Minoan confusion (1 Viewer)

[silvermoon]

hey guys, i was wonderin if ne1 could help me out with something. im a little confused about answering questions on minoan society, re: historiography. i know in short answer questions ur not really supposed 2 include a lot of historiography, but lots of the minoans stuff is based purely on theories - ie. blah uses this primary source as evidence that minoan society was...whereas another historian uses this as evidence to propose that minoan society was actually based around...etc.
however, if i pose these theories as my own, i still have 2 have somethin 2 back them up, in which case it would be far easier 2 just say whose they were in the first place!
im so confused!!!
so, can neone help? how much historiography r u including?

 

[da_butterfree]

u dont really need any historians to back up things in the structured section.. but if u plan to attempt the extended response on minoans, u definately need historians to back up uer claims. the most common one is Arthur Evans and then u can argue his judgements like those abt the thorne room or the prince of lillies frescoes simply by saying that "modern historians however believe that..." i dont know if u want to claim the things to be your own judgements coz it just wudnt give a good impression to the examiner... u are tested on how much evidence u use to back up uer theories.

hope that helps.

 

[classics_chic]

hey guys, i was wonderin if ne1 could help me out with something. im a little confused about answering questions on minoan society, re: historiography. i know in short answer questions ur not really supposed 2 include a lot of historiography, but lots of the minoans stuff is based purely on theories - ie. blah uses this primary source as evidence that minoan society was...whereas another historian uses this as evidence to propose that minoan society was actually based around...etc.
however, if i pose these theories as my own, i still have 2 have somethin 2 back them up, in which case it would be far easier 2 just say whose they were in the first place!
im so confused!!!
so, can neone help? how much historiography r u including?

You don't need historians for Minoan and Mycenaen societies, although you do for the others, in case anyone's wondering. Theories are the best way to go because there's no contemporary written evidence that's been translated for the Minoans, and you can quote theories from historians.

For historiography, compare the theories with the evidence and say why one might be biased or inaccurate for one reason or another. Your own opinion based on these opinions is also important though- you need to let the examiners know what you're thinking, too!

Best of luck!

 

[angelduck]

What do you mean if you attempt the extended response??

Why wouldn't you??

 

[greeninsanity]

What do you mean if you attempt the extended response??

I'm pretty sure she means if you do the minoans in section 2 (short-answer) you won't need historiography.
BUT, if you're doing two societies and choose to write an essay on the Minoans in section 4, you may need to refer to historians' theories...

 

[classics_chic]

I'm pretty sure she means if you do the minoans in section 2 (short-answer) you won't need historiography.
BUT, if you're doing two societies and choose to write an essay on the Minoans in section 4, you may need to refer to historians' theories...

thanks, that's exactly what I meant

Good luck!

 

[Paroissien]

So for the short answer question is it theoretically possible to get 100% without refering to any historians or including any quotes?

 

[classics_chic]

So for the short answer question is it theoretically possible to get 100% without refering to any historians or including any quotes?

depends on what society you do. For a society without any contemporary written evidence, and Minoan (written, not translated) and Mycenaean (written, way too technical), then you don't have to.

For a society with plenty of evidence (Sparta, Athens), then yes you do need historians and quotes. Otherwise it wouldn't be fair, because without sources Minoan and Myceanean are that much harder.

Good luck!

 

[angelduck]

im still confused as to this extended response thingy. I did 2 periods. So, if you did 2 societies, you have to do one of them as an essay??

 

[greeninsanity]

So, if you did 2 societies, you have to do one of them as an essay??

yes, exactly.

 

[Caratacus]

If you are doing two ancient societies, whichever one you answer on in Section II of the paper, you must answer on the OTHER one in Section IV.

It makes sense to look at both sections before deciding which one to do as an essay (Section IV) and which to do as short answers (a) -(e) (Section II), then pick the combo that best suits you.

In Section II, Question (e) in each society (probably worth 10 marks) has band range 2-6 and outcome 4.2, which reads:

"H4.2 evaluates different ancient and modern sources, what they reveal about significant historical issues and how they contribute to our understanding of the past" (Syllabus).

Band 6 criteria are given in the "Draft Performance Bands" as

* comprehensive assessment of the significance of people, events, institutions and forces in Ancient History

* analyses, synthesises and interprets information to accurately address problems and issues in Ancient History

* displays a superior use of ancient terms and concepts to answer historical questions

* high level evaluation of factors contributing to continuity and change in the ancient world

* uses range of relevant ancient sources and evaluates their reliability

* assesses different historical interpretations and perspectives

* communicates a high level argument through well structured and detailed texts

(This info comes from the Mapping Grid in the specimen exam at BOS here:

http://www.boardofstudies.nsw.edu.au/syllabus_hsc/syllabus2000_lista.html

- the one called "Specimen HSC Examination Resources" and also "Draft Performance Bands")


This means that in Section II (e) you should look at the historiography, or differing interpretations, of the sources of evidence: in the case of Minoan, you will be looking at the interpretations of people such as Sir Arthur Evans, Nanno Marinatos, Oliver Dickinson, Rodney Castleden, and so on.

 

[angelduck]

Wow!

:feels stupid::
I thought they just had to do short answer things.....silly duckie

 

[silvermoon]

thanx so much guys 4 sortn that out 4 me - i was stressn just a little bit ova ancient...(read turning into mad alcoholic)...

 

[angelduck]

i think were all stressing out ova ancient, and english tomorrow, and that crappy question ten on maths paper, meh, were just all stressin out