An email from Sarah

From: Sarah Evans
To: Mr Sheldrick
Sent: Wed, 1 September, 2010 2:52:39 PM
Subject:

sir, i'm a bit confused about the war in the pacific topic. for one thing, i'm not really sure what kind of questions we're going to get- like, with the nazi topic it basically asks what things contributed to fall of weimar/rise of nazis and what the nazis were like when they were in power, and with leni riefenstahl it asks questions about her work in relation to her context. but what kind of things do they ask us for this topic?
also, i've been finding it hard to find good quotes or historical perspectives for war in the pacific- i'm not really sure what i'm looking for and can't find good quotes.
sorry for so many incoherent questions sir, but i'm confused :(


Mr Sheldrick
To: Sarah Evans

Hey Sarah,

Well I can't make it any easier for you Sarah! This is the area of the paper where people usually drop some marks. It has only been part of the papers since 2001 so the questions are unpredictable.

I can say this:

It shouldn't be a question on the dropping of the atomic bomb or the force of nationalism in causing the attack on Pearl Harbor and the war. Everything else is possible. So..... would we have been better off doing another older topic like the Cold War or the Vietnam War? Nope... the number of questions that they can ask you is even larger and even more unpredictable. Heaps of possible topics to study, many more than we have with just as little possibility of predicting what will come up.

But you still need to show the marker that you have DEEP knowledge of whatever comes up to get the top marks. Gulps!!!

This is the topic you probably have to do the most study for and most of it won't be of use in the exam. That's just the way that it is Sarah! Sorry!!!

As for the quotes... go back to your textbook. Lots of quotes. Lots of historians & experts quoted for each topic. Also go to amazon and type in War in the Pacific, Battle of the Coral Sea, etc... do each topic ... and look at the names of authors & books that come up. Many of the reviews have little quotes.

So no..... I can't tell you what they will ask... you are on your own on this one baby!!! lol But you know what??? I think you can handle it!! lol