The French Revolution Exam focus: OCR Elizabeth Francis Philip Allan Publishers © 2015

OCR Y243 exam, Section A This resource provides suggested techniques for approaching the two sections of the examination for OCR option Y243, The French Revolution and the rule of Napoleon, 1774–1815. Section A contains a choice of two essay questions, of which you must answer one. Each question is worth 30 marks. You are being assessed on your knowledge and understanding and how well you communicate this to the examiner, as well as analysing and evaluating key features of the period. To achieve a C grade or above you must ensure that your responses are within level 4 and above. The next slide gives tips to help ensure that you reach level 4. Philip Allan Publishers © 2015

Tips for Section A 1.Ensure that you revise thoroughly so that your knowledge and understanding is thorough and detailed. You must show that you have a deep understanding and therefore it is crucial that you include key terms, dates, people and events and that you fully understand their relevance to the period. 2.Consider any factor that has been given to you in the question and, during the planning stages, decide whether or not this factor is the most important to the stated proposition or whether you believe another factor is. This will help to organise your plan. 3.You must reach a judgement and this must be clear from the outset. Your introduction is the best place to show the examiner what your overall judgement is and you should then use the remainder of the essay to prove your judgement. 4.If you are given a factor in the question, always begin your essay by discussing this factor and then move on to other factors relevant to the question. 5.If you are not given a factor and the question stem is more along the lines of ‘Assess’ or ‘Analyse’, then you should start your essay by discussing the factor that you think is the most important. 6.Make sure that your essay is well organised into clear paragraphs and that it contains an introduction at the start and a conclusion to finish off. Philip Allan Publishers © 2015

OCR Y243 exam, Section B Section B contains an interpretation on an issue from the period. You must show the examiner that you can analyse and evaluate this interpretation in relation to the period and you must refer to at least one other interpretation. You will need to analyse and evaluate both the strengths of the interpretation and the limitations. Remember this must be in relation to the period. This means that your knowledge of the period must be good and you can’t rely solely on using the details within the interpretations. It is likely that the interpretation will be quite short, perhaps just one to two sentences. Philip Allan Publishers © 2015

Tips for Section B 1.Don’t assume that you can rely solely on the interpretation in this section. You must revise thoroughly as it is crucial that you assess the interpretation against your own knowledge and understanding of the period. 2.You must give a balanced response and therefore you must include both strengths and weaknesses of the interpretation. 3.In assessing the strengths, consider whether your knowledge agrees with the interpretation given. What evidence do you have to support the interpretation given and therefore how does this show its strengths? In assessing the weaknesses, consider the knowledge that you have which disagrees with the interpretation. 4.You must consider other interpretations of the same issue. See if you can add weight to the interpretation given by selecting ones that agree with it, or use examples of ones that disagree with it to demonstrate the weaknesses. 5.Your evaluation of the set interpretation must be well supported from your knowledge in order that your final judgement is well substantiated. 6.The other interpretations you discuss must be recognisable interpretations rather than your own opinion, although you do not need to cite the actual author. Philip Allan Publishers © 2015