ss skills

1. 1. Question
- key words
- requirement
2. Caption
- context
- provenance
3. Source
- note the source type
- understand the source
- infer (tone/purpose)
- use contents as evidences
4. Cross-reference
- contextual knowledge &
background
- check reliability
- refute/corroborate
source
Click on the flower to go to the link

2. Source E: British soldier and
Catholic children. The Falls,
Northern Ireland, 1987
What must you do?
What is the Q asking?
Highlight the key & instruction
words.
Study Source E.
Does Source E prove that all
members of the British army
are on good terms with the
Catholics in Northern
Ireland?
Explain your answer.
Note the claim that is being tested
Select relevant evidence from the
source and show how it supports or
does not support the claim
Check against some specific info
drawn from your own knowledge to
further test the claim
Reach a conclusion based on the
findings

3. Source A: A view expressed by a
British Cabinet Minister in his
diary a few days after the British
Army was sent into Northern
Ireland
I don’t think we can get the Army out
of Northern Ireland at all easily now
that they gone into Belfast……
What clues can
you get from
this?
He is a British
so he might
side the
Protestant
What clues can
you get from
this?
A diary is
something
personal –
personal
thoughts
What clues
can you get
from this?
He is a
Cabinet
Minister so
does this
represent the
Government’s
view?
What clues
can you get
from this?
Was there a
change after
that?

4. What is CONTEXT?
It may refer to:
The time frame in which the text was written,
The audience for whom the text was intended,
The political and social events that may have been occuring
while the text was being written.
Why is it important to note the
CONTEXT of a source?
The context of the writing can determine:
An author’s view point and intentions, and
The reasons for certain interpretations as opposed to others.

5. What is
PROVENANCE?
It refers to the origin/source. The
following are some questions one
can ask with regards to provenance:
Who is the creator/author of
the source?
When was the source
produced?
Where was the source
produced?
Whom was it created for?
The author’s relationship with the
person/event he is describing; explain
why it is biased, his purpose; source
reliability
How long after the event was it
produced; affect reliability
Explain its intended audience, impact
and purpose
The target audience, explain purpose
Why is it important to note
these PROVENANCE
details?

6. What is TONE?
Way of wording or expressing things that shows a certain
attitude/feeling.
Why is it important to note the
TONE of a source?
The tone of the writing can help determine:
An author’s view point and intentions, and
The reasons for certain interpretations as opposed to others.

7. How does one detect
TONE of a source?
Choice of words (the use of emotive words/loaded words)
What words are stressed or repeated?
Descriptive phrases (adjectives)
Casual, personal, friendly, positive, celebratory, happy,
warm, encouraging, neutral, etc, official/formal, threatening,
hostile
Tense, negative, embittered, sad, cold, unfeeling, angry,
harsh, biased, vindictive, authoritative, arrogant,
disapproving etc

8. What is PURPOSE?
It refers to what one plans to get or do
Intention/plan/aim; the reason for something
How does one detect the purpose of a source?
Note the background of the author i.e.his relationship with
the person/event he is describing
Note the audience at which is directed at
Note where the source was published

9. What words can I use to describe the
purpose of a source?
Encourage, influence, persuade, convince, appeal or
instigate its readers to do something e.g to agree with his
views or take up certain action
To promote something/to seek support for something
Evoke emotional response, e.g. to arouse anger, to gain
sympathy, to ridicule
Express certain views/personal thoughts
Inform/educate its readers about something

10. What is CROSS REFERENCE?
It is a process of checking the reliability of a specific aspect
of a source by comparing it either
a) against what another source says, or
b) against one’s own knowledge
For cross-reference to work, it must be clear:
What exactly is being checked i.e. The specific aspect/claim in the
given source that is being checked
That there is an indication of doubt, hence the need to check the
claim i.e.the reliability of a specific aspect/claim in the source is
being tested
What exactly it is being checked against i.e. something in another
source, or some specific item of factual knowledge to test the
claim

11. What is CONTEXTUAL KNOWLEDGE?
Information candidates know about an issue topic
Information acquired from the textbook
What is BACKGROUND KNOWLEDGE?
Information provided in a decontextualised/contextualised
case study
Information to introduce/provide more information about the
case study

12. What is the Role of CONTEXTUAL
KNOWLEDGE in source study?
To interpret source – to understand what they are saying.
To make use of the information given about the provenance
of the source – to work out the purpose, audience, etc.
To evaluate the source (either by testing what it says against
CK or by using the information about the provenance)
To extrapolate from the source e.g. about purpose, effect,
consequences, provenance, audience, etc.