BlogAncient HistoryHow to Get Full Marks in HSC Ancient History Short Answer Questions

How to Get Full Marks in HSC Ancient History Short Answer Questions

Can’t seem to get full marks in the HSC Ancient History short answer questions for the Core study and Ancient Societies?

We’ve got your back with 5 simple steps towards acing those short answer questions and getting that Band 6

So, what are you waiting for? It’s time to master HSC Ancient History short answer questions!

Where Are the Short Answer Sections?
Step 1: Identify what the question is asking
Step 2: Link the question to a syllabus dot point
Step 3: Create a rough draft
Step 4: Write your answer
Step 5: Check that you have fully answered the question  

Where Are the Short Answer Sections?

Being a heavily essay based subject one may ask where can short answer questions be found?

Core Section

HSC Ancient History short answer questions will appear in Section I which is the core study on Pompeii and Herculaneum.

The Short answer questions will vary from 2- 10 marks.

In these short answer questions it is likely that you will be asked to discuss a topic with reference to a chosen source and your own knowledge.

Your 10 mark question will always refer to at least one source.

It will look something like this:

HSC Ancient History short answer questions

HSC Ancient History short answer question

Ancient Societies

HSC Ancient History short answer questions will also appear in Section II: Ancient Societies.

In this section a source will generally be provided for question d) the 15 marker.

You will then have other short answer questions that do not relate to a source but occur earlier in that section.

It will look something like this:

HSC Ancient History short answer questions

Source E: Funerary procession, Tomb of Ramose sourced from Tomb of the Nobles.

Now that you know where short answer questions will appear. We’ve prepared a 5 Step Plan/Checklist for helping you to get top marks with this style of question

Step 1: Identify what the question is asking

Whenever a question is posed in ancient history it will always start with a verb for example describe. The first thing you should be doing is making sure you know these ‘key words’ back to front, their meaning and how to answer a question with that verb.

TermDefinition
AccountState reasons for, report on, give an account of, narrate a series of events or transactions.
AnalyseIdentify components and the relationship between them; draw out and relate implications.
ApplyUse, utilise, employ in a particular situation.
AppreciateTo make a judgement about the value of something.
AssessTo make a judgement of value, quality, outcomes, results or size.
CalculateAscertain/determine from given facts, figures or information.
ClarifyMake clear or plain.

The full NESA list can be found here or you can check some more out over in our glossary here! 

Once you know the key word highlight or underline the topic the question asking about.

“Using Source A and your own knowledge describe leisure activities in Pompeii.”

As it is a ‘describe’ question, you will then need to ‘provide characteristics and features’ of leisure activities. As it has two components, you will essentially need to do the following:

  • provide characteristics = a quality belonging typically to a person, place, or thing and serving to identify them.
  • provide features = a distinctive attribute or aspect of something.

Step 2: Link the question to a syllabus dot point

Once you have successfully identified what the question is asking link it to a syllabus dot point. This is helpful as it allows you to access information from that syllabus point to more deeply and thoroughly answer the question.

From the example in step 1 the accompanying dot point would be:

leisure activities, food and dining, clothing, health, baths, water supply and sanitation.”

Linking it to a dot point also gives you a hint about what should be included in your answer as that’s the knowledge NESA wants you to have on that topic.

Step 3: Create a rough draft

This step is most useful for questions that are worth 5 marks or more.

Jot a simple plan in the margins of the exam booklet to help you structure your ideas, it doesn’t have to be anything fancy just what immediately comes to mind.

Creating a plan for longer questions is also helpful as it encourages you to stay on task and not deviate from what the question is asking.

Below I’ve written a very quick draft to the question in step 1 to help you see how easy it is (this took me like 3 seconds so it won’t waste any precious exam time).

HSC Ancient History short answer response plan

Step 4: Write your answer

This step is fairly straight forward, all you need to do is use your plan to write a response in the provided space. Make sure you are being as clear as possible and that your argument is following a logical pattern.

Below we’ve included a sample of what a response may look like.

HSC Ancient History short answer response

Red indicates characteristics whilst blue indicates features. 

Step 5: Check that you have fully answered the question  

In this step read through your answer quickly but in detail (don’t skim read). Make sure your response is answering the question posed and contains an explicit reference to the source, for example ‘Source A reveals…’. While you are doing this double-check that you are using the correct terminology and proper grammar.

HSC Ancient History short answer marking criteria

With these 5 steps answering short answer questions is a breeze.

Remember that the HSC isn’t going to ask you anything that’s not on your syllabus. So know each point in detail and practise writing your responses to HSC Ancient History short answer questions to achieve your best result.

Are you looking for a tutor to help you ace the HSC?

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Milana Gusavac thought she had seen the end of HSC until she realised that others out there needed help surviving year 12 just like she had. Now she’s a member of the Art of Smart team while perusing her studies at the University of Sydney, studying a Bachelor of Psychology. When not learning or helping others Milana can be found with her nose in a book or marathoning TV shows.

 

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