History Extension 2023 HSC exam pack

Students should:

• read the question carefully to ensure that they do not miss important components of the question
• have a clear understanding of key words in the question and recognise the intent of the question and its requirements
• relate to the question throughout the response rather than just at the beginning
• sustain their judgements throughout the response with a clear connection to the question
• communicate ideas and information using historical terms and concepts appropriately
• present a comprehensive, logical, and sustained response.

In better responses, students were able to:

• make a clear judgement about the role of historiographical debate
• identify the key ideas in both Sources A and B and use these to demonstrate deep understanding of the historiographical debates and issues raised
• deal with the sources either in depth or consistently throughout the response
• support arguments with reference to other relevant and useful sources, showing depth of understanding and knowledge of historiographical debates and the impact of these debates on approaches to the construction of history
• consistently produce an argument and avoid a narrative.

Areas for students to improve include:

• answering the question directly, with a clear and reasoned judgement
• connecting to the question early and throughout the response, and not as an afterthought
• providing analysis of concepts and examples relevant to the question, rather than relying on a description of examples and sources
• starting paragraphs with clear topic sentences that link to the question and/or argument, rather than beginning a paragraph with examples
• offering more than chronological surveys of historians/producers of history over time, even when the question includes the phrase ‘over time’
• finding ways to connect sources meaningfully to the question and argument, rather than in examples that are not appropriate
• going beyond sources from previous HSC examinations to guide choice of revision materials.

In better responses, students were able to:

• explicitly identify forms of communication, as per the syllabus
• show a detailed understanding of their case studies and relevant historiographical debate(s)
• construct and sustain a detailed explanation in response to the question.

Areas for students to improve include:

• knowing the syllabus Key Questions, for example, forms of communication and being able to apply these to their case study
• knowing their Question 2 Case Study areas of debate, and explicitly identifying them
• engaging with specific historical detail and interpretations relevant to the debate and supporting an argument with specific examples
• engaging with, and explicitly identifying, a range of forms of communication, for example, film, autobiography, museum exhibition, written narrative, podcasts, documentaries, lectures, interactive websites
• structuring their response in lines of argument
• avoiding pre-prepared answers from previous years. Students need to follow and respond to the intent of the question
• using connectives to identify cause and effect to make an explicit point, and nominalisation to avoid falling into a narrative
• linking more frequently to the question in the body of the response, not just in the introduction and conclusion.