead, it should state the same information in a more developed form and bring the essay to an end.

In general, you should never use quotes from sources in your conclusion.

Concluding paragraph structure

While the concluding paragraph will normally be shorter than your introductory and body paragraphs , it still has a specific role to fulfil.

A well-written concluding paragraph has the following three-part structure:

• Restate your key points
• Restate your hypothesis
• Concluding sentence

Each element of this structure is explained further, with examples, below:

1. Restate your key points

In one or two sentences, restate each of the topic sentences from your body paragraphs . This is to remind the marker about how you proved your argument.

This information will be similar to your elaboration sentences in your introduction , but will be much briefer.

Since this is a summary of your entire essay’s argument, you will often want to start your conclusion with a phrase to highlight this. For example: “In conclusion”, “In summary”, “To briefly summarise”, or “Overall”.

Example restatements of key points:

Middle Ages (Year 8 Level)

In conclusion, feudal lords had initially spent vast sums of money on elaborate castle construction projects but ceased to do so as a result of the advances in gunpowder technology which rendered stone defences obsolete.

WWI (Year 9 Level)

To briefly summarise, the initially flood of Australian volunteers were encouraged by imperial propaganda but as a result of the stories harsh battlefield experience which filtered back to the home front, enlistment numbers quickly declined.

Civil Rights (Year 10 Level)

In summary, the efforts of important First Nations leaders and activist organisations to spread the idea of indigenous political equality had a significant effect on sway public opinion in favour of a ‘yes’ vote.

Ancient Rome (Year 11/12 Level)  

Overall, the Marian military reforms directly changed Roman political campaigns and the role of public opinion in military command assignments across a variety of Roman societal practices.

2. Restate your hypothesis

This is a single sentence that restates the hypothesis from your introductory paragraph .

Don’t simply copy it word-for-word. It should be restated in a different way, but still clearly saying what you have been arguing for the whole of your essay.

Make it clear to your marker that you are clearly restating you argument by beginning this sentence a phrase to highlight this. For example: “Therefore”, “This proves that”, “Consequently”, or “Ultimately”.

Example restated hypotheses:

Therefore, it is clear that while castles were initially intended to dominate infantry-dominated siege scenarios, they were abandoned in favour of financial investment in canon technologies.

This proves that the change in Australian soldiers' morale during World War One was the consequence of the mass slaughter produced by mass-produced weaponry and combat doctrine.

Consequently, the 1967 Referendum considered a public relations success because of the targeted strategies implemented by Charles Perkins, Faith Bandler and the Federal Council for the Advancement of Aborigines and Torres Strait Islanders.

Ultimately, it can be safely argued that Gaius Marius was instrumental in revolutionising the republican political, military and social structures in the 1 st century BC.

3. Concluding sentence

This is the final sentence of your conclusion that provides a final statement about the implications of your arguments for modern understandings of the topic. Alternatively, it could make a statement about what the effect of this historical person or event had on history. 

Example concluding sentences:

While these medieval structures fell into disuse centuries ago, they continue to fascinate people to this day.

The implications of the war-weariness produced by these experiences continued to shape opinions about war for the rest of the 20 th century.

Despite this, the Indigenous Peoples had to lobby successive Australian governments for further political equality, which still continues today.

Ancient Rome (Year 11/12 Level)

The impact of these changes effectively prepared the way for other political figures, like Pompey, Julius Caesar and Octavian, who would ultimately transform the Roman republic into an empire.

Putting it all together

Once you have written all three parts of, you should have a completed concluding paragraph. In the examples above, we have shown each part separately. Below you will see the completed paragraphs so that you can appreciate what a conclusion should look like.

Example conclusion paragraphs: 

In conclusion, feudal lords had initially spent vast sums of money on elaborate castle construction projects but ceased to do so as a result of the advances in gunpowder technology which rendered stone defences obsolete. Therefore, it is clear that while castles were initially intended to dominate infantry-dominated siege scenarios, they were abandoned in favour of financial investment in canon technologies. While these medieval structures fell into disuse centuries ago, they continue to fascinate people to this day.

To briefly summarise, the initially flood of Australian volunteers were encouraged by imperial propaganda, but as a result of the stories harsh battlefield experience which filtered back to the home front, enlistment numbers quickly declined. This proves that the change in Australian soldiers' morale during World War One was the consequence of the mass slaughter produced by mass-produced weaponry and combat doctrine. The implications of the war-weariness produced by these experiences continued to shape opinions about war for the rest of the 20th century.

In summary, the efforts of important indigenous leaders and activist organisations to spread the idea of indigenous political equality had a significant effect on sway public opinion in favour of a ‘yes’ vote. Consequently, the 1967 Referendum considered a public relations success because of the targeted strategies implemented by Charles Perkins, Faith Bandler and the Federal Council for the Advancement of Aborigines and Torres Strait Islanders. Despite this, the Indigenous Peoples had to lobby successive Australian governments for further political equality, which still continues today.

Overall, the Marian military reforms directly changed Roman political campaigns and the role of public opinion in military command assignments across a variety of Roman societal practices. Ultimately, it can be safely argued that Gaius Marius was instrumental in revolutionising the republican political, military and social structures in the 1st century BC. The impact of these changes effectively prepared the way for other political figures, like Pompey, Julius Caesar and Octavian, who would ultimately transform the Roman republic into an empire.

Additional resources

What do you need help with?

Download ready-to-use digital learning resources.

Copyright © History Skills 2014-2024.

Contact  via email

Structure for A-Level History 25 marker

Quick Reply

Related discussions.

• AQA A-level History
• Is A level philosophy (aqa) hard if you study?
• AQA A-Level Politics Paper 2 - 7152/2 7 June 2023 [Exam chat]
• OCR A- level economics 25 markers
• economics help
• Should i do the 25 marker first in edexcel economics a level?
• AQA A Level Politics Paper 3 (7152/3) - 14th June 2024 [Exam Chat]
• A level economics evaluation
• AQA A Level Economics Paper 2 (7136/2) - 20th May 2024 [Exam Chat]
• History AQA
• 5 months till alevel exams can i still get AAA
• AQA A Level Politics Paper 2 (7152/2) - 5th June 2024 [Exam Chat]
• A-level (AQA) economics essay advice
• History paper 1 stuarts confused
• What is Edexcel GCSE History like? And what was it like having it after Gcses?🙂
• A-level Philosophy Study Group 2023-2024
• AQA A Level Politics Paper 1 (7152/1) - 21st May 2024 [Exam Chat]
• A Level english literature
• i am really bad at a level econ 20 markers.
• Edexcel A Level Economics A Paper 3 (9ECO 03) - 7th June 2024 [Exam Chat]

Last reply 1 week ago

Last reply 2 weeks ago

Last reply 3 weeks ago

Last reply 4 weeks ago

Posted 4 weeks ago

Last reply 1 month ago

Articles for you

Teacher secrets for writing a great personal statement

Top 10 tips for Ucas Clearing 2024

Bringing business people into the classroom: what students learn from industry professionals

Will artificial intelligence put legal graduates out of work?

Not Your Usual History Lesson: Writing Historical Markers

• Resources & Preparation
• Instructional Plan
• Related Resources

In this lesson, students will develop their understanding of writing and local history by creating their own historical markers. They begin by studying historical markers in their own communities and then draft content for an unmarked historical location.

This lesson was adapted from from a forthcoming book from Pearson by Tim Taylor and Linda Copeland.

Featured Resources

• Sample pictures of historical markers
• Access to resources about local history
• Writing a Historical Marker Assignment & Rubric handouts

From Theory to Practice

Summarizing information is a key skill for students at all grade levels. Repeated practice at summarizing and synthesizing information prepares them for writing assignments in any class as well as for giving presentations, writing research papers, conducting interviews, and keeping journals or logs, for example. NCTE/IRA Standards explicitly refer to conducting research and synthesizing data, emphasizing their importance for good communication practices.

Similarly, researchers describe how summarizing “…links reading and writing and requires higher-level thinking…Summarizing helps students learn more and retain information longer, partly because it requires effort and attention to text” (Dean 19). The more practice students have in younger grades with summarizing, the more successful they will be in various communication contexts later on. The generality of this lesson makes it appropriate for grades 6-8 but may also be tailored to meet standards for grades 9-12.

Further Reading

Common Core Standards

This resource has been aligned to the Common Core State Standards for states in which they have been adopted. If a state does not appear in the drop-down, CCSS alignments are forthcoming.

State Standards

This lesson has been aligned to standards in the following states. If a state does not appear in the drop-down, standard alignments are not currently available for that state.

NCTE/IRA National Standards for the English Language Arts

• 1. Students read a wide range of print and nonprint texts to build an understanding of texts, of themselves, and of the cultures of the United States and the world; to acquire new information; to respond to the needs and demands of society and the workplace; and for personal fulfillment. Among these texts are fiction and nonfiction, classic and contemporary works.
• 3. Students apply a wide range of strategies to comprehend, interpret, evaluate, and appreciate texts. They draw on their prior experience, their interactions with other readers and writers, their knowledge of word meaning and of other texts, their word identification strategies, and their understanding of textual features (e.g., sound-letter correspondence, sentence structure, context, graphics).
• 4. Students adjust their use of spoken, written, and visual language (e.g., conventions, style, vocabulary) to communicate effectively with a variety of audiences and for different purposes.
• 5. Students employ a wide range of strategies as they write and use different writing process elements appropriately to communicate with different audiences for a variety of purposes.
• 6. Students apply knowledge of language structure, language conventions (e.g., spelling and punctuation), media techniques, figurative language, and genre to create, critique, and discuss print and nonprint texts.
• 7. Students conduct research on issues and interests by generating ideas and questions, and by posing problems. They gather, evaluate, and synthesize data from a variety of sources (e.g., print and nonprint texts, artifacts, people) to communicate their discoveries in ways that suit their purpose and audience.
• 8. Students use a variety of technological and information resources (e.g., libraries, databases, computer networks, video) to gather and synthesize information and to create and communicate knowledge.
• 12. Students use spoken, written, and visual language to accomplish their own purposes (e.g., for learning, enjoyment, persuasion, and the exchange of information).

Materials and Technology

• Projector or interactive whiteboard to display images of historical markers and students’ work
• Computers with internet access for class research (not needed if using books or textual resources)
• Digital cameras (optional)
• Understanding Historical Markers
• Writing a Historical Marker Assignment
• Taking Notes & Summarizing Information
• Interview Notes
• What is Important about Your Research
• Writing a Historical Marker Rubric

This website provides a catalog of historical markers and information. It showcases photographs, inscription transcriptions, marker locations, maps, additional information and commentary, and links to more information. Viewers can add markers to the database and update existing marker pages with new photographs, links, information and commentary.

This marker is listed as an example in Session 1. This site provides a picture of the historic marker in place and enlarges the content so it is readable by viewers of the site.

This site offers historical marker information organized by city and state for easy searching

Stoppingpoints.com provides travelers with historical marker information as well as other points of interest. It is less comprehensive than The Historical Marker Database or the Historical Marker Society of America, but it may afford some different examples.

In his article, author William Lee Anderson III shares information about the history of historical markers in the United States. This article is a good resource for teachers to learn more about historical markers before the lesson. It may also work well as a class reading for the students.

This site provides a list of important questions to ask when considering creating a historical marker.

Preparation

• Research information and prepare any handouts/overheads showing pictures of a variety of historical markers in your town or greater community.
• Research other historic areas or buildings in your town, noting ones that are historical but that do not already have a marker designating them as such. Select 5-10 to use as class writing practice or for students who have difficulty finding topics of their own. Photocopy, print or record website information for sharing with the class.
• Gather books, articles, and other resources describing the history of your town or community. Collect copies of materials for the classroom, make copies available for student use in the school or town library, and/or prepare a bibliography of web sources and post in the classroom or on a class website.
• Secure cameras (digital or camera phone work best) for students to photograph their historical sites or provide pictures for them (optional).

Student Objectives

Students will…

• conduct research on local historical markers in their communities.
• analyze existing historical markers to determine what information is included.
• interview community personnel about historical information and their historical/personal ties to their community.
• write a historical marker by following class guidelines about what constitutes a good historical marker.

Session One

• Begin with a discussion of students’ past vacations or travels. Ask them what kinds of things they have seen along the road when riding in a car to a destination. Make a list on the board or chart paper. The teacher may do this as a whole class discussion or put students into small groups for discussion.
• What are they?
• Where are they found?
• Why would people like/or not like them?
• What purpose do they serve?
• Who creates them?
• Which ones have they seen?
• Are there markers near where they live?
• Which ones do they find the most interesting?
• In this lesson, students will learn how to break down a historical marker to understand its rhetorical situation, noting the following: audience, purpose, language/word choice, location, and credibility. Give students the Understanding Historical Markers handout.
• Location :  Where is this marker located? What state? What part of the state? Is the marker near any other landmarks? What is the weather like there? Why might we need to consider the weather?
• Audience :  Who is likely to visit this area? Who will read this marker? (For example, age, nationality, education, etc.) Who do you think would not visit this area?
• Purpose :  What does the marker want the reader to know? List at least 3 items and then rank them in order from most important to least important. Is there anything you think the marker did not include that it should have?
• Language/Word Choice : What kinds of words does the marker use? Are there any words you did not know or that were confusing to you? Did the marker have words written in a language other than English? Why is this important to think about?
• Credibility :  Who created the marker? Does the marker name an author or a group/organization that created or funded it? Why is this important to consider?  Were there any errors you noticed on the marker?

Session Two

• The session will begin with a brief review of the information from the Understanding Historical Markers handout.
• Show a picture of a historical marker that is in their town, community, near the school, or so forth. Briefly review it for location, audience, purpose, language/word choice, and credibility (see Understanding Historical Markers handout).
• Ask students to think of other places in their town or community that have markers or that might need a historical marker. Brainstorm this list on the overhead or the board putting information in two columns: Has Marker / Needs Marker. Examples may include an old Victorian house, a park named for a person, a train station, a store in a downtown area, a bridge, a historical neighborhood, a statue, another school, an office building and so forth.
• Each student will pick one location that they may know something about or that they have an interest in. They will conduct research to learn more about that location using different sources, such as websites about local history, books from the school library or others that the teacher has made available in the class. Students will be responsible for taking notes over the information they learned.
• Give students the Writing a Historical Marker Assignment handout and the Taking Notes & Summarizing Information handout and review the assignment. (The teacher will discuss the section on taking notes while discussing interviews in the next session.)  Additionally, introduce the rubric and allow time for students to ask questions about the assignment expectations.
• Use the remainder of class for students to begin conducting research using books or online sources and taking notes over these.

Session Three

• The session will begin with each student sharing what location they are researching and one thing they have learned about it so far.
• Share with students that they will also find one person to interview about this place. This does not need to be an expert; it may be a family member or family friend who is familiar with the place. It may also be a neighbor. Help students think about people they know and would feel comfortable asking questions. Students will brainstorm who they might interview about that location (for example: museum curator or volunteer, parent or grandparent, neighbor, other relative, shop owner, home owner, etc.).
• What do you know about this location?
• Is this location important to you? Why or why not?
• Is this location important to other people as well?
• What memories do you have of this location?
• Did anything good, bad, or important happen here?
• (For a theatre)  What movies do you remember showing here? How much did a ticket cost? Was it a popular place for young people? How did you get to the theatre? How often could you go?
• (For a train station)  Does the station still operate? When did it start and when did it stop running?  Did any famous people travel through town and stop this station? How many people usually rode the train? What stops did it make?
• (For a city park) Who or what is the park named after? Why is it named after that person? Did it always look like this? What else did it have? Why did it change? Are there other parks like it in town? What kinds of things did people do here in the past? Why was this a popular place to go?
• Students will  then draft both general and specific questions about their location. Their assignment is to conduct their interview and write their notes for the next session.  If you wish, interviews may be recorded.

Session Four

• Spend time reviewing the assignment description and then discussing the grading rubric . Help students understand what is important in a good marker and how they can use their information to achieve that.
• Discuss summarizing information. The key to summarizing information is to look at all of the information and discover what a reader must know to understand why that place is important.
• Students will take out their notes from their research and their interviews and review it. Using the What is Important about Your Research handout, they will make a list of the most important information about their location, noting what is important and why.
• Students then draft their historical markers by writing a paragraph for their location, introducing the reader to the place, telling them what is interesting about this location including any names or dates as needed, and telling them what is significant about it for the surrounding area and for history in general.
• Students will turn in a working draft to the teacher at the end of class. The teacher will comment and return to students at the next session.
• For homework, the teacher may assign students to draw a picture of their location or to take a picture of it, depending on access to technology. Students should bring these with them to the next class meeting.

Session Five

• The teacher will return students’ drafts which will have comments about what students did. Share positive elements and offer general suggestions to the class as a whole for revising.
• Students will use the rest of class time to revise their paragraphs: by either writing them out or typing and printing. The goal is for students to have a polished draft of their historical marker that looks professional.  The teacher will move around the room helping students.
• Students will include their picture or drawn image of their location with their finished draft for display.
• The teacher may wish to showcase students’ markers around the room or throughout the school. In addition, the teacher may compile students’ historical markers into a class book using ReadWriteThink’s Profile Publisher or Multigenre Mapper , or by taking students’ writing and binding in another form.
• Teachers will grade students using the Writing a Historical Marker rubric . (Teachers may also assign students to finish their assignments and bring them back the next day.)
• Students may give presentations to the class or others in the school about their locations. They may even choose to dress up as a person from the time the location was famous.
• Teachers may assign students to write historical markers for themselves about a place they lived, played, visited, etc. They may write it as though they became famous and people wanted to know about their lives.
• The class may create a website showcasing their historical markers to others in the community or even sharing with a local tourism bureau to highlight as places of interest.
• Students could write more than one historical marker and then create brochures to advertise these for visitors to their community.
• Students might write their markers as though they would be published on the Historical Marker Database website: http://www.hmdb.org/.
• Profile Publisher may be used to help students draft profiles of historical people or places.

Stapleless Book may be useful for students when compiling notes from historical markers in their state or community while planning ideas for their own.

Character Trading Cards may be another way for students to learn about creating short bits of biographical information based on historical figures and then use that to create their own.

Student Assessment / Reflections

• Historical Marker Assignment Rubric
• Professional Library
• Lesson Plans
• Calendar Activities

The old cliche, "A picture is worth a thousand words" is put to the test when students write their own narrative interpretations of events shown in an image.

Add new comment

• Print this resource

Explore Resources by Grade

• Kindergarten K

• Search forums
• Looking for HSC notes and resources? Check out our Notes & Resources page
• Secondary Education
• HSC Archived Threads
• General Discussion on the 2010 HSC

How many words for 5 mark, 10 mark, 15 mark, 20 mark questions? (1 Viewer)

• Thread starter ninetypercent
• Start date Jan 1, 2010

ninetypercent

Ninety ninety ninety.

just wondering how many words should we write for 5 mark, 10 mark, 15 mark, or 20 mark questions?  

The qestion is WAY too general, how much you write depends entirely on the subject! Here are the different categories - other posters would be more qualified to fill you in on certain categories. 1. Sciences 2. English 3. History 4. Economics 5. Business Studies. 6. Languages. 7. (possibly more - post NYE, I'm not exactly as clear headed as I would be) Speaking for Business Studies, a 5 marker is usually a paragrah - around 4-6 lines. Lines are provided btw. 10 marker is about a page - lines are again provided. 20 marker is an extended response - Business Report/Case study, people write anywhere from 6 to 12+ pages. I assume its around the same with Economics, but with Eco you can put in diagrams and graphs. For Modern History, WWI section essentially requires one liners for the reading section, perhaps 3 lines for the slightly longer questions. Lines are provided for the source analysis and "using own knowlege" part - its around a page. For the essays, 20 markes = a full essay. People write anywhere from 6 pages to 20. Most essays are essay length - ie. 800-1100 words. For the personality section, the 10 mark part is a mini essay - around 4-5 pages. More if you wish. The 15 marker is a few pages more. Harder analysis as well. Perhaps 6-8 pages. BUT as you can see, any info posters can provide is completely specific to a particular subject. There is no rule of thumb that applies to every single subject. Why don't you go familiarise yourself with the exam formats for your subjects? The standards packages also provide a good guideline as to how much ppl write for each particuar subject.  

annabackwards

<3 prophet 9.

thanks wendybird and annabackwards! i'll take a look at standard packages  

Premium Member

Please note that many subjects are changing some of the exam requirements for 2010 e.g. both Modern and Ancient History are including multiple choice (and for Modern the Sources and Own Knowledge 10 marker has gone and in Ancient it is the 4 and 5 mark questions - the 10 mark Conservation etc question remains). The basic structure for History is now 5 - 10 multiple choice with 5 - 10 marks from short written responses and then the 10 marks source evaluation for modern and conservation/ethics for ancient. Other subjects have also made changes to a greater or lesser extent but I don't know them. You will need to check the exam specifications for each subject on the BOS website. They are also including suggested word/page counts for students in 2010.  

Active Member

annabackwards said: For the option topics you write in booklets - just write as much as you need to. For the large 6/7 markers, it shouldn't be more than 3 pages though including diagrams and that's if you have large writing XD Click to expand...

ilikebeeef said: Lol that's like a small essay! 3 pages?? Click to expand...

cem said: Please note that many subjects are changing some of the exam requirements for 2010 e.g. both Modern and Ancient History are including multiple choice (and for Modern the Sources and Own Knowledge 10 marker has gone and in Ancient it is the 4 and 5 mark questions - the 10 mark Conservation etc question remains). The basic structure for History is now 5 - 10 multiple choice with 5 - 10 marks from short written responses and then the 10 marks source evaluation for modern and conservation/ethics for ancient. Other subjects have also made changes to a greater or lesser extent but I don't know them. You will need to check the exam specifications for each subject on the BOS website. They are also including suggested word/page counts for students in 2010. Click to expand...

lpodnano said: I can't believe they are including multiple choice, IMO it seems to degrade the test bleh. Or maybe it's because I hate multiple choice. Click to expand...

schoey93 said: i'm a jerk, lol Click to expand...

so these changes will be implemented for our year? that really sucks. that really really sucks. I hate Multiple choice.  

cem said: The HTA fought against it but having now had a couple of training sessions on them I am not so sure that they won't be able to test the knowledge but time will tell. Shall I just say I am approaching it with an open mind as it is now set and we have to deal with it as best we can so I am being positive in assuming that they won't let it impact the rigourous nature of both subjects. Click to expand...

wendybird said: Oh wow - I had no idea about the incoming multiple choice!?! One thing I really enjoyed about Modern History (and English for that matter) was the focus on conceptual knowledge - ie. being able to see the "big picture" rather than a focus on the nitty-gritty (which is of course important too). I feel abit funny about the multiple choice - and I'm glad that when I was doing the HSC Modern History was essentially extended responses (but for the WWI section). I just hope students won't be punished for forgetting a date or place. I've always found MC abit of a paradox. On one hand it is designed to remove ambiguity by having clear cut answers (A/B/C/D), but on the other hand it garners ambiguity and controversy of its own because of the way questions can be worded and conflicting perspectives on the one event. Anyway, best of luck for students of the new curriculum. Click to expand...

annabackwards said: I said no more than Click to expand...

they're gonna introduce word/page count for english? that's gonna be a bitch  

h3ll h0und said: they're gonna introduce word/page count for english? that's gonna be a bitch Click to expand...

for Modern the Sources and Own Knowledge 10 marker has gone Click to expand...

Premium Member :)

don't know if this will help but my english tutor told me: 1 mark questions should be done in 2.5mins, and should be 3 lines. 2 marks, 5mins, 6lines 3 marks, 7.5 mins, 1/2 page 5 marks, 12.5mins, 1 1/4 - 1 1/2pages 6 marks, 15 mins, 1 1/2 pages all this obviously applies to english.  

Users Who Are Viewing This Thread (Users: 0, Guests: 1)

Reference Library

Collections

• See what's new
• All Resources
• Student Resources
• Assessment Resources
• Teaching Resources
• CPD Courses
• Livestreams

Study notes, videos, interactive activities and more!

Business news, insights and enrichment

Currated collections of free resources

Browse resources by topic

• All Business Resources

Resource Selections

Currated lists of resources

Exam Support

How to Answer a 10 Mark Question for Edexcel A Level Business Year 1 (AS)

Last updated 22 Mar 2021

• Share on Facebook
• Share on Twitter
• Share by Email

In this note I'm going to take a look at what is required for students to achieve a maximum score on the 10 mark questions in the Edexcel A Level Business Year 1 (AS) Papers.

The 10 mark questions will appear on both Paper 1 and Paper 2 and knowing how to answer these questions will have a big bearing on your overall AS grade.

Let’s take the following question which is based on a fictitious car manufacturer, the Mayflower Motor Company

Assess the importance of total quality management to the Mayflower Motor Company (10 marks)

Good practice is to start off with a definition of total quality management. Not only will this gain you some easy knowledge marks but starting off with a definition can result in a more focused response.

Next, you need to analyse a strong argument that looks at why total quality management is important for the Mayflower Motor company. Make sure your argument is also in context by applying your answer to the business and that your argument is coherent, showing a logical chain of reasoning . Using connectives in your answer can help you to develop logical chains of reasoning.

Then, you need to show balance by providing a counter argument (counterbalance) . This argument should look at some of the limitations of total quality management to Mayflower or perhaps a disadvantage of total quality management. Remember, your argument must be contextualised.

Finally, in order to reach the very top of level 4 and achieve 10 marks you must come to a supported judgement . This means you must weigh up both of your arguments and then make a supported judgement in relation to how important you believe total quality management is to the business. Do the benefits outweigh the drawbacks? If so, why?

Practice this technique with the 10 mark questions on the Edexcel A Level Business Year 1 (AS) specimen papers and also the Edexcel Practice Exam Papers that have been developed by tutor2u to help give you maximum opportunities to improve your exam technique.

You might also like

Business ethics & managers in plcs (aqa a level business paper 1: example 25 mark essay), aqa a level business paper 2 walk-through (2018), benefits of diversity in board directors (aqa paper 2 2018, q1.4), importance of price to an effective marketing mix (worked answer to aqa grade booster 2019: 16 mark question), new strategy and market capitalisation | aqa q2.1, paper 2 2019, decentralisation and leadership styles (aqa paper 1 2019, q20), efficiency ratios and cash levels (aqa paper 1 2020 q19), power culture & shareholders (aqa paper 2 2020 q3.2), our subjects.

• › Criminology
• › Economics
• › Geography
• › Health & Social Care
• › Psychology
• › Sociology
• › Teaching & learning resources
• › Student revision workshops
• › Online student courses
• › CPD for teachers
• › Livestreams
• › Teaching jobs

Boston House, 214 High Street, Boston Spa, West Yorkshire, LS23 6AD Tel: 01937 848885

• › Contact us
• › Terms of use
• › Privacy & cookies

© 2002-2024 Tutor2u Limited. Company Reg no: 04489574. VAT reg no 816865400.

History’s Footnotes

The addition of footnotes to texts by historians began long before their supposed inventor, Leopold von Ranke, started using them (poorly, as it turns out).

“ The history of the footnote may well seem an apocalyptically trivial topic ,” writes historian Anthony Grafton. “Footnotes seem to rank among the most colorless and uninteresting features of historical practice.” And yet, Grafton—who has also written The Footnote: A Curious History (1999)—argues that they’re actually pretty important.

“Once the historian writes with footnotes, historical narrative becomes a distinctly modern” practice, Grafton explains. History is no longer a matter of rumor, unsubstantiated opinion, or whim.

“The text persuades, the note proves,” he avers. Footnotes do double duty, for they also “persuade as well as prove” and open up the work to a multitude of voices.

Leopold von Ranke (1795–1886), the founder of source-based history, is usually credited with the “invention” of the scholarly footnote in the European tradition. Grafton describes von Ranke’s theory as sharper than his practice: his footnoting was much too sloppy to be a model for scholars today. But various forms of footnotes were used long before von Ranke. Sources were of vital importance to both Roman lawyers and Christian theologians in late antiquity and the early Middle Ages, as they strove to back up their own arguments with the weight and gravitas of others.

As Grafton writes in a second article about this history of naming one’s sources, “ the modern footnote—with its full bibliographical details, discussion of variant texts and sources, and separate place on the page […] seems to have arrived at its definitive form in the later 17th century .”

Pierre Bayle’s enormously influential Historical and Critical Dictionary (1697) is the thing to cite here. The Dictionary “consisted in large part of footnotes (and even footnotes to footnotes).” Within a few decades scholars emulating Bayle “were producing footnotes by the bushel—and satirists were making fun of them for doing so.”

Grafton has a candidate for the longest known footnote: it’s 165 pages long and found in John Hodgson’s 1840 History of Northumberland . The award for the Most Ironic Footnotes goes to Edward Gibbon, who plays it straight in the text of The History of the Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire (published between 1776 and 1789) and then adds the snark to the footnotes, playfully undermining the seriousness of the endeavor above.

For historians, footnotes “amount to a staccato, partial intellectual biography.” The “historian’s footnotes offer a narrative about the historian who wrote the text.” They tell us what they consulted and how they interpreted those sources. Such historians are, after all, asking us to trust them that they did the work, which is typical of a lot of the reading. “Footnotes give us reason to believe that their authors have done their best to find out the truth about past events and distant countries.” They are, in short, the historian’s credentials, their bona fides (Latin for “in good faith”).

Above all, writes Grafton, footnotes “democratize scholarly writing” both by bringing in other voices to the conversation and by including the reader. This makes every reader part of the argument, as well as, at least in theory, a fact-checker. Few readers will dig deeply into the notes, but the notes should nonetheless provide the back-up to controversial points and questionable facts.

Weekly Newsletter

Get your fix of JSTOR Daily’s best stories in your inbox each Thursday.

Privacy Policy   Contact Us You may unsubscribe at any time by clicking on the provided link on any marketing message.

(Certainly this reader has found many topics to write about here at JSTOR Daily in the footnotes or endnotes to both books and articles. Modern scholarly databases like JSTOR making proofing the pudding of the notes a lot easier than it used to be.)

It’s not just historians, of course. Biographers and science writers, if they know what’s good for them, should share/reveal their research, too. Some popular authors eschew citations of sources, while commercial publishers tend to think the infrastructure of scholarship—notes/bibliographies/indices—isn’t particularly marketable. Yet the footnote, often as an endnote, is today alive and well in the scholarly world. Meanwhile, virtual publishing allows for citations to be linked directly to the source—you can, after all, have your cake and eat it, too.

Support JSTOR Daily! Join our membership program on Patreon today.

JSTOR is a digital library for scholars, researchers, and students. JSTOR Daily readers can access the original research behind our articles for free on JSTOR.

Get Our Newsletter

More stories.

Celebrating the Fourth of July

Burlesque Beginnings

In the Mood for “Fake” Music?

Performing as “Red Indians” in Ghana

Recent posts.

• The Barrier-Breaking Ozark Club of Great Falls, Montana
• Building the Olympic Games
• Windmills, Arabic, and an Environmental Victory
• The Stickiness of Teflon
• The “Mexican-Hindus” of Rural California

Support JSTOR Daily

Sign up for our weekly newsletter.