1. AQA (B) GCSE Modern World History
Unit 1 Part 1 Lesson 1
Answering the
‘Describe …’ question
Hodder Education Revision Lessons
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2. AQA (B) GCSE Modern World History
Unit 1 Part 1 Lesson 1
Principles
Your friend asks you where you went for your
holidays.
How do you answer?
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3. AQA (B) GCSE Modern World History
Unit 1 Part 1 Lesson 1
Principles
You will almost certainly start by giving a
broad opening statement, such as:
‘Aw – I just went to the seaside with my parents.’
Or:
‘Weyhey! We went to Florida!!!!’
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4. AQA (B) GCSE Modern World History
Unit 1 Part 1 Lesson 1
Principles
Then, if your friend seems at all interested, you
will go on to tell him some of the boring details …
(how your father got arrested, how your sister
got eaten by a shark, etc.)
After two or three such anecdotes, your friend is
beginning to yawn, and you shut up.
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5. AQA (B) GCSE Modern World History
Unit 1 Part 1 Lesson 1
You answer the ‘Describe …’ question
in much the same way!
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6. AQA (B) GCSE Modern World History
Unit 1 Part 1 Lesson 1
You are going to get a question which asks you to
describe an issue or an event, for example:
‘German foreign policy is sometimes blamed
for causing the First World War. Describe
Wilhelm II’s policy of Weltpolitik.’
Note that the first sentence is just ‘prompt information’ to
jog your memory – the real question is the second part,
which tells you what to describe.
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7. AQA (B) GCSE Modern World History
Unit 1 Part 1 Lesson 1
The mark scheme says that this is how you are
going to earn the 4 marks for this question:
• 1 mark for a ‘basic description’
• up to 3 more marks for ‘detailed description of
different aspects’.
Note that the mark scheme says you need to give ‘at least
two’ specific details to earn full marks … so try to give
three!
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8. AQA (B) GCSE Modern World History
Unit 1 Part 1 Lesson 1
You are advised to spend
7 minutes maximum
on this question.
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9. AQA (B) GCSE Modern World History
Unit 1 Part 1 Lesson 1
So, let’s begin …
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10. AQA (B) GCSE Modern World History
Unit 1 Part 1 Lesson 1
Start by giving a ‘basic description’:
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11. AQA (B) GCSE Modern World History
Unit 1 Part 1 Lesson 1
Start by giving a ‘basic description’:
(from the fact sheet)
Weltpolitik (meaning ‘world politics’) was Wilhelm
II’s
aggressive, expansionist foreign policy.
This will give you the basic first 1 mark.
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12. AQA (B) GCSE Modern World History
Unit 1 Part 1 Lesson 1
And then you add the two or three ‘details’:
Weltpolitik (meaning ‘world politics’) was Wilhelm
II’s aggressive, expansionist foreign policy.
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13. AQA (B) GCSE Modern World History
Unit 1 Part 1 Lesson 1
And then you add the two or three ‘details’:
(these can include general background context)
Weltpolitik (meaning ‘world politics’) was Wilhelm
II’s aggressive, expansionist foreign policy.
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14. AQA (B) GCSE Modern World History
Unit 1 Part 1 Lesson 1
And then you add the two or three ‘details’:
(for example …)
Weltpolitik (meaning ‘world politics’) was Wilhelm
II’s aggressive, expansionist foreign policy.
Many Germans wanted a strong German-dominated
central European state ( ‘Mitteleuropa’).
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15. AQA (B) GCSE Modern World History
Unit 1 Part 1 Lesson 1
And then you add the two or three ‘details’:
(but you must also include specific facts …)
Weltpolitik (meaning ‘world politics’) was Wilhelm
II’s aggressive, expansionist foreign policy.
Many Germans wanted a strong German-dominated
central European state ( ‘Mitteleuropa’).
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16. AQA (B) GCSE Modern World History
Unit 1 Part 1 Lesson 1
And then you add the two or three ‘details’:
(for example …)
Weltpolitik (meaning ‘world politics’) was Wilhelm
II’s aggressive, expansionist foreign policy.
Many Germans wanted a strong German-dominated
central European state ( ‘Mitteleuropa’).
In 1898 he ordered Admiral Tirpitz to build up a
strong
German navy.
In 1901 he publicly demanded ‘a place in the sun ’
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for

17. AQA (B) GCSE Modern World History
Unit 1 Part 1 Lesson 1
So your final answer looks like this:
Weltpolitik (meaning ‘world politics’) was Wilhelm
II’s aggressive, expansionist foreign policy.
Many Germans wanted a strong German-dominated
central European state ( ‘Mitteleuropa’).
In 1898 he ordered Admiral Tirpitz to build up a
strong German navy.
In 1901 he publicly demanded ‘a place in the sun ’ for
Germany.
And this will earn you the full 4 marks.
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18. AQA (B) GCSE Modern World History
Unit 1 Part 1 Lesson 1
So …
Write your essay, remembering to:
•provide a sentence giving a ‘basic description’
and:
• add two or three ‘details’ – including perhaps
background context, but certainly specific
facts.
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19. AQA (B) GCSE Modern World History
Unit 1 Part 1 Lesson 1
Peer-assess each other’s essays. Did they:
• provide a sentence giving a ‘basic description’?
• add two or three ‘details’ – including perhaps
background context, but certainly specific
facts?
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