1. British Social History technique tips:
Always:
1) Quote from the sources – you’ll lose loads of marks if you fail to reference the sources, after all it’s a source paper!
2) Explain how your quote helps you to answer the question.
3) Look at the italics at the bottom of the source (I often start here). You should really be able to tell what the source is about
just from this and this will help you to get the purpose of the source. Most of the marks are available for this. Eg. Emmeline
Pankhurst is hardly likely to be saying that violence isn’t working, is she?
Question
Type
Include Remember
What is
the
message…
Message – The cartoonist (or poster) is trying to tell us…
Source – This is shown by (reference something in the
cartoon/poster)
Context – Supporting info from your own knowledge
Message – The message of this cartoon/poster is…
Message – it’s worth most of the marks, reword it
at the end (say the same thing in a different way),
they’re always looking for a specific trigger
phrase.
Always reference the emotion that is being played
upon eg guilt (to be honest, its usually guilt!)
Why was
this
published
Purpose – This poster/cartoon was produced to….
Source – This is shown by….
Context – Support with your own knowledge…
Message – The poster/cartoon is saying….
The key difference between message and purpose
is that purpose is the action taken after seeing
the poster/cartoon.
Eg. The message could be join the army, the
purpose is to persuade (action) people to join the
army.
If in doubt, put persuade, it normally is!
How
reliable…
Do you
trust…..
Purpose – Consider who wrote it and why it was produced, this is
absolutely going to impact on the reliability of this source.
Quote – Make sure that you always quote from the source to
support your point (no more than 5 words).
Tone and Language – How is it written? How does this impact on
reliability? Eg. Emily Davison being describes as a “martyr” by
Emmeline Pankhurst is a clear example of bias (explain why!)
Context – What do you know that support your point. Conclusion
If you’ve got two sources to compare then make
sure that you deal with them both in detail.
You could do this by dealing with each separately
and then reaching a conclusion, or by pulling out
the key themes from each one.
How
useful….
Purpose – Consider who wrote it and why it was produced, this is
absolutely going to impact on the reliability of this source.
Quote – Make sure that you always quote from the source to
support your point (no more than 5 words).
Tone and Language – How is it written? How does this impact on
reliability? Eg. Emily Davison being describes as a “martyr” by
Emmeline Pankhurst is a clear example of bias (explain why!)
Context – What do you know that support your point. Conclusion
Remember that the difference between
usefulness and reliability is “useful for what?”
Eg. a piece of British propaganda is not reliable,
but could be useful in showing us how the British
sought to persuade people to sign up….
Are you
surprised…
Yes – explain why you are surprised (consider: purpose, tone and
language, context/own knowledge and remember to quote!)
No – explain why you are not surprised (consider: purpose, tone and
language, context/own knowledge and remember to quote)
Does x
prove y…
Purpose – Consider who wrote it and why it was produced, this is
absolutely going to impact on the reliability of this source.
Quote – Make sure that you always quote from the source to
support your point (no more than 5 words).
Tone and Language – How is it written? How does this impact on
reliability? Eg. Emily Davison being describes as a “martyr” by
Emmeline Pankhurst is a clear example of bias (explain why!)
Context – What do you know that support your point.
Does the purpose of each source prevent them
from agreeing? (or make it more likely for them
to agree?)
Does your own knowledge agree with the point
being made?
Question
6)
How far
for you
agree
You must explain how the sources agree and disagree with the
statement.
2 sources for each side is enough, don’t waste time.
Use exactly the same structure that we’ve discussed to evaluate
each source (purpose – would this impact on it
agreeing/disagreeing?, quote – how does it support, contradict,
tone and language and context.)
Reach a conclusion at the end – to what extent do the sources
agree? Compare them directly….
You’ve looked at the sources before, so just pick
out the key ones.
If there’s a source that hasn’t been used by the
other questions then it’s there for a reason, it
will be important.
Don’t forget to explain how each quote helps
you to answer the question!!