TESTING THE NEW NATIONThe Depression

A guide to preparing for and succeeding in

the ExamSandra SchneidermanStar of the Sea College

Requirements of this section of the Exam

• You are to write ONE well developed argument in an essay format that responds to a question about the Depression.

• You have approximately 30 minutes to write your response

• It is worth 25% of the overall marks for the exam so give it the same time commitment as the other three sections

Don’t panic!• It is important to be well prepared for your exam so….• Practice past exam questions in 30 minute slots and learn

to feel what 30 minutes feels like• Keep looking over old exam questions and familiarize

yourself with key terms and essay question structures

.

• Don’t write everything you know about the topic, it’s important to address the key words of the question

• Learn to write very short, succinct plans which keep you focused

• By this stage of the year, you should have a fairly good understanding of the period – therefore this plan should only relate to the question and keep you on track of what the question is asking

2011 Exam Question

‘Australian governments and society failed to respond adequately to the economic hardship of The Depression.’• To what extent do you agree with this

statement?

Key Words/ideas to focus on

• Australian governments

• and society

• failed to respond adequately

• This essay wants you to look at these 3 points closely

Australian Governments• Look at the Federal Government and also some state

governments-did they fail or respond adequately?• The New South Wales government under Labor leader

Jack Lang would be an excellent government to compare a more conservative governments

• What were the Four Plans proposed by governments and which one was adopted?

• To what extent was if effective?• How many times did the government change? Why? To

what effect?

Society

• Look at a variety of groups in society and discuss some of them. Try to give contrasting experiences such housing/shanty towns, employers, working conditions, hospitals, schools etc. and question whether they acted responsibly, adequately or in fact failed.

• Give specific examples, such as the Unions and how they responded. Was it adequate or were they prevented from succeeding? By whom and to what extent

What to plan for• Ask yourself what the questions ASSUMES. Remember, the topic is about

TESTING the NEW NATION, so what was tested in terms of personal, family, group experiences?

• This could be any one or a combination of the following:• Financial-how did women become the new ‘bread winners’? How did it affect

men’s pride?• Did wealth or middle class people experience the same issues?• Domestic structures-did they change or stay the same?• Individual values regarding work• Gender issues• Political ideas and the rise of Radical groups like the New Guard and an

increase in membership of unions• Religion

Who were these groups or individuals?

• Give them a face or identity. Go from the general to the specific or group to the individual

• Some examples could be: • WOMEN

• Working class women who worked in factories• Middle class women whose husbands had a

secure/not secure job• Wealthy women: charity workers/socialites etc.

Expand on your points by addressing the following:

• How these people and groups survived duress

• Were there groups who did not suffer financially over the short or long term? Who what were their experiences during the period?

• How will you incorporate them into your essay- Anecdotal evidence or through Historians interpretations

Plan your argument

• Divide your argument into 2 or 3 ideas for each segment, but DO NOT agree or disagree entirely.

• Look for a RANGE of responses to each of these areas

• Yes • No• To a certain extent• Some evidence to support your case such as

anecdotal evidence, statistics, reports, dates, etc.

Make these groups/individuals come alive

• Name a group, such as • Working class women:

• Then bring them alive with an anecdote, a name and a place where they lived such as Collingwood

• Discuss how they had to work, their role change from wife and mother to breadwinner, wife and mother and the consequences of this

• Maybe they suffered from domestic abuse because their husband was unemployed and had lost face. Maybe they had to resort to backstreet abortions.

• What was the NATURE of their work? Pay? Conditions? Fears and challenges?

• Which Historians addressed this-Potts, Lowenstein, McInolty? What did they say about this group?

List your key terms

• Don’t generalize, be specific about the key points of the question

• Ensure your dates and names of the people and places you will use are accurate

• Ensure you use the correct terminology of the period AND of the question: Premiers Plan, Susso payments, pension reductions, soup kitchens, inequality of sacrifice, going to the pictures, Phar Lap, etc.

The STRUCTURE OF THE ESSAY

• 1. Begin by addressing the key points of the essay in an introduction and ensure you begin at the start of the Depression. Define the key words and briefly outline how you will answer the question

The STRUCTURE OF THE ESSAY

• Include a formal introduction that includes key terms and definitions

• Construct a line of argument• Don’t necessarily agree or disagree

outright, but think of a range of ways to respond

The STRUCTURE OF THE ESSAY

• Begin and conclude each paragraph with the terms of the question and find a logical link to the next paragraph

• Include relevant and specific evidence in the body of each paragraph-primary, secondary, pictorial, anecdotal or other evidence is acceptable.

• It is not necessary in the exam to footnote for quotes

The STRUCTURE OF THE ESSAY

• Aim to write a strong introduction, a conclusion and at least THREE body paragraphs

• Use clear frameworks for each paragraph, such as SOCIAL, POLITICAL, ECONOMIC

• Ensure that you don’t lump the period into one time frame, rather, ensure you show that various years were worse or better than others, and how they were by using specific evidence, facts, statistics etc.

Conclusion

• Your conclusion needs to be different to your introduction.

• Include how society and the government had changed as a result of the Depression by 1937-1939

• Your conclusion should not be overly long

Practising before the ExamThe Groups I will be addressing

My arguments for and against

The quotes/anecdotes/Historian’s observations

Some statistics, key years etc.

1.

2.

3.

Editing

• You won’t have much time to edit, but see if you can at least make a few minutes to go over your key points and ensure you have related to the question.

• Check the dates you wrote and ensure they are correct

• Take a deep breath, know you’ve your best

All the best, and remember…..the finishing line is

not all that far away