Picture yourself in the exam hall. You have given the question some thought and you have made your plan, and you have 40-45 minutes to write your essay, depending on the exam you are taking.
The key thing to impress on you now, with the exam months and months away, or else if you are in your revision period and you are making your final preparations for it, is that you don’t have any time to waste in that exam hall. Every second counts, and so as you are writing your essay, you want to be earning precious marks. Obvious, I know, but you’d be surprised how much time is wasted.
Intros and conclusions are often a waste of time in that they don’t earn marks. The classic “no marks introduction begins thus: ‘In this essay I will …’
Great, you do have an introduction but there are no marks to be had, and how much time did it take? Though if you have in fact written your essay plan as an introduction then at least time hasn’t been wasted.
Another way in which you can set out the terms of your essay is if the question covers such a large topic that it simply has to be reduced. You can do this in your introduction, giving your choices and explaining your reasons. Again, no marks but at least time hasn’t been wasted.
However, I want you to see the opportunities for marks in your intros.
Look for an opportunity to place your response in its historical context and so earn marks (when I underline the text, I am quoting from the generic mark scheme for a grade 7 that is used by examiners)
Example: Analyse the methods used by one authoritarian ruler in his successful bid for power.
I am going to examine Hitler’s bid for power and consider the context of Weimar Germany –
the TofV/the TofShame
the impact of the Great Depression
Weimar’s unpopularity
Look for a key term in the question that could usefully be explained. In this way, from the outset, you will demonstrate a clearly focused response showing a high degree of awareness of the demands of the question.
Example: In what ways and for what reasons has the “cult of personality” helped to gain popular support for the rise and establishment of authoritarian states?
Clearly, a “cult of personality” can be purposefully defined.
2nd Example: Evaluate the impact of two 20th-century wars on the role and status of women.
Though they are linked, there is a difference between role and status, why not explain it?
Status is about position and standing in society or a given group, even a peer group. Whereas roles are the part played by an individual, jobs, family roles, political roles.
Raise the significance of the question, perhaps in a wider context and so, show a high degree of awareness of the demands of the question.
Example: Analyse the nature of the Cold War and explain why, in spite of serious crises, it did not turn into a third world war.
Highlight the economic and human cost, the social and political cost too, of total war, i.e. WW1 and WW2, eg, economic bankruptcy in Europe; the lost generation in WW1, the even bigger impact, emphasising civilians, of WW2; revolution after WW1 as well as the loss of empires and the loss of empire (eventually) after WW2. All of these things were known by the decision-makers during the Cold War. Then, highlight the proliferation of nuclear weapons and the likely impact if they were to be deployed on a massive scale.
Is there a major historical debate to highlight? Or are there different interpretations to highlight? There is evaluation of different perspectives.
Example: Compare and contrast the repressive policies of leaders of two authoritarian states.
Use the intentionalist – structuralist debate, i.e. were policies always intended or did events dictate them?