Subject Combinations: The Humanities 1 - Introducing History, Geography, English Literature and Econ
Introducing History (HI)
If you like to look back at the past and talk about influential figures of a past era, then History is the subject for you. A subject less about the content than it is about the interpretation of it.
1. What are the skills involved in understanding the subject?
History is a content-heavy subject that deals with contextual knowledge and sources. However, knowing content is not enough - one should be able to interpret sources, and from there, make inferences and convincing arguments. Reading beyond the lines and constantly applying one’s knowledge of the subject content is vital.
2. What are the challenges in learning the subject?
History is split into two different sub-groups - Southeast Asian History, and International History, both with their fair share of content. With that amount of content, memorising and utilising it all may initially seem difficult to handle - you might mix this and that part up or forget a certain event in a time period. You might also find yourself struggling to make convincing arguments, or grasping the important points in an essay. These are challenges no one can avoid, but must eventually overcome with practice.
3. Is there a steep learning curve?
Those who did not take the subject in Years 3 and 4 might find themselves struggling more. Even for those who have taken the subject before, with new content and skills to master, the learning curve for History may start off as a steep one. However, once you get a grasp of the content, what the subject entails and what is expected of you, the road to doing well becomes smoother.
4. What are the benefits of taking up this subject?
We study the past in the present to think about the future.
With an understanding of history comes an astute understanding of the world that might prove useful. History also helps one hone one’s skills of inference and argument-making.
A bonus is that the History teachers are one of the friendliest and nicest teachers you will encounter in RV.
5. How do you improve in this subject?
A genuine interest in the facets of history can open up new ways of looking at the same event in history. Along with that, one who wants to get better at History must practise a lot. Practise until you get a good grasp of not only your knowledge, but also your skills at inferring, close reading, and making arguments - techniques that will help you score in this subject.
Additionally, revise your content knowledge constantly - keep yourself refreshed on what you know. You can do it at the end of the day, before or after lessons, but refreshing your knowledge will do you more good than relying on long study periods to soak it all up.
Introducing Geography (GE)
“Geography is the study of places and the relationship between people and their environments.”
Special thanks to Tammy Low for providing us with her valuable insight.
1. What are the skills involved in understanding the subject?
As there are many Data Response questions, you need to be good at interpreting different kinds of data (such as graphs, maps etc) and sieving out what is important to answer the question.
Second, synopticity. In essays, we need to be able to cross-link different topics and themes to answer the question.
In addition, there will be a lot of information given to you about a single concept or topic so you need to know how to consolidate what is important.
You’ll also need to know how to sketch either a given picture or conceptual diagrams.
2. What are the challenges in learning the subject?
There are a lot of things to learn, a lot of technical jargon to remember. But it is always better if you can understand the concepts because you would not need to memorise so much.
You will also need to write very quickly as there are many essays and data response questions to answer under limited time.
3. Is there a steep learning curve?
For students who did not take geography in Y3/4, you can still take it up in Y5/6. The topics you will learn are different from junior high and you do not need a lot of background knowledge to understand the new topics. However, the content is indeed a lot more complex and may even be harder to understand but the same goes for most subjects. Therefore as long as you are hardworking and always constantly revising, you will be able to cope well.
4. What are the benefits of taking up this subject?
You get to understand more about the world regarding both the physical side (eg climate, rivers, rocks etc) and the human side (eg development). You will also learn how to infer data well and tell what evidence is best for answering the question.
5. How do you improve in this subject?
It is very important to consolidate your knowledge because with the thick notes it is very hard to revise. Depending on your studying method, choose a style that best facilitates your learning. It can be mind maps or tables or pictures, but find a way to help you understand the concepts better rather than memorising blindly.
You can also differentiate common question types and prepare the answers beforehand, based on the tutorial answer keys.
Always do tutorials consistently even though it is a lot of work. With practice, you can understand the concepts better and easier.
Lastly, it is definitely better to appreciate and have the interest in geography rather than studying for the sake of it because this interest will keep you motivated to work harder for the subject.
Introducing Literature in English (EN)
Literature in English (shortened to E-Lit) is a H2 subject offered in our school. H1 Literature in English is currently not being offered in our school. Students will be required to study poems, plays, and books revolving around a theme and be able to closely compare and analyse them. Despite being considered a subjective subject, literature in the A-levels context is a highly disciplined and methodical subject. There are no prerequisites but an extensive reading habit will help very much in the long run.
Special thanks to Xinjie (5E) and Kai Wei (5R) for also providing us with their valuable insights. Fun Fact: all Y5 Editorial members take this subject!
1. What are the skills involved in understanding the subject?
Critical thinking and close reading. You must be able to read between the lines and pick out everything from allusions to diction and make inferences from the text.
An agile mind, because you don’t have the luxury of time in tests. You have to be able to process the material, generate ideas and areas of comparison etc. while ensuring you do not succumb to the pressure of exam stress.
Writing quickly and legibly.
Openness, receptiveness, and empathy for the subject of your texts. It helps to be able to see things in various perspectives (or through various “selves”, as a literature student might put it).
2. What are the challenges in learning the subject?
There is a structure for essays that can be quite difficult to grasp in the beginning, especially for students who have never taken the subject before.
Lots of jargon.
Might be difficult to understand Old English/Shakespearean English or certain Latin references without external help. It can also be difficult to find inferences without understanding the context of the literary piece.
Sometimes you just don’t get it…
3. Is there a steep learning curve?
Students new to literature will definitely have a difficult time at the start. There are many things you’ll have to get used to, such as working with concepts and word-play. It will take some time to ease into the subject.
Otherwise, if you’ve taken it in Years 3 and 4, the learning curve is not very steep.
4. What are the benefits of taking up this subject?
It’s easy to pass once you get the hang of it. At that point the focus becomes less on memory work but more on inferential skills, which is less taxing on the brain. (Most of the texts you’ll be tested on are unseen, anyway!)
Ample food for the soul- we explore concepts that other subjects can’t expose us to. There’s a lot in literature that has to do with real life issues too, like depression, sexuality and rejection. It might be a depressing subject in terms of the content covered, but it also teaches you how to find light in everything.
5. How do you improve in this subject?
Get to know your text. Pick out all the key events and themes and make mindmaps for them.
Constantly review your notes and read your text. There’s always something new to be learned after each reading.
Read a wide variety of articles related to the text you are studying to get as much perspective as possible.
Contribute to tutorials. When your lit teachers ask you to share your thoughts, do share! It will not only hone your ability to think critically and creatively, but it will also be helpful for healthy classroom discussion and sharing of ideas.
If the texts are too hard to digest, read Sparknotes/Cliffnotes/Schmoop. (Your teachers will probably advise you against them but trust us when we say they are very useful.)
Write more, ask more. Write essays to get acquainted with what an essay should look like and how to produce such an essay under pressure and constraints of time. If there’s anything you are curious about or are unsure of, clarify with your peers and teachers. The Lit department is generally nice and if all else fails, you can always turn to Mr. Google.
Read a lot, think a lot, and most of all, enjoy the process!
Introducing Economics (EC):
Economics is a social science subject that is undoubtedly the most popular elective among RVians. It is usually a staple for science students who take the BCM/PCM combination. There is no prerequisite for Economics, but like all subjects, you are advised to assess your own performance and determine your capability.
1. What are the skills involved in learning the subject?
Generally, Economics is a relatively structured and topical subject. What this means is that you will score if you identify the question type and answer accordingly, with the appropriate structure.
Time management is of essence during Economic examinations. This is a subject that requires you to hit all the marks within the allocated time, which some people might struggle with, thus a good grasp of the question requirements and proper planning are crucial in producing good essays.
2. What are the challenges in learning the subject?
The examinations essentially test how well you write under pressure and your ability in structuring your answers appropriately, which is difficult unless you practise a lot.
Economics is also a subject that might be difficult to score in, especially when you are unfamiliar with or miss the question focus and scope.
A common challenge that students might face is not seeing the link between theoretical concepts and real life observations. Students should acknowledge this failing and rectify it.
3. What are the benefits of taking the subject?
One of the pluses of Economics is simply the sheer number of people taking the subject. You can find a lot of support and resources available to guide your learning. Economics is also a useful subject as an entry-point for courses like finance and business, and has a lot of real-world applications. Hence, your teachers will strongly encourage you to take Economics.
4. How do you improve in the subject?
Lectures essentially help you to understand concepts. The difficulty level is not too high, as the lecturers use real-life examples and demonstrations to aid your understanding. Paying attention in lectures will help you when you revise as you will recall what the important points in the given topic are.
Tutors usually go through practice and mock-exam questions that would help you to understand the concepts better. The latter is particularly important. Hence your tutors will usually go through the format step-by-step. As I have mentioned, possessing structure in your answers is vital to scoring well.
One last very important tip here is that you should always complete your tutorials as neatly as you can. You will struggle with answering essays at the start and as a result hesitate to produce a full essay, but you must at least finish the entire tutorial.
5. What’s the difference between H1 and H2 Economics?
Now that you've made the choice to take Economics, (or not, in which case you should be considering another humanities subject), the next thing you might consider is whether to take it at an H1 or H2 level.
You'd often hear that the workload of H1 Economics does not differ much from H2 Economics, as the content covered is similar. To a certain extent, this is true, because the hard part about Economics is applying the concepts to answer the questions, and not about understanding the concept itself. Arguably, a H1 student could study as much as an H2 student does.
