<p>I'm taking Honors US History right now and am stugguling when it comes to studying for tests. We usually cover a ton of information before a test (less than we did last year in World History) and I pretty much just find myself memorizing every little tidbit. Does anyone have any tips on different methods of studying where I would be able to look at the greater perspective of things than just knowing every little fact because I am finding that my method is not working as well as I want it to. Any advice would be appreciated. Thanks!</p>
<p>well, although a subject like history may seem concrete, it actually is very open-ended. i think a good method would be to try to immerse yourself in whatever era you're covering. try to make it interesting, exciting, and fun. for a subject like history, i don't think it's <em>too</em> hard. try to think of the events as part of a novel or movie.</p>
<p>I completely agree with the previous post. I make little sections of history in to a kind of movie in my head. This makes it much easier to first put in chronological order and keep the characters straight, then you can learn the smaller facts about a situation.</p>
<p>I usually group things into significant groups (Like Civil War>Causes>Effects, etc). It's not formal, like memorizing every single point or reason, but you should try to group information together instead of seeing history as a million disjointed facts and dates.</p>
<p>Also, I would recommend you get the REA U.S. History book and review the relevant chapters before a test. It's the best review book I've found and it reinforces what we've learned in class.</p>
<p>I've never done either one. I think the best perspective is possibly just reading the general overview before skimming over the small details. Maybe get one of those history review books and read that. Then, just skim over the non-major points. </p>
<p>**Another thing that might help is creating a LOOSE outline. Force yourself to fit the whole event on one line on a looseleaf paper before jotting down maybe five words that jot your memory concerning small events that you might read about in the textbook. I find that to be the most successful in terms of when there is a large amount of material. By limiting yourself to a certain amount, you'll stop taking in insignificant details and start taking in the big picture. </p>
<p>Just another tip, the most important question in history is Why? not When?</p>