kevG Posted September 11, 2015 Report Share Posted September 11, 2015 Hey guys, so I figured out the art to acing paper 1 Geography and it's time to move onto paper 2. They say that paper 2 is way harder than paper 1 mainly due to the Essay questions. So I know that I have to get cracking on the essays, which I'm not very good at. I usually only get 10/15 on the paper 1 essay and ace the short answers to get 7's but Paper 2 is predominantly graded on the Essays and I don't really want to lose marks on it. Can anyone help me to improve my Geography Essay skills? Any tips? Guide to a perfect geography essay structure? My teacher said I tend to 'waffle' a lot on my essays and not answer the questions directly; the reason why I lose marks. And I often lose track of time (Since one essay should only take about 20 minutes or so and I don't have time to conclude the essay). She also said she'll predict me a 6 instead of a 7 if I get anything less than a 7 in the next paper 2 test, so please help me out guys. Reply Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
El :3 Posted September 11, 2015 Report Share Posted September 11, 2015 Heey - I have exactly the same problem as you, except I don't have enough statistics apparently. I guess the main thing is seeing which case studies overlap with the core, and try to recycle them (less memorising and stuff!). I always make a plan before each essay, and I spend no more than 2.5 mins planning - just jotting down the key points you want to say. Stick to the plan, treat it like an English essay, and aim to write 1.5 pages per essay (depending on your handwriting). The absolute most important thing is to make sure you include maps and diagrams to enhance your response, seriously, the IB will love you for that! Which options are you doing, cos I might be able to help with option-specific essay stuff too 2 Reply Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
kevG Posted September 11, 2015 Author Report Share Posted September 11, 2015 The test next week is on Hazards and Disasters Reply Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
El :3 Posted September 11, 2015 Report Share Posted September 11, 2015 You're in luck as that's one of my options! Okaay, so what you need firstly is to memorise a case study for 2 chosen disasters (e.g. we did earthquakes and cyclones (hurricanes or typhoons for anyone outside of Australia). I've written out an essay on each a few times, for example, to what extent could we predict the chosen disaster (I also did a compare and contrast between them as well). Next, you need to remember the hazard profiles for them (idk if you did them, but it's a zigzag line assessing its time of onset, severetity etc.). And then you need to have a case study about a management strategy for a chosen disaster (e.g. earthquake education in Japan).As for the essay, dedicate the intro to stating the question, then describing the disaster (how it occurs, where it occurs, etc.). Then choose three points to make, for 3 paragraphs, then conclude by summarising. Let me know if you need any more advice Reply Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
deftdog18 Posted September 12, 2015 Report Share Posted September 12, 2015 I'm doing the Hazards and Disasters option too, and through the duration of this topic we learnt 7 case studies - Hurricane Katrina/ Cyclone Nargis, Nepal (Haiti) and Christchurch Earthquakes, East Africa/Aus drought and Chernobyl, and knowing the statistics and numbers of those events usually gives your essay a good case for a high mark, though its the evaluation and analysis that counts.Basically you want to go through the syllabus and make sure you know a bit of every point, and sorting your notes by each syllabus point really helps a lot. It will be a bit hard cramming and scrutinizing every point, so focus on the strengths of the case studies/info you are really familiar with, you do have a choice of selecting 1 from 2 questions after all. Reply Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
kevG Posted September 21, 2015 Author Report Share Posted September 21, 2015 (edited) Damn I just saw your replyWell I got my test paper back today... I got a 6...Guess I'm getting predicted a 6. But I found out that I got a 29/30 on my IA, which is nice Edited September 21, 2015 by gusmanK Reply Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
El :3 Posted September 21, 2015 Report Share Posted September 21, 2015 Oh well - I guess there's still the exams And hey, congrats on getting 29/30, that's really impressive! That'll definitely aid in boosting your grades and I reckon you'll get a 7 in the end. 2 Reply Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
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