answering core question
DESCRIPTION
modern history year 11 and 12TRANSCRIPT
Approaching the Core QuestionBy
Ken Webb
World War I Questions
• A key revision tip – you do not need to know a lot about the war
• Multiple choice based on sources• Two 4/5 mark questions testing your own
knowledge• Source analysis question on usefulness and
reliability• The postcard method of revision
World War I – Questions 1-8 (1)
• Multiple choice questions– Not easy!– Read carefully/ focus/ check the source/ implied
knowledge– BUT: don’t agonise – How long? About a minute each– NB: You will be asked for the “best response”
The four marker
Often phrased as follows:• “Briefly outline the impact of total war on civilians in Britain.”
Use Source A and Source B and your own knowledge to answer the question.
• “Briefly outline the changing attitudes of the men at the front towards the war.”Use your own knowledge and Sources A and B to answer this question.
• Briefly outline the development of stalemate on the Western Front by the end of 1914.Use your own knowledge and Sources A and B to answer this question.
World War I – Questions 1-8 (2) The four marker
• Timing: four marks, 7-8 minutes• Paragraphs? No marks for structure• Be certain to refer to BOTH sources
– Specific reference!
• OWN information!• Show the marker you understand the question• How much do you write?
• Integrate your answer– “Source A shows that….. This can also be seen by
(your own information)..”– “Source B shows that… This is further
highlighted by the fact that….”
4 mark Question
Provide specific information to supportthe argument – avoid
waffle!
Evidence from thesource
Your information
Refer directlyto sources Be specific
The five marker
Often phrased as follows:• Explain the impact that conditions on the Western Front had on
men who were fighting.Use Sources C and D and your own information to answer this question.
• Explain the variety of attitudes held by civilians in Britain and Germany.Use your own knowledge and Sources C and D to answer this question.
• Explain the significance of the US entry into WWI.Use your own knowledge and Sources C and D to answer this question.
World War I – Questions 1-8 (3) The five marker
• Timing: four marks, 8-9 minutes• Paragraphs? No marks for structure• However: provide an opening sentence which answers
the question• Be certain to refer to BOTH sources
– Specific reference!
• OWN information• Show the marker you understand the question• How much do you write?
• Integrate your answer– Topic sentence that gives the argument– “Source A shows that….. This can also be seen by
(your own information)..”– “Source B shows that… This is further
highlighted by the fact that….”
5 mark Question
Opening sentence(s)Give the argument
ie answer the question
No reference tosources of facts
here
Provide specific information to supportthe argument – avoid
waffle!
Evidence from thesource
Your information
Brief conclusion
Refer directlyto sources Be specific
Question 9 style questions
Every question is the same:• Assess how useful Sources E and F would be for a
historian studying British and German propaganda in World War I.In your answer, consider the perspective provided by the TWO sources and the reliability of EACH source.
• How useful would Sources E and F be to an historian studying the impact of the war on women’s lives and experiences in Britain.In your response, consider the perspective provided by BOTH sources and the reliability of EACH source.
Answering Question 9 of the Core
• No introductory paragraph needed– If you have to, if your teacher has told you to….
• Treat each source separately• Analysis of each source requires a discussion of:
– Nature– Reliability– Usefulness
• No need for a conclusion
AnalysingSource E
Nature of the SourcePrimary or secondaryWhat is it?
- provenance
Reliability
UsefulnessContent What is the source actually telling us?
perspective
author
motive
audience
context
Timing: hindsight,Eyewitness?
Style of presentation
A host of other factors
Reliability (1): Motive
• Simply informing?• Recollecting?• Trying to convince/ arguing a case?• Propaganda?• Transmitting key information?• Justification of one’s actions?
Reliability (2): Audience
• For public consumption?• A private communication?• Official document?• A secret communication?• A personal document?• For no-one but the writer?
Reliability (3): Sources
• Who is the writer? Does he/ she matter?• Authority figure?• Eye-witness?• A person with great access to sources?• A person with limited access to sources?
Reliability (4): Timing
• At the time of the event being considered – significance?
• Shortly after?• A significant time after?• A memoire?
Reliability (5): Style of presentation
• Consider the language:– Emotional?– Detached?– Manipulative?
• Is it propaganda or factual?• Content of the source:– Are there obvious exclusions?– What is the significance of the inclusions?
Reliability (6): Context
• Timing – significance?• Location – significance?• Corroborative sources – Be willing to use other knowledge here
A few points to note on using sources (1)
• Just because it is a primary source, does not mean that it is reliable
• Just because it is a primary source, does not mean it is better than a secondary source
• Just because the writer is ‘German’, writing about Germany, does not mean that he or she is biased
• A source may be unreliable but still may be very useful
A few points to note on using sources (2)
• What if it is an internet site?
Internetsource
What is the address? Who produced it? Why?
Last date of access?Evidence of updating?
Then, deal with what isin the site
A few points to note on using sources (3)
• What if it is a secondary source produced long after the event?
Secondary SourceEmotional
detachment
Hindsight
Critical audience
Access to sources
Usefulness
USEFULNESS
The content of the source
What is the source actually
telling us?
Relate it to the questions
Dip into the source and extract specific information from the source
Source A: Extract from a speech given on General Ludendorff’s behalf to the Reichstag,
2 October 1918
• The losses of the currently raging battle are as stated, unexpectedly great, especially of officers. This is decisive…The enemy is in a position to make good his losses with American help. The American troops as such are not of special value, let alone superior to ours. Their importance lies in the fact that they are able to take over lengthy stretches of the front, thereby enabling the English to disengage their own battle-tried divisions and to provide almost inexhaustible reserves for themselves.
Source B: Extract from a letter sent by Sergeant Cecil Cole to his sweetheart Elsie, May 1917
• We’ve had another bad week, the Huns have used gas again. I don’t think Charlie Braddock will last. But we’re all feeling much better now. You must have heard the great news, the Americans are coming into the war. We’re all very excited, just think of it, millions of new Yankee troops joining us. This can’t go on much longer now, not with the Americans on our side. I bet Fritz is must be thinking it’s all over for him. Don’t worry about me, I’ve kept my head down for three years, and it won’t be much longer now….
Source D: Extract from “A History of Germany: 1815-1985” (by W Carr, published 1987)
• The gamble in the west had failed. Germany did not possess the necessary superiority in manpower to exploit the initial breakthrough (of spring 1918). The Supreme Command had chosen to keep one and a half million men in the east controlling, directly or indirectly, vast territories from the Baltic to the Crimea…Meanwhile American reinforcements arrived more quickly than Ludendorff bargained for…
Punch Magazine, August 1914
The use of women
Photographs
• What does it show?• Where and when?• Why was the picture
taken?• Posing?• Typical of what is going
on at the time?
Cartoons
• Identify elements of the cartoon
• Assemble background facts
• Identifiable symbols?• Any bias?• Message of the cartoon?• Evaluate a response:
– Effective?– Accurate?– Degree of impact?