The document provides guidance on answering exam questions about the usefulness of a historical source. It explains that examiners are looking for an assessment of how useful the source is that references the source's provenance (nature, origin, purpose) and/or content and uses own knowledge. Higher levels require explaining the purpose or limitations of the source and justifying the assessment of usefulness. The key is to explain how provenance helps assess the source's usefulness.

1. Exam Technique: PAPER 2 Question: How useful is source A to a historian studying…….? (9) Use source A and your own knowledge

2. What is the Examiner looking for? You are being asked to think about the provenance ( N ature, O rigin & P urpose) of the source and its content to assess HOW useful it is to a historian.

3. MARK SCHEME L1 – Includes NOP or the content of the source to make a simple statement about how useful the source is. (1-2) L2 – The Origin/ Limitations /Content of the source are used to explain how useful the source is. (3-5) L3 – The Purpose (MOTIVE) or content of the source is used to explain why the source is useful by using own knowledge. (6-7) THE EXAMINER MUST SEE HOW USEFUL YOU THINK THE SOURCE IS! L4 – Same as level 3 BUT an in depth use of knowledge is used to explain and justify the choice of how useful the source is. (8-9)

4. N ature: What is it? (Letter, propaganda, poster, cartoon, diary, British school textbook) O rigin: Who wrote it? Where did it come from? Context : What was going on at the time (Eye witness Vs Hindsight?) P urpose: What was the motive of the Author (Why was it produced?) The KEY : Explain HOW the provenance (NOP) helps you to assess how useful the source is.

5. technique The source is useful because of its content … (QUOTE) This is useful because it helps us to understand… The source is useful because of its origin … this is useful because it helps us to understand… (LEVEL 2) When I look at the purpose of this source I notice that … and this is useful because it helps us to understand … (LEVEL 3) Although there are some limitations it is still useful because…

6. 1. How useful is Source A to a historian studying the attitude of the German people towards Hitler in the year in which he became Chancellor? (9 marks) A poster saying: 'Yes Leader, we are following you.' 1933 The source is useful because of its origin . I know from my own knowledge that 1933 was the year that Hitler gained total power in Germany. This is useful because it shows that many people at the time had a positive attitude of Hitler and actually think: ‘Yes Leader, we are following you’. The people who voted for Hitler gave him 44% of the votes in the election. This made him Chancellor and therefore the Leader of Germany.

7. When I look at the purpose of the source I can tell that it was a propaganda poster designed to try and persuade people to believe in or do something. I think this is useful because it helps us to understand how the Nazis wanted Hitler to look. They used propaganda to make people believe certain things about the Hitler. However, the fact that it is propaganda makes me question its usefulness. As I have already said 44% of the population voted for him therefore the majority of people did not agree with the statement in the poster that they (the German people) were ‘following him’ . Overall, although the source has its uses I don’t think that it is very useful for understanding the people’s attitudes towards Hitler during the year in which he became Chancellor. The purpose of the poster was to portray Hitler as the ‘people’s Leader’, I know from my own knowledge that this was not entirely true