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Blog Post 10: Misé En Place - 3.6.19 to 10.6.19

This week can be concisely summarised in the quote “Misé En Place” which is a common hospitality term, defined to mean “to put into place”, which is certainly what I did for the entirety of this week: To put everything I had into place throughout the entirety of my historical essay. This week was all about finishing off my historical essay and refining it so that it is structurally correct and to MAKE SURE that my essay was linking consistently to my thesis, and that my thesis was strong enough to be carried throughout the entirety of my essay. 

While assessing my essay, I also looked at a variety of past HSC historical investigation samples who had also completed similar tasks to myself in order to receive a taste of the difference between a Band 5 and a Band 6 historical investigation, and I formed a style of ‘criteria’ that I had used in order to check off the things I was doing right and the things I was doing wrong so I was able to effectively ensure my historical essay was meeting the expectations and standards of a perfect band 6 response. 

While writing my historical essay, however, I had problems integrating my historiography into my essay without making it seem as if that piece of historiography was my argument. However, this was solved easily by consulting year 12 students who had also completed the same historical investigation task, and had keenly provided me with insight and guidance as to how to effectively balance my essay with my argument/thesis, whilst supporting this with historiography. A student also provided me with great advice, stating that throwing immense large amounts of historiography into your essay WILL NOT mean anything if it is irrelevant to my argument. However, they said, that using 1-2 pieces of historiography throughout my arguments that correctly SUPPORT my thesis is much more useful and I took this on board with open arms.

Overall, this week was extremely useful to me in refining and clarify my historical essay and improving it to the best possible standard and I am extremely proud of myself in adhering to this assessment task to such a strong extent. Though there were minor setbacks along the way regarding scheduling and various other assessment tasks, this was by far, one of my favourite assessment tasks I have ever completed and hopefully, any advice received from the feedback of this assessment task can be applied throughout the rest of the year 11 and 12 courses. 

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Blog Post 9: Almost there! - 27.5.19 to 3.6.19

WOW this week has been immensely hectic and overwhelming, but it has also been extremely productive and I am really proud of myself for being able to push through. This week was all about skimming and picking out the final historiography and beginning to write my historical essay. Though I had gathered significantly large amounts of historiography, both secondary and primary, I will only be using about 10 - 12 pieces of historiography because I felt as if those pieces of historiography directly linked to the argument of my historical essay. 

Because my historical investigation was all about how Japans societal breakdown due to internal influences, and the growing influence of Western countries forced Japan into modernising in order to survive, I also took into account historiography relating into the reasons for someone integrating and evolving the identity, which I found to be extremely relevant to my argument/thesis. 

However, I decided not to go too far into the topic because it would stray away from the main premise of my argument, but the information presented was certainly useful for me gaining an insight into the ideas of the modernisation of Japan. Furthermore, my thesis had (once again!) changed and has become much more strengthened and enhanced than what it was before and I am extremely proud of it. The rest of my aim for this week is to find a few more pieces of historiography, possible in order to enhance my argument, and trying to fill in the blanks of the skeleton I had created last week is also another aim for this week. 

Hopefully, I will be able to finish my essay this week, and next week will just be me polishing and refining my work into something that seems professionally done and seems impossible, however, I am confident in my ability to implement and integrate my thesis within my essay and come out strong with one of the best essays I have ever written. 

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Blog Post 8: Bringing it Together - 20.5.19 to 27.5.19

During this week, my main aim was to organise and start to bring all of my information, countless hours of research and essay skills all together in order to properly form and create a solid skeleton which will be the outline for my historical essay. Updating my bibliography proved to be a challenge because most of my sources were of old historical work, but the State Library of NSW has an automatic referencing tool which made it extremely easy for me to be able to reference all of the resources used. 

I had consulted with Mrs Watson regarding the amount of historiography which should be used so I am able to grasp an understanding of what I should be aiming for. She stated that a minimum of 10 pieces of historical evidence and/or historiography MUST be used, and as a result, I had created a list of the best historiography I could find that effectively supports my argument. Furthermore, she said not to use too much historiography or historical evidence, because it may detract and lessen the impact of my argument, and may start to take the shape of another historians argument. After taking this into account as well as various other research aspects, my thesis for my assessment task had immensely evolved to what it was a few weeks before, but now, it has made the aim for my historical essay more concise and cohesive than what it was before. 

Moreover, the addition of this new thesis along with other supporting historical evidence and historiography has further enhanced my argument than what it was before, and by assessing other aspects of the reasons for the integration of Japan to mimic western ideology to further improve my argument has allowed for my historical essay to become more cohesive than what it was before. By implementing and forming a plan, this has allowed for me to effectively breakdown my essay into parts in order for me to see if I am effectively meeting the requirements for this historical investigation. 

Overall, I thought this week was immensely productive, in the sense that I have finished most of my research for my historical investigation, and have allowed for a more concise sketch of my historical essay to form. Additionally, finding accurate pieces of historical evidence and historiography has allowed me to effectively produce a list that will support arguments that I will explore in my historical essay. 

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Blog Post 7: Work Placement Week - 13.5.19 to 20.5.19

During this week, most of my days were occupied predominantly by my work placement as a result of my VET course in Hospitality. As a result, most of the work that I was completing during this week was more class-related and therefore, less time was dedicated and focused on furthering my historical investigation. Though this was disadvantageous to my assessment task, by significant amounts of research and planning from previous weeks, I was able to survive the week with enough research for me to be able to not fall behind with the composition of my historical investigation. 

Because  I was trying to catch up with the classwork I was missing out everyday, the work I completed for my historical investigation this week was more “psychological” in the sense that I was thinking about how I would want to set and organise my historical essay and what types of historiography and examples will be suitable in correctly answering my question. During this week, I had a piece of paper in which I would draft all my ideas in ways I could possibly draft and layer out my historical essay, keeping in mind all of the other aspects such as the word count into account whilst experimenting. 

Overall, this week was significantly uneventful in the sense that not much progress was conducted this week in regards for my historical investigation mostly because of the distraction of my work placement which proved to be extremely tiring. However, the strenuous research conducted in previous weeks has been sufficient enough so that I do not fall behind so much that it becomes detrimental to my historical investigation. On the other hand, however, I was able to complete a rough draft of what my historical investigation will look like, and will certainly become the skeleton for my historical essay. 

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Blog Post 6: Preparing for Work Placement - 6.5.19 to 13.5.19

This week has overall been extremely hectic and overwhelming since this is the week in which I had my Maths Advanced and my Extension English I assessment task due on Tuesday and Wednesday, respectively. However, even though this week has been both physically and emotionally draining, I was still able to do sufficient amounts of research and historiography updates for my assessment task.  Because next week is the week of my work placement for Hospitality, I will be missing out on a weeks (about four lessons of Modern History) amount of class time and work, therefore, I decided to smash out as much research and content in order to not fall behind so much that it will be extremely detrimental for me to be able to do catch-up work for all of my classes whilst also juggling my Modern History assessment task.  Whilst doing my research, I decided to keep in mind the way in which I would like to set up my historical essay for the assessment task and which main points I will be arguing throughout the response in order to make sure that I am consistently meeting the requirements of the assessment task. Mrs Watson said that providing arguments for two sides of my historical investigation questions is crucial in enhancing my response, because it shows sophistication whilst improving my argument. 

In all, I felt that this week was somewhat productive in the sense that I was able to complete more research, collect more historiography and start to answer the question of how I will structure my response for my historical investigation. However, because of the interference of my Maths Advanced and English Extension I tasks, my focus deterred from Modern History and therefore, not as much work was completed as I hoped, but it was definitely sufficient enough to be able to not fall behind during the week of my work placement. 

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Blog Post 5 - The State Library of NSW - 29.4.19 to 6.4.19

 This week’s focus was on attaining accurate, valid and reliable resources and historiography to use for my assessment task. Recently, Mrs Watson stated that going to the NSW State Library is a great way to receive reliable and quality resources to use in order to successfully meet the requirements for my historical investigation. 

During week one of the term 2, my extension english class had an excursion to the state library of NSW in order to understand and use the many great resources at the disposal of the State Library of NSW and I saw this as an awesome opportunity to kill two birds with one stone and complete both my extension english task as well as my modern history historical investigation, which overall, proved to be immensely successful. 

Through the excursion, I learnt how to use the cohesive databases such as AustLit and JSTOR in order to gain reliable and valid primary and secondary resources from historians, which have helped me develop a much more stronger foundation for the arguments that I will be arguing throughout my historical essay. Furthermore, the librarian had taught us how to effectively integrate historiography into our essays as well as how to reference them, which proved to be extremely helpful. 

Throughout the week, with immense research, the two perspectives I had once decided to undertake on my historical essay had evolved to take on a new shape, as new relevant information has allowed me to create a more stable and coherent argument for both sides. Overall, I felt that this week was extremely productive in receiving historiography as well as understanding the reputable resources of the NSW State Library to an optimal standard, and my visit to the library will certainly not be the last. 

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Blog Post 4: More Research(?) - 22.4.19 to 29.4.19

During the course of this week, I had decided to put my focus of my studies onto my other subjects such as English Extension I and Maths Advanced to ensure a balance amongst all of these subjects so I don’t fall behind. Additionally, I felt like I completed a substantially significant amount of research and analysis for my Modern History Investigation for Week One for the holidays and therefore, I would not fall behind too much. 

For the first week of Term 2, on Friday, Mr Wong and the rest of my Extension English I class will be going to the State Library of NSW to complete research for that particular subjects assessment task. Through Chris (Kane), I had received an idea to also complete some research for my Modern History Investigation since I am already at the place, and that it is a great way to kill two birds with one stone.  

After I had handed in my Historical Investigation Proposal to Mrs Watson, She provided my proposal with good feedback and said that it definitely was a solid start. However, some updates with some of the questions and rewording with the thesis was needed as she believed that they were not concise or very general. After analysis and taking in the feedback Mrs Watson had wrote, I actually agreed with what she had said and I had immediately fixed and updated my proposal to satisfy to ensure it is of an optimal standard. 

During the holidays, I had been working a lot, in particular on the double pay days, and as a result, Most of the day was spent on me doing my work either really early in the morning or really late at night to ensure that I am not falling behind on any of the research or homework assigned to me that I should complete during the holidays. However, after lots of blood, sweat, and definitely the tears, I had managed to finish all of the work thankfully. Overall, I felt that this week was somewhat productive in relation to my Modern History investigation - though I was able to do more research, the need for me to catch up with my other assessment tasks and homework for other subjects became more prevalent and therefore, I had slightly neglected my research task, however, work done in the previous week had satisfied the work requirements for this week.

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Blog Post 3 - Research! - 15.4.19 to 22.4.19

For this week specifically, I had decided on dedicating this entire week to research and to research only. I believed that this week was definitely the best to build a strong and stable foundation from where I can effectively stem my research from in order to answer my question to the most optimal standard possible. Overall, I felt I did a lot for this week even thought it felt very tiring and strenuous reading over a variety of articles and other resources/materials. Originally, Robert and I were going to go to the State Library of NSW for research for both of our historical investigations, however a death within my family had forced me to cancel those plans, and thus my only form of research has been in local libraries such as the Green Valley Library. Though this library has a variety of informational resources that can certainly aid me in my historical investigation, the resources are not as complex or reputable in comparison to those found in the State Library of NSW. However, to combat this problem, I received a library card and made an online account which has made it accessible for myself to attain e-resources from the State Library of NSW. 

Furthermore, I had updated my bibliography, which I thought was by far the MOST strenuous, tiring, and timely of all the things I have done and as a result, I have decided to just note down that resource each time I use it as a means to avoid this problem because I felt that this was definitely a waste of my time which I could have used on more valuable research. 

Overall, I felt that this week was somewhat valuable and productive to a certain extent. Though I was able to gather vast amounts of information and historiography for my historical investigation, family matters had certainly distracted my focus from the investigation. However, this variable could not be controlled and therefore, there was nothing for me to stop it and therefore, next week I will definitely need to compensate for some of the work I had missed out on this week. 

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Blog Post 2: Historical Proposal - 8.4.19 to 15.4.19

During the course of this entire week, I had put a major focus on the Meiji Restoration itself, the key individuals and groups during that period of time as well as the type of lifestyle of the people. By attaining contextual knowledge in regards to Japan, I was able to create a foundation for where to start my research from, which is the causes of the Meiji Restoration. This week I had also created my historical essay question that I will be researching into for this assessment task. Furthermore, I had consulted my research and my historical investigation question with Mrs Watson, who was completely satisfied with my question. 

During the formation of my question, I wanted to create a question that was open-ended and challenging, as I believed that a more complex question was needed to optimally apply myself to the assessment task. This week was used more as a planning week moreover a research week as I believe that the best research tasks and therefore, best final pieces occur with effective planning. I had chosen the places in which I would find the most credible and legitimate resources such as the NSW State Library and the school library for internet resources and hardcopy resources, respectively. Additionally, my visit to the NSW State Library for my Extension English I task in week one of term two will allow me to garner more insight into using the reputable library’s resources to the best extent possible. 

In all, I certainly believed that I had used this week to the best of my ability, in the circumstances of as there was definitely an overload in assessment tasks and homework, however, I was able to suffice. This week helped me to plan out and target all aspects of the assessment task. Furthermore, gaining a few resources that will help me gain a foundational knowledge on the Meiji Restoration can certainly kick-start my historical essay. Overall, I am very satisfied with the work I had completed during this week. 

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Blog Post 1: Introduction to the Task - 1.4.19 to 8.4.19

Mrs Watson handed and explained to us the outline and expectations of the second assessment task of this year. We had to decide as to what topic/direction we wanted to undertake regarding this assessment task. I decided on the Meiji Restoration as I felt this topic genuinely spoke out to me as something of interest, and amongst other topics in Modern History, I also felt this topic was the only one I would be willing to put significant periods of time into. Mrs Watson furthermore emphasised on the need to think of a question/historical direction we would be willing to research. 

Positives:  - Gained a strong understanding of the assessment task - Decided on the umbrella topic i.e. The Meiji Restoration as my topic of focus  - Gained some insight into the direction I wanted to undertake for the assessment task 

Negatives:  - Didn’t write down in the historical investigation booklet, which meant that I was unable to start of the my research  - During the weekend, was not really focused on the task, instead put more effort into other subjects that had assessment tasks coming up 

Overall, I felt that this week was definitely strong as I was able to definitely have a firm grip on the assessment task, and was certainly an impressive start on this historical investigation