Note Taking - Some Tips

Note Taking – Some Tips

1             Titles and Sub-headings

2             Scan for key words.

3             Skim for important facts.

4             Write down only the key information.

5             Use concept maps.

6             Use abbreviations and symbols for visual reminders and emphasis.

7             Some golden rules

1             Titles and Sub-headings

·        Make a note of the title of the book, periodical or article

·        Note down the name of the author, publisher, and date of publication,

·        Note down subheadings and page numbers

2             Scan for keywords

·        Think of the important words that link to what you want to find out

·        Quickly scan the text for these words

·        Only read the parts of the text that contain your key words

·        Make a note of words that are repeated – make sure you know what they mean

3             Skim for Important Facts

·        Once you have found the correct section, you do not have to read every single word

·        Skim over each sentence, taking in the important facts

·        Write down Only the Key Information

·        Decide what is most important and write that down

·        Only write down key words and phrases; you do not need to write in full sentences.

4             Write down Only the Key Information

What is the key information in the text here?

Life in ancient Egypt was centred largely on agriculture. The majority of the people were involved in farming, and the growing season lasted eight to nine months. Wheat, fruits and vegetables were the principal crops, although there was some pastoral farming of cattle, sheep or goats. Farmers in ancient Egypt worked to reach a level of subsistence so that they could feed themselves and pay their taxes. During the annual flooding of the Nile, which typically lasted from July until November, farming was impossible. But when the waters receded, a thick layer of fertile silt over the farmlands remained, to ensure rich soil for their crops and thick grasses for their grazing animals.

5             Use Concept Maps

With a concept map, you are creating a visual setup that helps to explain the relationships between concepts and the main topic.

Would you use a concept map?

What do you like about this method of note-taking?

What are the cons of this method?

6             Use Abbreviations

Abbreviations are shortened words:

‘e.g.’ for ‘for example’, ‘info.’ instead of ‘information’.  If you shorten a word, put a full stop at the end of it to show it is an abbreviation.

Symbols: &, +, =, %, $,@.
As long as you understand them, you can make up your own symbols.

7             Some Golden Rules

·        Write clearly and accurately

·        Always leave a wide margin

·        Write using plenty of space

·        Structure your notes simply and clearly

·        Use headings and sub-headings

·        Use coloured pens consistently

·        Use bullet points – dotted, numbered or lettered

·        Make a note of titles and authors of evidence sited

How to Write an Essay by Gareth Affleck

from History Review Issue 27 March 1997

A-level history is all about writing essays. No matter how much you know, if you can't: write a good essay you will not do well. Unfortunately, a good essay does not just consist of writing all you know about a given topic; at A-level examiners tend to insist on tricky things like answering the question, analysis rather than narrative and including information to support your point of view. Unless you are particularly gifted, these skills take time to learn and poor marks are common early on. Fortunately, however, these skills can be learnt. Although every essay will demand a unique answer, there are techniques common to all essays which will ensure that you don't go too far wrong. First some general points.

Read the question
This sounds too obvious to mention. But every year some students see a word or phrase in the title and proceed to reel off an a prepared answer without considering whether what they are writing actually addresses the question asked. This will be immediately obvious to anyone reading the essay and gain you a few marks. Read the question several times to make sure you understand what it is asking.

Analyse the question
When you have read the question should then analyse it. This is vital – many people do not make the distinction between what the question is asking and what the question is about. By breaking down the title into key words (the issue to be considered) and topic words (the subject matter), you can ensure that you actually answer the question rather than provide a simple narrative of events. A look at a couple of examples will show what I mean: 

Examine the motives that influenced the religious policies of Louis XIV
Main topic – religious policies of Louis XIV
Keyword – motives
How far was Henry VII’s foreign policy successful?
Main topic – Henry VII’s foreign policy
Keyword – successful?

Planning
This is, without doubt, the most vital part of writing an essay. It is your plan that determines what approach you take to answering the question. If you have written your plan properly, you will know exactly what your answer is going to be – this is not something that should be decided while you are writing your essay. More importantly, your plan will ensure that you actually answer the question. Everything you write must be related to the question, and without a plan, it is all too easy to lose focus and write irrelevant nonsense. Not answering the question is the most common failing in A-level essays, and there is nothing a teacher likes doing more than crossing out huge chunks of an essay with the word 'irrelevant'! Write a good plan and this won't happen to you.

Once you have made your plan, you are ready to begin. How do you start an essay? Unfortunately, there is no hard and fast rule – it will depend very much on each individual title. However, one thing is certain: your introduction must make a good impression. It is the first thing anyone will read: if it fails to grip, the rest of the essay will have to be very good to retrieve the situation. Ideally, your introduction should sparkle, leaving the impression 'Wow, this girl knows what she's talking about: I want to read more'. At the very least it must be competent. Preferably, it should also be short – if your introduction lasts much more than a third of a page, you have missed the point. So, faced with a blank piece of paper, what do you actually write?

Let's consider the title 'In 1680 Louis XIV was awarded the title 'Great'. Considering his reign as a whole, did he merit it?' The safe way to begin is simply to state what you are going to do: sum up in a few sentences what the question is asking and say how you are going to answer it. This approach will not excite an examiner, but as long as you have identified the key areas for investigation (which you will have worked out in your plan), you will have made a satisfactory start.

Another approach is actually to state your answer in the introduction and then go on to prove your case in the essay. This approach is far more exciting because it shows that you have a definite point of view, and are prepared to argue it. It shows an examiner that you have planned your essay, know what you are going to say and in all probability will support it with good evidence.

The final type of introduction is far more individual You might use an interesting quote, describe a significant event, take issue with the question or otherwise set the scene It is hard to define, but the effect will be to show that you have complete mastery of the subject, understand the issues at stake and will be dealing with them thoroughly.

This kind of introduction will grip readers, impress them and make them want to know more. It’s also very difficult to write! Not everyone can do this but, as long as you follow some of the guidelines above, you will avoid shooting yourself in the foot before you have even begun.

The Middle
The main body of the essay is where you prove your case. Once you have planned your essay, this section will almost write itself It is just a question of filling in the gaps. You will know what paragraphs you are going to write and what information you are going to use. However, remember that you are making an argument, not narrating a story. You have already identified the keywords in the question – now is the time to use them. Every paragraph must refer in some way to the keywords or it will be irrelevant. Be ruthless – you will have far more information than you need and must select carefully only that which you need to support your argument.

However, you must equally avoid an essay consisting only of argument – you must not make unsubstantiated claims. For everything you say you must have a supporting fact or example – otherwise, your essay will be just so much hot air. This balance between analysis and supporting detail is what makes up the skill of' essay writing, and takes time to learn. Once you have done so, success will be yours.

Quotes
After all your efforts making notes, you will naturally want to use some of them in your essay – that is why you made them. However, you must be very careful about how you use quotes. They can only be used in a discussion of various historians' points of view, i.e. 'Wilkinson says..., but Shennan says...', or to sum up an argument you have already proved. What they absolutely 100% can never be used for is to prove a point. The most common use of quotes is 'Wilkinson says that...', with no further information. This does not prove your point. A quote from a historian, however well respected, is not proof. Saying that Wilkinson has said something does not prove that what he has said is true. If you are going to use a quote you must support it with the relevant facts or examples, just as if' it was your own words, or you will gain no marks for your carefully memorised notes.

Conclusions
The conclusion is where you sum up what you have said in your essay. It is absolutely vital – never fail to write one. This is the last thing an examiner reads and counts for a great deal: a good conclusion can rescue an indifferent essay and set the seal on a good one. It is here that you draw together the threads of your argument and hammer home your points, leaving the reader in no doubt as to your answer. You should refer explicitly to the keywords of the question and reinforce the points you made in the main body. Above all it should contain nothing new – it is simply a restatement of your argument. If there is anything you have not already said it is too late now!

Gareth Affleck taught History at Stockport Grammar School

Click here for a link to the article on History Today

Island Man by Grace Nichols

Morning
And Island man wakes up
To the sound of blue surf
In his head
The steady breaking and wombing

Wild seabirds
And fisherman pulling out to sea
The sun surfacing defiantly

From the east
Of his small emerald island
He always comes back groggily groggily

Comes back to sands
Of a grey metallic soar
To surge of wheels
To dull North Circular roar

Muffling muffling
His crumpled pillow waves
Island man heaves himself

Another London day

5 Questions to ask a poem

Here are 5 questions to help you understand a poem. The questions can be asked in any order. Choose the question that immediately attracts your attention after you've read the poem several times.
Before you look at the questions read the poem several times.
Read it aloud.
Read it quietly.
Read it in your head.
Read it slowly.
Read it fast.
Read it paying very close attention to the punctuation.
Read it paying little attention to the punctuation.
Read and pay close attention to the poem.

Here's a pre-question question. After reading the poem several times, ask yourself the following question. What are your first impressions of the poem?

The Questions

• What is the Form of the poem?
• What does the poem look like on the page
• Does the poem contain line structures? - if so what are they?
• Does the poem have a rhyme pattern? - if so what is it?
• What do these observations affect the way you understand the poem?

• Who is speaking the poem?

• What is the setting of the poem?

• What is the poem about?
• Does the poem have a plot? - what is it?
• Does the poem have a theme or themes? - if so what is it?

• What language features does the poem use?
• What impact do these features have on us as readers?

5 Simple Machines

A simple machine is a mechanical device that changes the direction or magnitude of a force. In general, they can be defined as the simplest mechanisms that use mechanical advantage (also called leverage) to multiply force. Usually, the term refers to the six classical simple machines that were defined by Renaissance scientists:

Lever

Wheel and axle

Pulley

Inclined plane

Wedge

Screw

A simple machine uses a single applied force to do work against a single load force. Ignoring friction losses, the work done on the load is equal to the work done by the applied force. The machine can increase the amount of the output force, at the cost of a proportional decrease in the distance moved by the load. The ratio of the output to the applied force is called the mechanical advantage.

Simple machines can be regarded as the elementary "building blocks" of which all more complicated machines (sometimes called "compound machines") are composed. For example, wheels, levers, and pulleys are all used in the mechanism of a bicycle. The mechanical advantage of a compound machine is just the product of the mechanical advantages of the simple machines of which it is composed.

Although they continue to be of great importance in mechanics and applied science, modern mechanics has moved beyond the view of the simple machines as the ultimate building blocks of which all machines are composed, which arose in the Renaissance as a neoclassical amplification of ancient Greek texts. The great variety and sophistication of modern machine linkages, which arose during the Industrial Revolution, is inadequately described by these six simple categories. Various post-Renaissance authors have compiled expanded lists of "simple machines", often using terms like basic machines, compound machines, or machine elements to distinguish them from the classical simple machines above. By the late 1800s, Franz Reuleaux had identified hundreds of machine elements, calling them simple machines. Modern machine theory analyzes machines as kinematic chains composed of elementary linkages called kinematic pairs. 

Examples of Post Modern art

Plato's Cave - from The Republic by Plato

Plato has Socrates describe a group of people who have lived chained to the wall of a cave all of their lives, facing a blank wall. The people watch shadows projected on the wall from objects passing in front of a fire behind them, and give names to these shadows. The shadows are the prisoners' reality.

Socrates explains how the philosopher is like a prisoner who is freed from the cave and comes to understand that the shadows on the wall are not reality at all, for he can perceive the true form of reality rather than the manufactured reality that is the shadows seen by the prisoners. The inmates of this place do not even desire to leave their prison, for they know no better life. The prisoners manage to break their bonds one day, and discover that their reality was not what they thought it was. They discovered the sun, which Plato uses as an analogy for the fire that man cannot see behind. Like the fire that cast light on the walls of the cave, the human condition is forever bound to the impressions that are received through the senses. Even if these interpretations (or, in Kantian terminology, intuitions) are an absurd misrepresentation of reality, we cannot somehow break free from the bonds of our human condition—we cannot free ourselves from the phenomenal state just as the prisoners could not free themselves from their chains. If however, we were to miraculously escape our bondage, we would find a world that we could not understand—the sun is incomprehensible for someone who has never seen it. In other words, we would encounter another "realm", a place incomprehensible because, theoretically, it is the source of a higher reality than the one we have always known; it is the realm of pure Form, pure fact.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zJs9p-VNORw



Like a Prayer by Madonna

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=79fzeNUqQbQ

National Archive - a link

Here's a link to the National Archive

The National Archive
Kew
Richmond
Surrey
TW9 4DU

Standard opening times

Monday               Closed

Tuesday               09:00 – 19:00

Wednesday         09:00 – 17:00

Thursday              09:00 – 19:00

Friday    09:00 – 17:00

Saturday              09:00 – 17:00

Sunday  Closed

6 Free Online Resources for Primary Source Documents By Monica Burns

September 6, 2013

The Common Core Learning Standards describe the importance of teaching students how to comprehend informational text. They are asked to read closely, make inferences, cite evidence, analyze arguments and interpret words and phrases as they are used in a text. Primary source documents are artifacts created by individuals during a particular period in history. This could be a letter, speech, photograph or journal entry. If you're looking to integrate social studies into your literacy block, try out one of these resources for primary source documents.

1. NATIONAL ARCHIVES
The National Archives is a fantastic resource. Their website is easy to navigate and includes lots of teacher resources. They feature a daily historical document relating to an event from that day in history. The online catalog can be searched using keywords, and 100 "milestone" documents are identified as significant to American history.

2. DOCSTEACH
Also run by the National Archives, DocsTeach is full of activities for educators. The documents are organized by different periods in American history. If you're teaching "Civil War and Reconstruction" or "Revolution and the New Nation," just click on the topic to find hundreds of primary source documents. DocsTeach provides audio, video, charts, graphs, maps and more.

3. SPARTACUS EDUCATIONAL
Spartacus Educational is a great resource for global history. It contains free encyclopedia entries that directly connect to primary source documents, making it a perfect tool for educators looking to give students a starting point in their research. It can even be used for a historical figure scavenger hunt!

4. FORDHAM UNIVERSITY
Fordham University is another good resource for global history. Similar to how DocsTeach organizes primary sources into periods of American history, this site categorizes documents as well. From the "Reformation" to "Post-World War II Religious Thought," teachers can find full texts available from Fordham or similar institutions. These sources are appropriate for the middle school and high school classroom.

5. THE AVALON PROJECT
Broken down by time period then listed in alphabetical order, the Avalon Project at Yale University also has primary sources for global history teachers. This database starts with ancient and medieval documents and moves into present times. In addition to categories that address specific historical periods, the Avalon Project includes links to human rights documents as part of Project Diana.

6. LIFE MAGAZINE PHOTO ARCHIVE
Google and Life Magazine have a wonderful search engine that lets users search millions of images from the Life Magazine Photo Archive. Not only can you type in key terms to guide your searches, you can also look through images organized by decade (1860s through 1970s) or significant people, places, events or sports topics.

How to write a first-class essay and ace your degree - from Oxbridge Essays

In this article, we’ll take a look at how you can write a first-class essay, giving you the best chance of graduating from university with a first overall.

As this report from 2017 indicates, more people in UK universities are being awarded first-class degrees than ever before. Recent research suggests that by 2030, all students will graduate from some universities with a first-class degree, due to grade inflation.

Inevitably, some are suggesting that this means university standards are falling. Many students now pay vast sums of money for the privilege of university education. As such, universities want them to leave as "satisfied customers". Perhaps this is why more firsts are being awarded. On the other hand, it could simply be that students have become better at researching what makes for first-class work. They're better at examining marking briefs. And at sharing tips – with other students in online forums and elsewhere – about what a first looks like.

So what does this mean for you if you're currently an undergraduate student? If you think this recent news means it's more likely you'll get a first, you can keep the Champagne on ice for now. A first-class degree takes hard work and dedication, no matter where or what you study.

Whatever the reasons for the recent spike in firsts, you can be sure that as a result, the following will now happen:

Universities will examine their standards more closely. They may look at making the criteria for first-class degrees more stringent in response to criticisms that they've 'gone soft'.
As up to a quarter of the new graduates hitting the job market do so with a shiny new first-class degree, top employers will routinely come to expect this in applicants for their very best jobs.
How can I get a first in my degree?
So, you want to be among those brandishing a first-class degree certificate when you don cap and gown next summer? Of course, you do. Now is the time to think about what kind of student you need to be in order to succeed.

Here are a few pointers:

You need to try and consistently write first-class essays.
It doesn't take a genius to work out that the more first-class essays you write at university, the more likely you are to score highly overall. And getting a First in your essay isn't as hard as you think. More on this later.

You need to know your stuff.
A marker doesn't need to get very far into your work to see if it's been written by somebody who has engaged with the subject matter in-depth and taken the time to understand its nuances. Or if the person who wrote it had only a basic grasp of the main concepts.

You need to express yourself well.
All the knowledge in the world won't score you a first if you don't also have the rhetorical skills to express that knowledge fluently and succinctly. You need the dexterity to marshal your knowledge effectively and solve the problem at hand (whether that's a long-form essay topic or an exam question).

Knowing your topic inside-out, but finding yourself unable to convey all that detailed knowledge, is immensely frustrating. If feedback on your previous work suggests your writing may not be up to scratch, be sure to take advantage of the help that's on offer at your university. This can be online tutorials, student mentors, or writing workshops. Nearly all universities offer academic writing support services to students, and these are often run by the library.

Alternatively, delve into the Oxbridge Essays blog for posts containing great general advice on good essay writing and essay writing tips.

Finally, the Essay Writing Service from Oxbridge Essays is a reliable place to turn to for essay help. Our academics can help tweak your writing or write a completely original, unplagiarized essay for you to use as inspiration in your own writing.

You need to be willing to work hard and to go above and beyond.
Just reading the assigned work and writing solid assignments will, at best, get you a 2:1. In fact, that's what Second-class degree classifications were designed for! If you want to stand out from the crowd, you need to be prepared to go the extra mile. Find ways of understanding your subject matter more thoroughly. Craft an "angle" from which you can approach the topic in a memorable, original, and unique way.

Most of all – and we really can't stress this enough – you need to be a gambler!
You need to be willing to take risks and be willing to put that safe, 2:1-level assignment you were going to write on the line in pursuit of greater reward. More on what this means below, but essentially you should be willing to take up positions that are controversial, sceptical and critical – and back them up.

You should even be willing, once in a while, to fail to reach the lofty aspirations you've set yourself. If you've ever watched a professional poker player you'll know that even the best of them don't win every hand. What's important is that they're ahead when they leave the table.

What does a first-class essay look like?
A lot of this stuff – risk-taking, depth of knowledge, and developing a unique "angle" – can sound pretty abstract. People marking essays may land on opposite sides of the fence where borderline cases are concerned.

However, most agree with what a first-class essay looks like and can pinpoint features that set it apart. Markers look for things like:

Essay matches the assignment brief
This may sound obvious, but did you really read the assignment brief? And when did you last read it? A first-class essay needs to show originality and creativity. But it also needs to prove that you can follow instructions.

If you've been given guidance on what your essay needs to cover, make sure you follow this to the letter. Also, take note of the number and type of sources it needs to use, or any other instructions. You can only do this if you revisit the brief repeatedly while writing. This will ensure you're still on the path you were originally pointed down and haven't gone off at a tangent.

Writing a brilliant, original essay that doesn't meet the assignment brief is likely to be a frustrating waste of effort. True, you may well still get sufficient credit for your originality. But you'll achieve far more marks if you shoot for originality and accuracy.

A clear and sophisticated argument
A first-class essay sets out its intentions (its own criteria for success) explicitly. By the end of your first couple of paragraphs, your reader should know (a) what you are hoping to accomplish, and (b) how you plan on accomplishing it.

Your central argument – or thesis – shapes everything else about your essay. So you need to make sure it's well-thought-out. For a first-class essay, this argument shouldn't just rehash the module material. It shouldn't regurgitate one of the positions you've learned about in class. It should build on one or more of these positions by interrogating them, bringing them into conflict or otherwise disrupting them.

Solid support for every argument
You don't just need to make a sophisticated argument; you need to support it as well. Use primary and/or secondary sources to back up everything you say. Be particularly careful to back up anything contentious with rigorous, logically consistent argumentation.

Undergraduates also often forget the need to effectively address counter-arguments to their own position. If there are alternative positions to the one you're taking (and there almost always are), don't omit these from your essay. Address them head-on by quoting their authors (if they're established positions). Or, simply hypothesise alternative interpretations to your own. Explain why your position is more persuasive, logical, or better-supported than the alternatives.

When done well, drawing attention to counter-arguments doesn't detract from your own argument. It enhances it by providing evidence of your capacity to reason in a careful, meticulous, sceptical and balanced way.

A logical and appropriate structure
Have you ever been asked to write a comparative essay, say on a couple of literary texts? And did you have lots to say about one of the texts but not much at all about the other? How did you approach that challenge? We've all written the "brain-dump" essay. You shape your work not around the question you're supposed to be answering, but around topic areas that you can comfortably write a lot about. Your approach to a comparative essay may be to write 2500 words about the text you love, and tack 500 words onto the end about the one you don't care for. If so, your mindset needs a bit of adjusting if you're going to get that first-class degree.

A first-class essay always presents its arguments and its supporting evidence in the order and manner that's best suited to its overall goals. Not according to what topic areas its author finds the most interesting or most comfortable to talk about. It can chafe if you feel you have more to offer on a particular topic than the assignment allows you to include. But balance and structural discipline are essential components of any good essay.

In-depth engagement and intellectual risk
This is where going "above and beyond" comes in. Everything from your thesis statement to your bibliography can and will be weighed as evidence of the depth of your engagement with the topic. If you've set yourself the challenge of defending a fringe position on a topic, or have delved deep into the theories underlying the positions of your set texts, you've clearly set yourself up for a potential first in the essay. None of this is enough by itself, though. Don't forget that you need to execute it in a disciplined and organised fashion!

Emerging understanding of your role in knowledge creation
This one is easy to overlook, but even as a university student you're part of a system that collaboratively creates knowledge. You can contribute meaningfully to this system by provoking your tutors to see problems or areas in their field differently. This may influence the way they teach (or research, or write about) this material in future. Top students demonstrate that they're aware of this role in collaborative knowledge creation. It is clear they take it seriously, in the work they submit.

The best way to communicate this is to pay attention to two things. First, the content of the quality sources you read in the course of your studies. Second, the rhetorical style these sources employ. Learn the language, and frame your arguments in the same way scholars do. For example, "What I want to suggest by juxtaposing these two theories is…" or, "The purpose of this intervention is…" and so on.

In short, you need to present an essay that shows the following:

Clarity of purpose, integrity of structure, originality of argument, and confidence of delivery.


What else can I do to get a first in my essays?

It will take time to perfect an essay-writing strategy that delivers all this while persuading your reader that your paper is evidence of real intellectual risk. And that it goes above and beyond what's expected of the typical undergraduate at your level. But here are a few tips to help give you the best possible chance:

Start early
Your module may have a long reading list that will be tricky to keep on top of during the term. If so, make sure you get the list (and, if possible, the syllabus showing what kind of essays the module will require) ahead of time. If your module starts in September, spend some time over summer doing preparatory reading. Also, think about which areas of the module pique your interest.

Once the module starts, remember: it's never too early in the term to start thinking about the essays that are due at the end of it. Don't wait until the essay topics circulate a few weeks before term-end. Think now about the topics that especially interest you. Then read around to get a better understanding of their histories and the current debates.

Read beyond the syllabus
Students who are heading for a good 2:1 degree tend to see the module reading list as the start and end of their workload. They don't necessary see beyond it. A 2:1 student considers it a job well done if they've done "all the reading". However, a student capable of a first knows there's no such thing as "all the reading". Every scholarly text on your syllabus, whether it's required or suggested reading, is a jumping-off point. It's a place to begin to look for the origins and intellectual histories of the topics you're engaged with. It will often lead you to more challenging material than what's on the syllabus.

Search through the bibliographies of the texts on the syllabus to discover the texts they draw from, and then go look them up. At undergraduate level, set texts are often simplified versions of complex scholarly works and notions. They're designed to distil intricate ideas down into more manageable overview material. But wrestling with complex articles is the best way to demonstrate that you're engaging with the topic in depth, with a sophisticated level of understanding.

Build your bibliography as you research
Keeping notes of all your sources used in research will make writing your bibliography later far less of a chore. Given that every single text on your syllabus likely references thirty more, bibliography mining can quickly become overwhelming. Luckily, we have to hand the integration of web searches and referencing tools. These integrations make the challenge of compiling and sifting through references far easier than it once was. Get into the habit of exporting every reference you search for into the bibliographic software program of your choice.

Your institution might have a subscription to a a commercial tool such as RefWorks or Endnote. But the freeware tool Zotero is more than capable of compiling references and allowing you to add notes to revisit later. It's usually a matter of adding a Digital Object Identifier (DOI) for your source into the program. Then it will store all the details you need to generate a bibliography for your essay later (no matter what reference style your university demands). It will also store the URL of the source so you can retrieve it later.

Make sure you organise your research into categories. This will ensure you have a focused set of scholarly sources waiting for you when you've decided on your final essay topic.

Develop your own essay topic, and talk to your tutor (often!)
Are you the kind of student who likes to go it alone, and rarely, if ever, visits your tutor during his or her office hours? If you're serious about getting a first, you need to get over any reservations you have about seeing your tutor often. Make regular appointments to talk through your essay ideas. If the syllabus allows it, come up with your own essay topic rather than going with any in the topic list you're given.

Even if you haven't explicitly been told that you can design your own essay topic, ask if it's possible. Nothing is a clearer mark of your originality and active engagement with the module content than defining exactly what it is you want to write about, and how you intend to approach the argument. You have nothing to lose and everything to gain by expressing enthusiasm for the material, and a desire to think independently about it. And one of your tutor's roles is to help you develop your arguments. S/he might suggest texts you haven't come across yet that will help support your points, or make your arguments stronger by challenging them.

Don't just synthesise; critique and contest
It's common for students to get frustrated when they do all of the above and still come away with a good 2:1, rather than the first they were expecting. For some, this can happen because reading very widely can 'muddy' the waters of their understanding. Reading more about a subject will help you understand its depth and complexity. But it can cause you to begin to lose rather than gain confidence in your own understanding.

It can be tempting to let your essays become summaries of what other scholars have said, and let their voices speak over your own. This is especially true when you've read widely and have a sound understanding of the positions of scholars in your field.

But it doesn't matter how much reading you've done or how sound your knowledge of existing work in a field. To consistently score first-class marks, you have to develop a position on that field. You must examine where you stand in relation to these scholars and ask yourself some fundamental questions:

1. Do I agree with them?
2. If not, why not?
3. How can I articulate and defend my position?

If you've thought long and hard about these questions in every module you take, your journey to a first-class degree is well underway. There is, admittedly, a degree of risk here. What if you've fundamentally misunderstood some key aspect of a debate? What if your position simply doesn't add up?

There will be times when you'll get things wrong, and you'll feel frustrated or even embarrassed. But that's why we said at the outset that you need to be a gambler – this approach will pay off far more often than it will fail. And if you're feeling particularly insecure about a line of reasoning, ask your tutor to read over a draft and give you some pointers on where to go next.

Is it worth the risk?
In a word, yes. Not every attempt at academic risk-taking will be entirely successful. But following the steps above will ensure that tutors and markers see genuine, in-depth engagement with the topic. Not to mention evidence of serious intellectual growth.

Markers will take all this into account, as well as pointing out the places where your argument didn't quite hit the mark. So even if the risk doesn't quite work out, you're unlikely to get a lower mark than playing it safe and submitting a “solid 2:1” piece. And over the span of your degree, this approach will yield a higher mark than consistently writing competent essays on the set texts without significant innovation or risk.

Plus, of course, this process has its own rewards beyond your essay mark. Even if you didn't quite hit your target score for this module, your engagement with the topic will have been far richer. You'll emerge far more knowledgeable at the end of it than if you'd played it safe.

So go ahead… live a little!

Working with Sources - from the National Archive

Working with sources

When you visit The National Archives or use our online content, you can see and sometimes handle the original records or primary sources for yourself.

In history, a primary source comes from the time period you are studying. It could be an eyewitness account, a photograph, a letter, a poster or report for example.

Here is a list of some of the main questions to think about when you are working with these records. Most of these questions can be applied to any of the different types of primary sources mentioned above.
  

Identification

What type of document is it?
Who produced it? Do you know anything about the author/creator?
When was it written/produced?
Why was it written/produced?


Understanding

Consider the key words and their meaning within the source
What points or arguments are made in the source?
What values or attitudes does the content of the source reflect?
How does the content of the source relate to a given historical situation?
Are there any clues about the intended audience for the source?
How reliable is the source and does it have any limitations?
How does it relate to other sources from this period? Does it share the same ideas, attitudes and arguments? How would you explain any differences between these sources?

Analysing a Historical Document

Click here to read this article from the website it was originally published on

You may be asked to analyse a primary document. Here are some questions you might ask of your document. You will note a common theme—read critically with sensitivity to the context. 

This list is not a suggested outline for a paper; the wording of the assignment and the nature of the document itself should determine your organization and which of the questions are most relevant. Of course, you can ask these same questions of any document you encounter in your research.

• What exactly is the document (e.g., diary, king’s decree, opera score, bureaucratic memorandum, parliamentary minutes, newspaper article, peace treaty)?

• Are you dealing with the original or with a copy? If it is a copy, how remote is it from the original (e.g., photocopy of the original, reformatted version in a book, translation)? 

• How might deviations from the original affect your interpretation?

• What is the date of the document?

• Is there any reason to believe that the document is not genuine or not exactly what it appears to be?

• Who is the author, and what stake does the author have in the matters discussed? If the document is unsigned, what can you infer about the author or authors?

• What sort of biases or blind spots might the author have? For example, is an educated bureaucrat writing with third-hand knowledge of rural hunger riots?

• Where, why, and under what circumstances did the author write the document?

• How might the circumstances (e.g., fear of censorship, the desire to curry favour or evade blame) have influenced the content, style, or tone of the document?

• Has the document been published? If so, did the author intend it to be published?

• If the document was not published, how has it been preserved? In a public archive? In a private collection? 

• Can you learn anything from the way it has been preserved? For example, has it been treated as important or as a minor scrap of paper?

• Does the document have a boilerplate format or style, suggesting that it is a routine sample of a standardized genre, or does it appear out of the ordinary, even unique?

• Who is the intended audience for the document?

• What exactly does the document say?

• Does it imply something different?

• If the document represents more than one viewpoint, have you carefully distinguished between the author's viewpoint and those viewpoints the author presents only to criticize or refute?

• In what ways are you, the historian, reading the document differently than its intended audience would have read it (assuming that future historians were not the intended audience)?

• What does the document leave out that you might have expected it to discuss?

• What does the document assume that the reader already knows about the subject (e.g., personal conflicts among the Bolsheviks in 1910, the details of tax farming in eighteenth-century Normandy, secret negotiations to end the Vietnam war)?

• What additional information might help you better interpret the document?

• Do you know (or are you able to infer) the effects or influences, if any, of the document?

• What does the document tell you about the period you are studying?

• If your document is part of an edited collection, why do you suppose the editor chose it?

• How might the editing have changed the way you perceive the document? For example, have parts been omitted? Has it been translated? (If so, when, by whom, and in what style?)

• Has the editor placed the document in a suggestive context among other documents, or in some other way led you to a particular interpretation?