How to score well in class X History Board exam

Mention history and most students give a loud groan – remembering the timeline of historical events can be a daunting task. While it is not necessary to write the year of the event, mentioning the same in the Board exam leaves a good impression on the examiner; he knows that the student has thoroughly read the chapters and this gives the student an edge.

Is remembering the timeline as tough as it looks? According to Smita Sharma, a Social Science teacher at Apeejay School, Pitampura, who teaches classes X, XI, and XII, there is a simple trick to learning the year.

“The students must make a list of the timeline. For example: Start the timeline from Nationalism in India and mark the dates. Most teachers will begin with landmark timelines like 1885: Formation of Indian National Congress till India’s Independence. With this, I dictate one-line statements. For 1916: Lucknow Pact; 1916-19: Crucial years for Mahatma Gandhi and local interventions. This helps the students to memorise short answer questions along with the dates.” Sharma explained.

Tackle the easy part first

Just like Geography, History too has map work. “Students will be given the political outline map of India and asked to mark certain things on the same. But unlike Geography where the Central Board of Secondary Education (CBSE) has listed map work for each chapter, in History, this is the easiest part. The CBSE has given the chapter – Nationalism in India – and from here they have listed 10 things that the student must know,” Sharma said.

Preparation tips for class X Board exam chapter-wise

Till last year, there were only four chapters in History, but for academic 2022-23, the CBSE has added a chapter – The Making of a Global World. Given that this chapter has been recently added, it makes it just as important as the other four,” Sharma said and lists important topics from the chapter.

1.       The Rise of Nationalism in Europe: In this chapter, the important topics are: Picture questions – Frederic Sorrieu, a French artist. Or the questions can be around how the French were able to create an idea of a nation among its people or the Civil Code of 1804. A question can be on the relationship between nationalism and imperialism. There can be a question on the Liberals and Frankfurt Parliament or even a question on the unification of Italy, Germany, and Great Britain.

2.       Nationalism in India: In this chapter, students were familiar with the topics when they were in class VIII. If they remember that, tackling this chapter will be easier. This chapter is an extension of the previous chapter. Satyagraha, Rowlatt Act (1919). Make a mind map – Rowlatt Act followed by Satyagraha and then Jallianwal Bagh Massacre; this was the time when WWI came to an end. It was also the year when the Khilafat Movement began and the Non-Cooperation Movement.

“Students while studying Non-Cooperation Movement must be a little careful. Under the Non-Cooperation Movement, the people who participated were those from towns, cities, countryside, plantation workers, and tribals. In the Civil Disobedience Movement, people who participated were the rich, the poor, industrialists, and workers, those who didn’t participate were the Dalits and Muslims,” Sharma said. She added that students must study from the latest edition of the NCERT History book and not the older version since the Quit India Movement is not there in the older books. “It is a topic that has been added this year,” Sharma said.

3.       The Making of a Global World: Important topics include India and the Great Depression – inter-war economy; Rinderpest (an acute viral disease of cattle) is another subtopic not to be missed out. The Bretton Woods Agreement that led to the creation of the International Monetary Fund is a must-read. This chapter is important since competency-based questions can be asked from here.

4.       The Age of Industrialization: The previous years’ question papers show that most of the 3 and 5-mark questions come from this chapter. The chapter is divided into two: Britain and India. Students should not make a mistake on whether this question is about weavers (India) or workers (Britain). A question commonly asked is: How were the British able to convince Indians to buy their product in India? The CBSE can ask application-based questions from this chapter.

5.       Print Culture and the Modern World: Topics to study are: When did print start, when it came to India, who brought it, what was the first newspaper in India, and the first book to be printed to name a few.

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 Students must study from the latest edition of the NCERT History book and not the older version since the Quit India Movement is not there in the older books

–Smita Sharma, Social Science teacher, Apeejay School, Pitampura

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Format of the questions paper

Section 1: Multiple Choice Questions: First 13 can be from Geography, History, and Political Science and the rest is from Economics based on previous years’ question papers. Students must only spend 25 minutes on this section. All sections will have questions from all four subjects.

Section 2: (2 marks): If the student doesn’t know the answer don’t waste time; go to the next one can come back to this one later.

Section 3: (3 marks): This will have short answer questions, in all five questions. Students should not spend more than 35 minutes in this section.

Section 4: (5 marks). In most cases, students will be given either/or options. A mistake students make is that they attempt this section like they did 3-mark questions. Students must have a different approach here.

Section 5: Case-based questions. This section is the most scoring since the answers are within the passage. All the sub-parts must be attempted. Section 6: Map work – Geography (3 marks) and History (2 marks).