ORDINARY LEVEL PAPER
The exam will last 1ƒ hours. There are four questions on the paper and you need to do all four questions.
QUESTION 1 - PICTURES
Most of the questions will be based directly on the pictures. Make sure that you read the question carefully and write the answer onto the exam paper on the space provided. Some of the questions will require you to provide information relating to the topic from which the picture has been taken.
QUESTION 2 - DOCUMENTS
The answers for this question are to be written into the space provided on the exam paper. Most the questions will ask you to find information from within the documents. These are easy marks, so long as you make sure you’ve read the question carefully. There will also be some questions which test your knowledge of the difference between primary and secondary sources. If you are asked to explain what a primary source is you can say that it is a piece of historical evidence that comes from the time of the event being described. Examples of primary sources include physical artefacts, oral testimonies, personal diaries, newspaper accounts, census material, works of art, photographs, political speeches and autobiographies.
If you are asked to explain what a secondary source is you can say that these are accounts of an event that were written well after the event took place. Examples of secondary sources include history books written by historians who did not witness the events that they studied, documentaries and films made about events that happened in the past and internet sites that contain information about past events.
There may be a question which asks you to explain why not all evidence from the past can be taken as being fully accurate. Some documents may have been written by somebody whose opinion on an event has been influenced by personal bias. Other documents may have been written for propaganda purposes, where the intention was to influence people’s opinions on an issue, as opposed to portraying events fairly and accurately.
QUESTION 3 – SHORT QUESTIONS
This is a very important part of the paper. There are 20 short questions and you are required to do 10 of them. Do not waste time trying to select which ten questions you are going to do. Try to answer all 20 questions, you will not be penalised for any wrong answers, instead the examiner will mark you by selecting your ten best answers. Try to develop your answers. Instead of giving single-word answers try to form a sentence which explains the term that you are using. Answers are to be written into the space provided on the exam paper.
QUESTION 4 – PEOPLE IN HISTORY
For this question you need to write two essay-type questions. You write your answer into the booklet, not onto the exam paper. Part A of this question will be based on the earlier half of the course. When preparing for this part of the question you should learn five or six pieces of historical information relating to the following people in history: an archaelogist, a person in an ancient civilisation in both Ireland and outside Ireland, a medieval monk/lord/knight/peasant, a renaissance artist, a religious reformer and a leader of a voyage of exploration.
Part B of this question is based on the later part of the course. Again you should learn five or six pieces of historical information relating to the following people in history: a settler on a Irish plantation, a person who lost land during a plantation, a revolutionary leader, a mine or factory owner during the Industrial Revolution, a worker in a mine or factory during the Industrial Revolution, a leader in the movement for Irish Independence, an Irish politician after WW2, a soldier fighting in WW2, a leader in the Cold War.