
How to Write An A-Level History Essay Structure
A major part of your A-level history coursework includes writing essays. While an essay essentially informs a reader about a certain topic, it is more than just writing all the information. So, examiners, especially during the A-levels, tend to focus on tricky things or skills like how well you have responded to the question, analysed the evidence, and built the arguments.
Unless you are exceptionally blessed, you need time to hone these skills, and poor grades are, thus, common in the beginning. Luckily, these abilities can be learned. Usually, when students struggle with such write-ups, they consider searching online: ‘Can I pay someone to write my essay?’ to ease their academic burden. However, this guide has discussed some main steps to writing an A-level history essay. These will help you create a high-scoring essay.
Steps to Follow When Writing an A-level History Essay
Here are some crucial steps to writing a history essay:
1. Read the Question Carefully
Some students recite a prepared response without assessing what they are actually writing, resulting in a poorly-graded essay. Therefore, it is crucial to read the question several times to comprehend it. In addition, doing so will help you understand the importance of careful reading and annotation settings, such as identifying potential arguments to support your essay writing.
2. Create an Outline
Make an outline after you’ve finished analysing the essay question. This approach reduces the possibility of error when you hit a major roadblock. Furthermore, it acts as a roadmap when you can’t assemble your ideas in the essay.
The outline helps you brainstorm and comprehend what is essential to mention in your essay. Therefore, it’s a good idea to compile a list of key arguments supporting and refuting your position. You can also take help from A-level history essay examples online to understand how to go about the task. You are now prepared to move towards the introduction.
3. What Should Be in A History Essay Introduction?
You can state your main argument in the essay introduction. This is an exciting approach because it demonstrates you have a strong viewpoint and are willing to argue, focusing on keywords from the beginning. It also reveals to an examiner you have planned your essay, know what you will say, and can back it up with good evidence. However, usually, students don’t know how to start or what should be in a history essay introduction?
Therefore, any write-up introduction is often personalised. You can start with an interesting quote, disagree with the question, define a significant event, or do something else to set the scene, making it compelling. It will also show you have comprehensive knowledge of the subject matter, understand the problems at stake, and how to deal with them. This type of introduction will captivate readers, impress them, and pique their interest.
4. Write Main Body Paragraphs
Now you know what should be in a history essay introduction; it’s time to work on the main body paragraphs. You will support your case in the main body. However, remember you are making arguments, not telling a story.
You’ve already distinguished the keywords in the question. So, now it’s time to put them to use. Each paragraph must reference the keywords in a meaningful way. Be ruthless – you should carefully select only what is required to back up your argument.
5. Conclude Your History Essay
In conclusion, you summarise what you have written in the main body. This is the last thing an examiner reads. A good conclusion can save a bad essay and seal the deal on a good note.
It is the point where you tie the threads of your argument together and hammer home your points, leaving the audience in no doubt about your answer.
You should refer specifically to the question’s keywords and reinforce the points you made in the main body. But, above all, it should not contain anything new and restate your argument.
How to Answer A Source Question In A-Level History?
You might need to write the answer source question in your history essay, but you don’t know how to answer a source question in a-level history, so here are some tips you can keep in mind while writing an answer:
• Indicate how dependable you might expect the source of a particular type of question to be
• Avoid using the word ‘biased’
• Indicate the source’s specific purpose
• Include information about the author, the audience, or the time
• Mention what is exaggerated or omitted, and then return to your question
Thus, following these tips, you will better understand how to answer a source question in a-level history.
A-Level History Essay Examples
Now you know how to work on a history essay.
Here’s a list of A-level history essay example topics you can work on:
• The soldiers from India who fought in World War I
• The involvement of America in the Korean War
• Examples of music created due to political causes
• What were the events that led to the Roman Empire’s demise?
• The hippie movement of the 1960s
• The incidents that led to Saudi Arabia’s emergence
• The British music industry’s foray into the US market
These are some topics you can write on. Moreover, if you still feel it’s not easy for you to write A-level history essays, you can always consider taking essay writing services from us to meet your academic requirements.
Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)
1. How many paragraphs should an A level history essay be?
An A-level history essay should have at least three paragraphs, but four paragraphs are also recommended.
2. How do you write a 20-mark history essay a level?
For writing a 20-marks history A-level essay, you should begin with a brief introduction. So, you should be presenting your thesis statement at this stage. Then, the main body of the argument should follow the pattern of Point, Evidence, and Describe.
Make a point at this stage, back it up with some evidence, and explain what it indicates. You must also evaluate these points to get excellent marks while demonstrating your claim is stronger. Finally, summarise your arguments to conclude, but don’t add new information.
3. How do you write a high school history essay?
Writing a high school history essay requires students to follow essential steps, including:
• Consider the background information that the reader should be aware of in the introductory paragraph
• Define any keywords
• Assess which ideas will require the cited assistance
• Determine how each idea contributes to the main argument
• Make a list of key points to go over in the conclusion