How to answer a IB question.

 

  1. Read all the questions! You are always allowed to pick questions on IB! Once you have started it is to late to change your choice!
  2. All essay answers should have:
    1. An Introduction.
    2. The actual answer. This should follow “Essay planning sheet”
    3. A Conclusion.
  3. Read the question! What are you asked to do? Different types of question demands different types of answers. Read the article “The Noble art of the Essay” and make sure that you see the difference between the different type of questions:
    1. “Why did Stalin, rather than Trotsky succeed as leader of the Soviet Union?” Causes and consequences. Reasons to why a historical event occurred. You need to validate your reasons, not just making a list.
    2. “To what extent was Disraeli a genuine social reformer during his second ministry?”. The Balanced analytical response. Provide reasons why this is so, and back them up by evidence. Make also sure that answer the full question, a definition of social reformer is needed. You also have to discuss whether it was genuine or not.
    3. “ ‘Shrewd and unscrupulous’. How far would you agree with this comment on Bismarck’s handling of foreign policy in the year 1870 to 1890”. A quotation followed by a question. Use the quote!  “How far” means that you should agree and disagree!
    4. Sub-questions. More than one skill is asked from you. “In what ways and to what extent was Nazi Ideology ‘revolutionary’ “?
  4. Before you actually write down your answer, ALLWAYS make a plan over your answer, otherwise you will fail!
  5. This plan should be done according to “Essay planning sheet”.
  6. Be aware of the time-factor! Look on marks per question; they indicate how long time the examiner thinks you should spend on the question.
  7. Keep in mind that you are writing for a complete stranger! They don’t know you and they frankly don’t care about your result, they want you to show that you know enough history and that you are skillful enough for the higher grades. This means:
    1. Be very careful with details! Hitler became chancellor January 30 1933, not January 15 or 1932. If you don’t remember the exact date, write as accurate as possible.
    2. Don’t add a lot of asterisks or comments with arrows etc, it looks sloppy and unplanned.
    3. Your answer should be like a plan of direction, it should be extremely obvious to the reader/examiner how you have thought and how you have solved the problem in the question.
  8. LEARN THE DIFFERENCE BETWEEN A DESCIPTION AND AN ANALYZIS!