Choosing a photograph

Many of you will inevitably ask us, so what type of photograph will be acceptable for this project?

Let us show you a few examples.

A photograph depicting my grandmother (middle row, on the extreme right) with her teachers and fellow classmates in a university in Manado, Indonesia. This picture was most likely taken between 1930 and 1935, before Indonesia gained independence from the Dutch, which explains the Dutch professor in the picture (top row, on the extreme left).

This is a picture of my mother (on the left) with her best friend on a trishaw in Jakarta, Indonesia. This was taken in the year 1974, when Suharto was the President.

Therefore, as long as your photograph has a some form of historical significance and you are able to trace back to its origins and the events that took place that year, it should be acceptable.

All the best in choosing the right photograph!

History TfU Project Guidelines - 2010

Victoria School Sec One History TfU Project Guidelines

Term 3 Assessment components (CA):

TfU Project – 60%
CA paper in Week 8 – 40%

What is this project all about?

This project is about the use of evidence in history and the different ways in which the evidence is used to reconstruct the past.

In order to do this, you will form groups of one to four to complete this project. This project consists of a number of different components which require you to work closely with your group mates in order to complete the project.In your groups, find a photograph that is of some historical value.

This history project is about this photograph and through the study of this photograph, we hope to find out more about its origins, background and historical significance.

What kind of photograph?

Preferably a photograph that dates back to (at least) your parents' generation.
The photograph must have some form of historical significance. It is advisable to show your teacher the photograph for approval before you continue with the interview and research.
The components are as follow:

Component 1: Oral Interview (10%)

This component requires you to conduct an oral interview with a person who has some knowledge of the photograph. You may use the following to formulate your interview questions. You are encouraged to pose more questions to your interviewee.

Clearly state the year (or the period) the photograph was taken.
Briefly describe the place and what is happening in the photograph.
Identify the people in the photograph. Who were they? What were their occupations? How old were they when the photograph was taken?
(Note: More marks will be awarded to groups with well-formulated questions. A full transcript of the interview is required for grading.)

Component 2: Background Research (15%)

After completing the oral interview, you are required to do some research based on the information gathered from the interview. Do a little background research on the historical events that took place during that year and relate it to the photograph. You may use the following questions to guide your research.
How is your photograph related to or reflective of that particular year or era?
What is the historical significance of this photograph?

(Minimum number of words: 350)

Component 3: Individual Reflection (5%)

Component 3 requires you to reflect upon your learning through the completion of this unit and your group project.
1. What have you learnt?
2. Challenges that you faced throughout the project and how you overcame them?What are some of the thoughts and feelings that you have?

Assignment requirements:

All documents should be typed in Arial, font size 12, 1.5 paragraph spacing. No hand-written papers will be accepted. Names, class and register numbers have to be clearly indicated on the cover page.

Deadlines:

You will need to submit a draft of the project to your respective teacher for checking by the final week of Term 3, with Friday (3 Sep 2010) being the last day of submission. It is not necessary for you to submit a complete project but the teacher must be able to see some form of progress.

Final submission date of the TFU project: Term 4 Week 1 (17 Sep 2010)

Penalty for late submission: 10% of the total marks will be deducted for every day of late submission.

Sec 1 Movie Screening

I'm sure most of us watched Indiana Jones and the Legend of the Crystal Skull, well, there was a time when Harrison Ford was far younger and Indiana Jones was a far better movie.

This is something from 1989, way before your time. But it's a really entertaining film all the same.

Do pay attention to the historical aspects of the movie, in particular, the use of evidence and complete the reflection below.

SA1 - ALL THE BEST!!

Dear all,

Here are some final tips:

By this stage, you should have sat for your mock and at least have completed part of it, so you know what is required of you in a history exam. This is what you need to do to finalise your preparations.

Practice Practice Practice
There are lots of MCQs, SBQs and SEQs in your workbook to practice on - Practice and keep your skills current, do some practice to tune your brain to the skills that you need to exercise during the exam!

Make Notes
For content, you should not just plug in the I-Pod and lie down to read your textbook, NOTHING will go in! Sit down and summarise the key content into notes. Then 2 days before the exam, try to re-summarise all the notes that you have taken into a mind map or if that doesn't work for you, then try to summarise all your notes into one sheet of foolscap paper according to chapter and topic. Then the day before try to summarise everything into half a sheet of paper (3/4 of a page is fine too)!

Read the Questions Carefully
On the day itself, READ the questions VERY carefully! Some questions might be a bit tricky but if you calm down and re-read the questions, you might be able to understand it better. Similarly, don't jump in excitement when you see a familiar word and write everything you know about the topic. Re-read the question and re-confirm what you need to do!

Plan and manage your time
There is nothing worse than knowing everything but not having the time to put it down on paper. Plan your strategies before the paper, know exactly how much time you should spend on each section of the paper and work within the framework of the time.

Your history teachers would have shared some strategies with you on how to proceed, but the basic principle is that you have 90 minutes to do everything. So this means you must prioritise, the MCQs are worth 10 marks, the SBQs are worth 20 marks and SEQs are worth 30 marks. Don't get bogged down with the MCQs, if you are still stuck at the MCQs after 10 minutes, drop it and move on and come back to it later!

To one and all, remember, work hard and remember what you have learnt in class, good luck for SA1 2009!


Best Wishes,
Your History Teachers

Feedback SEQ Exercise

hi all,

Many thanks to those who took part in the SEQ revision exercise. I've already e-mailed feedback to those of you who need it, so, if you haven't received anything, it's a sign that you're on the right track.

Keep up the good work!

SEQ Revision

SEQ Revision

Publish at Scribd or explore others: How-to-Guides & Manu 2008 history

SEQ Skills Revision

hi all,

In view of the exams, this section will re-cap answering SEQs. Now most of you have already been introduced to the PEEL structure during and for the purpose of answering SBQs. You would need to use this structure for the SEQs, which stands for structured essay questions.

I've adapted a post from the sec 2 history blog by Mr Donald Leo in order to give you a better idea of what to expect.

What is SEQ? It is 'structured essay question'. SEQ can either be short or long essay question. The following is an example of SEQ:

1. Government and Society [15m]

a. How did Parameswara establish the foundation for Malacca to become a great trading port? [4m]

b. What was the impact of cultural adaptation on Southeast Asian civilisations? [4m]

c. Do you agree that Qin Shihuang's reign was bad for the people of China? [7m]

Now we shall introduce to you the steps to answer such questions:

Steps:

1. Read the essay question carefully.
2. What are the key words in the question? (This gets students to think about what they need answer.)
3. What are the key issues in the essay title? (This gets the students to focus on the content of the essay as well as historical issues.)
4. What is your opinion on the matter? (Do not start writing until you know what you want to say?)
5. Opening points to be made in each paragraph (This is very difficult but crucial. This should provide the skeleton of the essay and show the students how the entire essay is constructed. It helps in the planning!)

Remember this:

Point > Explanation, Example > Link back to the essay

PEEL

Each paragraph should always consist of a point, which is elaborated by explanation and examples. Then the point has to be linked back to the question. VERY IMPORTANT!

Note:
1. Always answer the question right from the beginning by stating your point of view!!! E.g. I agree Qin Shihuang's rule was bad for China....
2. Always write in small paragraphs.
3. Keep one point to one paragraph.
4. Each paragraph must be elaborated with examples and explanation.
5. Always link back to the question either at the beginning or end of each paragraph!!!
6. If time permits, always write a well-thought conclusion at the end of the essay. If time is limited, at least answer to the question one more time so that you will not go out of point.
7. Always time yourself.
8. Look at the mark allocation and answer the question accordingly. For a 4 mark question, 2 points with relevant explanation and examples would be sufficient. For people who want to play safe, 3 points. Remember 4 marks doesn’t mean 4 points without explanation nor examples.
9. Always present the two sides of an argument. You may agree with the statement but you must also write about counter arguments. Always two sides [given factor and additional factors]!!!
10. As far as possible you should never contradict yourself by saying you agree and then disagree later in your essay (when it comes to a 7 mark question). Instead, in your introduction, after you have stated your stand (or point of view), you should stick with the same stand in the conclusion too. This is only logical and prevents you from contradicting yourself. Learn to defend your argument!!!
11. Use conjuction to link your essay so that there is a good flow. e.g. firstly, secondly, thirdly, in addition, moreover, furthermore, nevertheless, but, however, in contrast, on the contrary, despite, etc.

Examples:

1. How did Parameswara establish the foundation for Malacca to become a great trading port? [4m] ?

Point
Firstly Parameswara was able to recognise the potential for Malacca to become a great trading port.

Explanation and Example
Parameswara noticed Malacca had a safe harbour and was located along the Straits of Malacca which was part of the India-China trade route. As such, its location made it an ideal centre for the distribution and collection of goods brought from other parts of Southeast Asia and other countries.

Link
Thus Parameswara and his followers decided to settle in Malacca and recognised the potential for Malacca to become a great trading port.

Point
Secondly, Parameswara was able to take steps to make Malacca an attractive port for traders.

Explanation and Example
Parameswara formed a friendship with China in order to protect Malacca from its enemies and thus made Malacca a safe port. In addition, he also appointed syahbandars to look after the needs of the foreign traders who stopped in Malacca. Later, he married a Muslim princess from Pasai in Northern Sumatra and coverted to Islam, this attracted many Indian-Mulsim and Arab traders to setup their trading headquarters in Malacca.

Link
Thus by taking these steps, Parameswara was able to lay the foundations for Malacca to become a great trading port.

2. Do you agree that Qin Shihuang's reign was bad for the people of China?

L1 UNSUPPORTED AGREEMENT/DISAGREEMENT WITH THE HYPOTHESIS [1-2]
L2 AGREES OR DISAGREES WITH THE HYPOTHESIS AND SHOWS WHY THE HYPOTHESIS WAS RIGHT or WRONG [3-4]
L3 AGREES AND DISAGREES WITH THE HYPOTHESIS AND SHOWS WHY THE HYPOTHESIS WAS RIGHT AND WRONG [5-6]
L4 L3 PLUS A GOOD CONCLUSION [7]

[An L4 answer]
I agree that Qin Shihuang's reign was bad for the people of China.

[Agrees]
Qin Shihuang's reign was bad for China as the reign was infamous for its cruelty. There were many strict laws which were used against the people of China. For example, those who broke the law were executed along with their families. In addition, Qin Shihuang also executed many scholars and burnt books that went against the state philosophy of legalism. Thus by these acts, he brought tremendous cruelty, hardship and destruction upon the people of China.
[Disagrees]
On the other hand, Qin Shihuang was able to unify China by bringing China under the control of a single central rule by eradicating the power of the feudal Shi and removing their powers. He was able to put in place a civilian and military governor in each province who took charge of all matters. These officials were watched over by an inspector, and all officials reported to him directly. In addition, Qin Shihuang was alboe to introduce laws and uniformed weights, script and measures to China and created a sense of unity in China. Thus Qin Shihuang's rule had a lasting impact on China as these changes were used in subsequent dynasties.

[Conclusion]
In conclusion, whilst Qin Shihuang's reign did have a lasting impact on the people of China, the inherent nature of its cruelty cannot be denied as the Qin Dynasty was brought to an end by a revolt by the people and its eventual replacement. Thus, the rule of the Qin Dynasty was bad for the people of China.

* See, the conclusion still must agree with the introduction. It is very contradicting and confusing to say that you agree and then disagree later just because we have taught you to provide both sides of the argument.

Please do take some time to look through this and do approach your history teachers for clarifications if required. You can also out some examples to help in your revision in the exercise below.