Ancient V Modern (2 Viewers)

[Sculzyoner]

Hi,

I'm in year 10 atm and am tossing up between Ancient and Modern. I realise that Modern has a lot of political content in it but what are the pros and cons of each.

Thanks.

 

[annabackwards]

Modern:

• A lot of work on wars - pro for war buffs, con is that it can get a bit repetitive
• Lots of politics - what happened, why it happened and how governments reacted --> pro if you like politics con bad if you don't like it
• Large topic areas - one term is pretty much dedicated to one specific time and place in history ie Germany and Hitler, Russia and Stalin, The Cold War etc etc --> pro as it makes things easier to remember but con as it can be repetitive
• You are expected to remember the main events and the time period it occurred in (at least year, month would be good) --> is a pro if you have good memory, con if you have bad memory
• You basically need to analyse events, as in to what extent was the policy successful etc etc --> pro if you are good at english and can analyse, con if you're not good at essays

Ancient - I can't help you as i haven't done it. But of my friends who do both, they all say that modern is more interesting and one even dropped ancient while keep modern XD

But ultimately, if you like ancient history and archaelogy then do ancient but if you like modern wars and politics then do modern.

If you're going on scaling because you love both equally then modern has the higher scaling. Just remember that all the scaling in the world won't help you if you're failing though

 

[-may-cat-]

imo ancient is the kind of subject its really easy to do well in but very difficult to do extremely well in (as in full marks).

 

[Sculzyoner]

Thanks guys.

 

[annabackwards]

No worries, what have you decided?

If you're still unsure, i suggest flicking through the topics of both subjects to see which one you'd prefer

 

[Sculzyoner]

No worries, what have you decided?

If you're still unsure, i suggest flicking through the topics of both subjects to see which one you'd prefer

Probs Modern.

 

[Sculzyoner]

I'm achieving 80+ in Nazi Germany and Mussolini's Italy at school and even though i won't be doing these subjects for HSC, stuff like Russia and the Soviet Union i presume would be similar in terms of politicts.

 

[annabackwards]

I'm achieving 80+ in Nazi Germany and Mussolini's Italy at school and even though i won't be doing these subjects for HSC, stuff like Russia and the Soviet Union i presume would be similar in terms of politicts.

Gah i wish i could've done cool history like that in year 10 - i did the usual Australian garbage >.>

Russia = a lot of rebellions and uprisings + killings, it's pretty fun and similar to Nazi Germany

 

[cem]

May I suggest that you find out what topics your school teaches in these subjects.

e.g. you might be interested in Ancient Greek history and then find that your teacher intends on doing mainly Egypt.

I know at my school the kids want to do Egypt a lot of the time, because we don't teach it in Year 7 but I know nothing about Egypt except they build pyrimids, had pharoahs and... so I would be hopeless at teaching them Egypt for the HSC. Some, therefore choose not to take the subject but many do regardless.

The same with Modern - some years I get a request for Russia/USSR but I do Germany and again some say "I will do Modern regardless" while others say 'No thanks - I will do something in which I am interested'.

Also have a look at some of the different text books to get a broader idea of what each course involves.

 

[-may-cat-]

May I suggest that you find out what topics your school teaches in these subjects.

e.g. you might be interested in Ancient Greek history and then find that your teacher intends on doing mainly Egypt.

I know at my school the kids want to do Egypt a lot of the time, because we don't teach it in Year 7 but I know nothing about Egypt except they build pyrimids, had pharoahs and... so I would be hopeless at teaching them Egypt for the HSC. Some, therefore choose not to take the subject but many do regardless.

The same with Modern - some years I get a request for Russia/USSR but I do Germany and again some say "I will do Modern regardless" while others say 'No thanks - I will do something in which I am interested'.

Also have a look at some of the different text books to get a broader idea of what each course involves.

Very true, but on the other side, i had really wanted to do Egyptian history at the beginning of year 12 as well, i was really unhappy when i found out we were studying the Greeks instead. But oddly enough it was through the HSC course that i found out i really loved Greek history and realised i wanted to study it at uni. So i dunno, i would research things a bit before you just rite off ancient, it can be great with the right teacher.

 

[Kujah]

Matter of personal discretion and interest.

 

[xeuyrawp]

Do both if you're interested in history, tbh. *shrug*

 

[kawaiinlove]

I REALLY don't like Ancient, I'm gonna drop it at the end of the year but I enjoy modern. I was having this convo with a friend of mine the other day and she said she enjoys ancient because she's interested in societies, whereas i'm interested in personalities. I love learning about modern history because I have an interest in people but if you really can't decide, just do both and maybe after a few weeks you'll figure out which one you like better. A warning, though, the worst thing about ancient is learning about archaeology imo, SO boring!!!Good luck!

 

[nhoustonrocks]

I do ancient and when I found out that my class was going to be doing Egypt for pretty much the whole HSC course (except the pompeii topic), I was pretty bummed because I wanted to do Greece or Rome. But we've done a little bit on Egypt for our first Ancient Society and I love it! I don't regret choosing ancient history at all

 

[ides_of_marz]

May I suggest that you find out what topics your school teaches in these subjects.

e.g. you might be interested in Ancient Greek history and then find that your teacher intends on doing mainly Egypt.

Also have a look at some of the different text books to get a broader idea of what each course involves.

Agreed. If you're doing Anc, make sure (for Year 12) your historical period ties in with your 'personality' (ie prominent figure within the hist. period)

Also, my friends who do Modern say it's a lot of work, but if you're interested, definitely consider it.
Ancient - Cities of Vesuvius (Pompeii and Herculaneum) - a fair bit of content, and you have to know every aspect of it. And it's huge, but interesting.
Um.. by the way, if you do Rome (I'm doing Fall of Roman Republic), there's an insane amount of politics & propaganda etc - generally a lot of 'players' in the story. So if you get confused by that, better watch out (because I have no doubt the same will be true if you do Persia or Egypt).
Aside from that - basically, a lot of content, so you really have to know your stuff. But if you have a good tacher, it can be an absolutely fascinating subject.

 

[SamQ]

Personally I chose ancient over modern.
Ancient history is a lot more interesting...to me anyway.
Personal preference - I just find modern history completely and utterly boring!