Renaissance History

Renaissance History Chief Assessor’s Report 2014

General Comments • Some students still leave questions unanswered and all students should be encouraged to attempt every question so as to maximise their mark

Section A Question 1

Section A Q 1 • These answers were completed well in the main. • Some students spent too long giving examples to support the points they made and this compromised their ability to make five separate points. It is important with this type of question to make a point and support it with an example, before moving on to the next point. • Important to note that this question only asked for political and economic and so the students who went on to speak about the travels of artists and humanists did not get marks for this

Section A Question 2 Question 2

Question 2 • In this question it was important to distinguish between the ideas and values and the techniques. Too many contained vague references to techniques without linking these to the ideas and values of the classical past. • The Assessors commented on the number of students who did not carefully read the question and included architecture which was not asked for

Section B Questions 1,2&3 • Students struggled with some of the questions and it is interesting to note the average mark for questions 1-3. Students should be able to get full marks especially for the comprehension questions, yet the majority did not

Section B Q 4 Question 4

Q 4 This answer was competently handled by most students. Identifying the three new guilds was the most common response to the short term impact of the Ciompi Revolt. The narrowing of power under the republican oligarchy and the removal of the three new guilds was probably the most common long term response. Those students who dropped marks in this section appeared to be confused over the meaning of the short and long term effect of the Ciompi Revolt.

Question 5 Question 5

Question 5 • Some students did not consider the words ‘most important. Some only wrote about the patronage and the personal demeanour of Cosimo and Lorenzo. The best responses considered the changes to the constitution that occurred with the use of extended balie, accopiatori, the introduction of the Cento, the Seventy, the Eight and the Twelve. A couple of students chose to discuss Piero I and one person even discussed Piero II. Again it is important to answer the question. Including all four Medici was not what students were being asked. One criticism is that quotations were very loosely used, some students putting one or two word quotations in and identifying it as a primary source. Inaccuracy both in quoting and identifying the source of the quote was also apparent.

Section C

Section C Essays The Assessors felt that these two essay questions were very challenging, particularly for the students doing Venice as economic factors did not shape the distinct social structure created by the Serrata of 1297. Most students really tried to respond to the given question. Some of the best answers on Florence used their knowledge from Section B to answer this question effectively. Similarly, some of the Venice students drew on their knowledge of Section D to help them respond to this question. One of the problems was comprehending the word ‘structures’ and this was largely loosely interpreted. Again the best responses managed to insert a range of examples, sources and quotations to support their discussion.

Florence Essays • Students got confused as to what they were being asked. An answer that began • “the neighbourhood was also important in the role of economic structures as well as political structures.’ This student is losing sight of the question which asked ‘how did economic factors shape distinct social and political structures’. • Again another student began a paragraph with the statement ‘Family was an influential institution that shaped the Florentine social fabric’. This is correct, but again the question asked ‘which economic factors influenced social and political institutions, so this paragraph was not relevant.

Venice Essays • Students writing on Venice also struggled with the terms of the question. Identifying the social and political institutions early on in the response would have helped with the direction of arguments. A good approach was to argue that while the economy was a powerful force in shaping political and social life there were other significant factors that were not based on the economy, which were also influential in the development of political and social institutions. Good students took issue with the question and argued that economic factors did not shape the social and political structure.

Section D Q 1

Section D Question 1 • It is surprising how many students did not know the key aspects of the Myth of Venice that are identified in the Study Design. All sorts of claims were made in terms of this very straight forward question. It is worthwhile again consulting the Study Design and keeping to the aspects of the Myth identified there. There were plenty of examples that students could draw on for four marks.

Question 2

Section D Question 2 • Most students focused on the translation of the body of St Mark and described the myth. Some confused the predestination and the translation. • The best responses explained how the legend contributed to the Myth of Venice. It was pleasing to see some students incorporating examples of the lion of St Mark in their response. There appears to be some confusion between the ‘Marriage of the Sea’ ceremony and Bassano’s painting ‘The Consignment of the Sword’. Some students identified the myth as the consignment of the sword and showed little understanding of this particular event that Bassano was portraying.

Question 3

Section D Question 3 • Again this question offered students plenty of opportunity to display their knowledge of the Myth of Venice. The biggest problem was covering the 14th – 16th century. A number of students only wrote on the 16th century and others completely ignored, or gave a cursory acknowledgement of the Maritime Empire focusing their answer on the challenges that occurred from the turn of the 16th century. Inaccuracies in terms of quoting was also apparent in this question. However, there were many fine responses.

Renaissance History