Trip to the Warwickshire Record Office

1. Trip to the Warwickshire Record Office • On afternoon of Wed 8th May 2019 • behind-the-scenes tour of the archive and an opportunity to see a variety of types of manuscripts, maps and other documents. • Free! • Should appeal to anyone thinking of a career in museums and archives; anyone thinking of a dissertation or project that might make use of local materials; or anyone wanting to see the material record of the early modern past. • We shall leave at 2.20 from outside the Humanities building and aim to return by 5 or soon after. • Please sign up via the link on the module homepage

2. Two assessment patterns EitherA) - Formative: Two 2000 word essays in term 1 and 2 + an optional mock exam question- Summative: 3 hours / 3 questions summer term exam (worth 100% of your module mark) OrB)- Formative: one 2000 word essay in term 1 + an optional mock exam (both formative)- Summative: one assessed 3000 word essay (worth 40% of module mark) + seminar contribution (worth 10%) + 2 hour / 2 question summer term exam (worth 50%).

3. Seminar assessment: • All students will be assessed and feedback given, though the mark will only carry forward towards the final mark for those who take the second option. Seminar participation will be assessed across all classes according to the following criteria: • Attendance - Marks will be deducted for unauthorized absences. • Preparation - Evidence shows preparation for the seminar (has prepared notes and/or recalls the readings without the use of the open text). • Engagement - Quality of engagement is active, respectful and inclusive. • Initiative - Questions asked focus, clarify and summarize discussion. • Response - Quality of response reflects knowledge, comprehension and application of the readings. • Discussion - Quality of response extends the discussion with peers and reflects analysis, synthesis and evaluation.

4. European World:Exam Do’s and ‘Don’ts Apologies for the exam timetabling issues! (though not the department’s fault!) NB those intending to submit a mock exam answer should upload to tabula and send an email to the tutor to let them know

5. Points to note: • The exam is on Wednesday 22 May at 9.30 • It is either a two or three-hour exam, depending on which assessment pattern you chose – and hence either two or three questions. Make sure you do the right number!! • The paper has 20 questions • The module covers 19 topics so there will be at least one question on each broad weekly theme/topic • questions on the paper generally follow the same order as the structure of the module

6. you can answer any questions you like • (except...) • Starred* Questions • a small number of questions on the paper may be marked as *NOT HIXX Name of Option Module to ensure fairness/ prevent overlap • we aim to keep this to a minimum, and is applied on case-by-case basis to specific questions (ie students taking Option X are not necessarily barred from all questions on Topic Y) • Modules affected include HI242 Germany in the Age of the Reformation; HI281 Being Human; HI296 The Scientific Revolution in Perspective; HI163 Galleons and Caravans • ALSO: “Answers should NOT include any significant amount of material already presented in ANY assessed essays.” But you CAN include material from a formative essay so long as you did not use it for the summative, longer essay

7. Revision • Do: • attend the seminar revision class • be sure you are confident you will be able to answer three • questions on the paper. This probably involves revising double the number of topics (ie six). • Don’t: just take a chance on your three preferred topics coming up in the form you’d like to see them...

8. ... Revision • Look at past exam papers (at http://www2.warwick.ac.uk/services/exampapersand put HI203 into search box • familiarize yourself with the university /departmental MARKING CRITERIA • http://www2.warwick.ac.uk/fac/arts/history/students/assessment/marking • http://www2.warwick.ac.uk/fac/arts/history/students/handbooks • work outwards from material you already have (seminar reading notes, term 1 and term 2 essays); don’t be unrealistically ambitious, but read some new material, from seminar pages and further module reading/resources at • http://go.warwick.ac.uk/europeanworld/resources • revise actively: don’t just passively read; make notes, essay plans, revision flash cards, spider diagrams – whatever you know works for you! • Don’t: revise only one specific aspect of a topic, or restrict new reading to textbook chapter or Wikipedia...

9. Marking criteria • First Class (70+) • Persuasive and direct answer to the question, establishing the wider significance of the issues concerned. • Comprehensive coverage of the relevant material; accuracy in the details. • A direct and coherent argument, well supported by relevant evidence. • Critical analysis of relevant concepts, theoretical or historiographical perspectives or methodological issues. • Fluent and engaging writing style; persuasive presentation and structuring of arguments. • Work which, in addition, displays evidence of creativity, originality, sophistication and freshness of arguments will be awarded marks of 75+.

10. Upper Second (60-69) • Direct answer to the question, establishing the wider significance of the issues concerned. • Adequate coverage of the relevant material, accuracy in the details. • Skilful mobilisation of evidence in relation to the argument being presented. • Narrative and description taking second place to analysis. • Competent manipulation of relevant concepts, theoretical or historiographical perspectives or methodological issues. • Fluent g style; effective presentation and structuring of arguments.

11. Lower Second (50-59) • Basically satisfactory answer to the question. • Limited coverage of relevant material; some inaccuracy in the detail. • Some attempt to mobilise evidence in relation to the argument being presented. • Analysis taking second place to narrative and description. • Limited understanding of relevant concepts, theoretical or historiographical perspectives or methodological issues. • Adequate writing style, presentation and structuring of arguments. • Third (40–49) • Barely satisfactory answer to the question. • Inadequate coverage of relevant material; • major inaccuracies in the detail. • No understanding of relevant concepts, theoretical or historiographicalperspectives or methodological issues. • Poor presentation and structuring of arguments.

12. In the exam: Do • take some time choosing the questions you are going to answer, and planning your answer for each one. An hour for a question is quite a long time - you can afford to spend at least ten minutes of this time thinking and planning. READ THE QUESTION!  • answer the question in front you (not the one you hoped was going to be there!) ie pay attention to the wording of the question (and perhaps make some reference to it in introduction, conclusion or the course of the essay) - is there a historiographical controversy being hinted at; an issue about methodology or theory; or a need to speak explicitly about evidence and sources?  • give your answer a sense of purpose and direction: make sure to analyse and evaluate, rather than merely describe or list. Structure your answer in paragraphs, and make sure each paragraph deals with a distinct aspect/idea, or development of a previous one...

13. ... In the exam • use the introduction briefly to identify the key issues involved and give some indication of the line of argument you intend to pursue. Make sure the conclusion is offering a clear and considered answer to the question (NB this doesn’t necessarily mean going over the top in a one-sided direction - in some circumstances a clear answer might conclude that the evidence is ambiguous, or suggest a balance of probabilities). • • illustrate your argument with specific, accurate, succinct examples: make sure that these are clearly relevant, supporting a line of interpretation – the exam is not testing factual knowledge for its own sake. Some questions may be focused on one country/region; others explicitly invite comparison between two or more, but an ability to compare and contrast, to consider variables of time and geography, is always good... • • use any time left to read through your answers

14. ... in the exam Don’t: • rush madly into writing before you know what you’re going to say. • answer any question which has a significant amount of overlap with any long essay. • answer any starred question if you are taking that module • either make huge sweeping generalizations without supporting evidence, or pile on fact after fact without there being a clear point of analysis involved. • answer thematic questions with reference to just one case study • panic!

15. Sources of Help: • Don’t: be afraid to ask! • Seminar tutors for approaches to topics • Director of Undergraduate Studies (b.kumin@warwick.ac.uk) and Examinations Secretary (c.storer@warwick.ac.uk) for broader issues around assessment • Personal tutors: not necessarily subject specialist, but can advise on revision and exam techniques in general • Skills and Student development: running an exam revision workshop on 4 and 18 May (http://www2.warwick.ac.uk/services/skills/events/revision)

16. Exam related stress-anxiety: • Counselling Service: webpage, podcast and links to other resources at http://www2.warwick.ac.uk/services/tutors/counselling/informationpages/managingexamanxiety/ • Personal tutor, Second-Year Senior Tutor (A.Dincer@warwick.ac.uk), Department Senior Tutor (roger.fagge@warwick.ac.uk)

17. ??Questions??