Embed Size (px)
Citation preview
Your guide to dealing with awkward questions in the exam
Name:
Teacher:
Tutor Set:
2
How to answer questions which ask for description
Typical Questions
1. Briefly describe the work of Hippocrates.
2. Describe the ways in which Greek and Roman medicine were similar.
3. Describe the problems facing surgeons in the early nineteenth century.
4. Describe the events of the Reichstag Fire?
5. Describe the aims of the Nazis in the early 1930s.
The Chief Examiner says...
REMEMBER you cannot get anywhere in History GCSE unless you have revised thoroughly.
You need to have detailed knowledge of the Medicine and Nazi Germany course before you
go into an exam. This is because the first objective is to remember of recall this
information. The first question on a paper one if often a describe question as you can see
from above. This is 5 easy marks.
The tip...
• Prepare revision cards for each person from medicine, each major discovery in medicine,
each of the major events in Nazi Germany 1919-1945
• It is important to read the question carefully. If you look at question 3 it asks for the
early 19th century, therefore you should be thinking about problems between 1800-
1840.
• Stick to the question, if it says to write about the events of the Reichstag fire, only
write about the events. Do not explain their importance!
• A good idea is to use part of the question in the answer. For example on question 1:
The work of Hippocrates consists of...
• You should aim write about a third of an A4 page for this type of question, anymore
would be a waste of time.
3
Task – Try marking the answers given below using the mark scheme
Describe the problems facing surgeons in the early nineteenth century.
Mark Scheme
1 mark for each valid example identified, 2-3 marks for any examples that are described or
explained.
Answer A
The main problem early 19th century surgeons faced was that their patients often died and
they did not understand why. There were no anaesthetics, so patients suffered in great
pain. Surgeons tried to reduce this by working fast: amputations were done in two or three
minutes. They did not know the dirty coats they wore, their dirty hands and instruments
were mainly responsible for causing the infections from which their patients died. Another
problem they faced was patients dying from blood loss. This was another reason why they
worked so fast, so as to get on with tying up the blood vessels.
MARK ______
Answer B
There was a very high death rate in early 19th century surgery. There were no good
anaesthetics, so patients suffered from terrible pain, which was sometimes enough to kill
them. They later died from infection which got into the wound because no care was taken
over hygiene in the operating theatre. Surgeons wore dirty coats and did not sterilise the
instruments they used. Patients also died from blood loss during the operation and there was
no effective method of blood transfusion. Surgeons tried to stop bleeding by tying up the
cut vessels but this was just another way infection could enter the body.
MARK _______
4
How to answer questions which ask for comprehension of sources
Typical Questions
1. Study Source A. What can an historian studying the Black Death learn
from this source? Use the source to explain your answer.
2. What can you learn from this source about medicine in Britain before the introduction
of the National Health Service? Use the source to explain your answer.
Top Tips
• Go beyond what you can see or read in the source. You need to make an inference. This
means what overall impression does the source give? For example in question 3, you are
being asked what impression of medicine do you get before the NHS.
Source: She would open and shut her purse waiting for the right moment to pay the half
crown (12.5p), she could hardly afford.
The inference that can be made is that medicine before the NHS was expensive.
• Make sure you always relate your inferences to medicine. This either means what they
think caused disease, how they cured it, or what services were available.
• You must say how you’ve reached your inference from the source. Therefore you should
quote from the source to support your answer. For example, ’I know this because in
source A it says....’
• Make sure you check which source or sources you need to refer to. If it says to refer
to source A, refer to source A. If you need to refer to 2 sources, refer to both
sources.
5
Task – Attempt the question below
Study Source A. What can an historian studying the Black Death learn from this source?
Use the source and your own knowledge to explain your answer.
6
How to answer questions which ask for comprehension of sources in context
These are similar to the previous comprehension questions in that they require to understand
hat a source tells us about a person or situation and then link it with knowledge you already
have which is relevant to the question.
Typical questions
Q1 What can you learn from source A about medical knowledge at the time? Use the source
and your knowledge to explain your answer.
Q2. Look at source A.
What can you learn about Greek medicine from this source? Use the source and your
knowledge to explain your answer.
Q3. What impression of Fleming does this source give? Use the source and your knowledge to
explain your answer.
Top tips
• Firstly study the source or sources – what does it tell you? Go through the same
process as you would looking for inferences as well as the obvious
• Secondly think about what else you know about the topic and include this in your answer
to show a better understanding of the source.
• Keep referring to the question and the source to keep your answer focussed.
• Do not write about usefulness or reliability in this type of question.
• Do not paraphrase the source: i.e. Don’t re-write it in your own words.
7
Task – Attempt the question below
Study Source A. What impression of Fleming does this source give? Use the source and
your own knowledge to explain your answer.
8
How to answer source comparison type questions
Once you understand how to answer the 3 previous types of questions, comparison questions
are straight forward and easy peasy!
Typical questions
Q1. Do you think that source B is more useful than source C?
Q2. Which source is more useful: source B or source C?
Q3. In what ways do sources B and C agree about …?
Q4. To what extend do sources A and B agree?
Top tips
• These questions fall into 2 types:
o Those who ask you to compare the value of 2 sources (this was dealt with in part 3.
Check that you understand)
o Those that wish you to look for similarities and differences. Which ever way the
question is worded YOU MUST LOOK FOR BOTH SIMILARITIES AND DIFFERENCES
OR AGREEMENT AND DISAGREEMENTS.
o Remember they may agree or disagree on facts, but also they may agree or disagree in
opinion or impression. Think about the type of language used. Is one more emotive than
the other?
• It is often useful to draw up a table.
Similarities / Agree Differences / Disagree
Use the information in the table to create a well-structured answer by:
o First writing about the points on which the sources agree
o Then write about the points on which they do not agree
9
o Finally write a short conclusion on the extent on which they agree
10
Task – Use the two sources below to answer the following question
To what extent does source H agree with source G about the work of Florence Nightingale?
SOURCE G: An account of Florence Nightingale’s work from a school text book written by John Robottom in 1991. By 1856 most people knew of Florence Nightingale’s work from the many pictures of the ‘Lady of the Lamp’. The pictures of the gentle lady with the lamp were only part of the truth, but they touched people’s imaginations. They sent the huge sum of £40 000 to the Nightingale Fund for training nurses. Back in England, Florence Nightingale spent three years advising the government on changes in army hospitals. Then in 1860 she chose St
Thomas’ Hospital for the first nurse-training school.
SOURCE H: An account of Florence Nightingale’s work in the Crimea, from the Oxford Children’s Encyclopaedia’, 1991. Florence Nightingale set sail in 1854 with 38 nurses. Within a month they had 5000 men to look after. Florence worked 20 hours a day to improve the nursing of ordinary soldiers. Every night she visited all the wards, and the soldiers loved her as ‘the lady with the lamp’. Her story was published in newspapers back home and she became a national heroine. £45 000 was collected from the public for her to spend as she saw fit. In 1860 she spent it on the Nightingale training school for
nurses at St Thomas’s hospital, London.
11
How to answer questions about reliability
You are guaranteed to get this type of question in Paper 2. This question is asking
whether you trust what the source is telling you. There are 2 ways to test this:
against other sources on the paper and against your own knowledge.
Typical questions
Q1. Does source G provide reliable evidence that people were cured in Asclepions?
Explain your answer.
Q2. Do you think this source is completely reliable about the impact of the Black
Death? Use the source and your knowledge to explain your answer.
Q3. How reliable is this source as evidence about medical care in English monasteries
in the Middle Ages? Use the source and your own knowledge to explain your answer.
Top tips
• Always look at the provenance. This is the information at the bottom of the
source.
• You must think about who wrote it, when it was written and why it was written.
This should give you an idea of whether it is biased. If it is biased, you must
explain why.
• If the source is biased you must decide how much this affect its reliability.
REMEMBER a source is never completely reliable or unreliable.
• You must also cross reference the source or sources to other sources on the
paper. Is there another source on the paper which backs up what the original
source says?
For example, source A is reliable because it says … and this is backed up by
source B which also says...
• You can also cross reference to the background knowledge at the beginning of
the paper and your own knowledge.
• NB: You can pick up bonus points on other questions by mentioning reliability and
cross referencing.
12
Task – Attempt the question below
Study Source B. How reliable is this source as evidence about medical care in English
monasteries in the Middle Ages? Use the source and your own knowledge to explain your
answer.
13
How to answer questions about the usefulness of sources
You are guaranteed to get this type of question in Paper 2. This question is asking
whether you can use the information from this source
Typical questions
Q1. Study source A. How useful is this source to an historian studying Fleming? Use
the sources and your own knowledge to explain your answer.
Q2. Study source B. How useful is this account of the French occupation of the Ruhr?
Use the sources and your own knowledge to explain your answer.
Q3. Study source F. “These 3 illustrations are about medical care in a nunnery, so they
are of no value to an historian studying medical care in monasteries.” Do you agree?
Use the sources and your own knowledge to explain your answer.
Top tips
• Usefulness/Value of sources can only be decided when you know
what the historian wants to use the source for. Once you know the
question being asked you need to make two lists.
What are the uses of this source to
answer the question?
What are the problems of using this
source to answer that question?
• Before you think about the content you need to think about reliability again.
Once you’ve decided whether it’s reliable or not then you can comment on its
usefulness.
• Even if a source is unreliable it will still be useful, even if it is only useful in
telling you one person’s opinion of event.
14
• You should always make a value judgment using phrases like “Source A is very
useful BECAUSE…”, “Source A is quite useful BECAUSE…”, “Source A is not very
useful BECAUSE…”
Task – Attempt the question below
Study source B. How useful is this account of the French occupation of the Ruhr? Use the
sources and your own knowledge to explain your answer.
15
How to answer “does this source prove?” type questions
Typical questions
Q1. Does source B prove that they had a better understanding of the Black Death
than the people mentioned in source D? Use the sources and your knowledge to explain
your answer.
Q2. Does source E prove that Fleming did not deserve the credit for penicillin? Use
the sources and your knowledge to explain your answer.
Top tips
• NO IT DOES NOT. Under no circumstances does a source ever completely
prove anything.
• First compare with other sources on the paper. Find one source which agrees
and one which disagree with the statement or the targeted source? Use the
information within the sources to explain how they agree or disagree.
• Look at the provenance of the source (Who wrote it, when and why?). Think
about how reliable it might be. Remember you can also use the tips you have
learnt about how to answer a reliability question.
• You must write a concluding sentence saying whether you believe it does or does
not.
16
Task – Attempt the question below
Study Source D. Does this source prove that the people of Oxfordshire had a better
understanding of the Black Death than the people of Derbyshire? Use the source and your
knowledge to explain your answer.
17
How to answer “are you surprised?” questions
Typical questions
Q1. Are you surprised by what this source tells us? Use the source and your knowledge to
explain your answer.
Q2. Are you surprised by what is shown in this source? Use the source and your knowledge to
explain your answer.
Top tips
• If in doubt, NO YOU ARE NOT SURPRISED. You just need to figure out why you’re not
surprised and explain it. It is absolutely vital that you at least give reasons why you are
not surprised using your knowledge of the time.
• However, to be sure getting top marks in a question like this, it’s best to give reasons
why you are AND are not surprised.
• Start a reason why you are surprised. Look carefully at the source and think back to your
own knowledge. Is there anything in the source that you wouldn’t expect to be happening
at that time?
• Now you need to come up with a reason why you are not surprised. What is happening in
the source that fits with what you know about the time? Explain this clearly.
18
Task – Attempt the question below
Study Source A. Are you surprised by what this source tells us? Use the source and your
knowledge to explain your answer.
19
How to answer a “why was this source published / written?” question
Typical questions
Q1. Why do you think this cartoon was published in early 1948? Use the source and your own
knowledge to explain your answer.
Top Tips
• Most of these questions will be asked about cartoons, but you may occasionally get
asked a question like this on a piece of writing.
• Most importantly, when you answer this type of question you must always refer
back to the details of the source. Refer to a part of the picture or use a quote
to show you have not ignored the source.
• If you are stuck look at the provenance (the bit underneath/above the source which
tells you what it is, who wrote it and where it came from). This will help you.
• The question is trying to get you to explain what the artist or writer was thinking
about when they produced the source. What was their motive?
• Start by looking at the details of the source. What is it about? What issues were
around then? For example with the Treaty of Versailles most Germans disliked it.
• Then look for the message of the cartoon. A lot of cartoons around Jenner’s time
were published as a protest against the smallpox vaccination. Therefore the message
was the smallpox vaccination was bad.
• For top marks, you must decide what the author or artist was trying to do. How were
they trying to influence your view? What was the purpose of the cartoon? For
example the film poster of the Eternal Jew was trying to turn people in Germany
against the Jews.
• Finally make sure you put the source in context. Explain anti Jewish propaganda was
normal in Nazi Germany during the 1930s due to Hitler’s anti-Semitic policies.
20
Task – Attempt the question below
Study Source B. Why do you think this cartoon was published in early 1948? Use the source
and your own knowledge to explain your answer.
21
How to answer questions that ask you to interpret
These questions are usually the last to be asked on Paper 2 and carry the most marks.
Therefore you should spend more time on these; about 20 minutes.
These questions ask you to explain or make a judgement about the past. You will
usually be asked to use all the sources and your own knowledge.
Typical questions
Q1. Study all the sources.
“Fleming’s importance has been exaggerated.”
How far do the sources on this paper support this view? Use the sources and your
knowledge to explain your answer. Remember to identify the sources you use.
Q2. Study all the sources.
“In the nineteenth century people accepted that cholera was spread by drinking
contaminated water.”
How far do the sources on the sources on this paper support this view? Use the
sources and your knowledge to explain your answer. Remember to identify the sources
you use.
Top tips
• First of all you need to plan by drawing up a table to show the sources that do
support and those that don’t support the statement.
Support Don’t support
• Underline in one colour points on the sources that support the view in the
question.
• Underline in another colour points from the sources that disagree with the view
in the question.
• Now from your own knowledge can you add any additional information that
support or disagree.
22
• To write a good answer you must:
o Write an opening paragraph which refers to the questions and suggests your
opinions
o Write a paragraph explaining which sources agree or support the statement.
Remember to refer to information in the sources and refer to the sources by
name (e.g. source A agrees because it says…)
o Write a paragraph explain which sources disagree or do not support the
statement. Remember to refer to information in the sources and refer to the
sources by name (e.g. source A agrees because it says…)
o Write a closing paragraph which sums up your opinion.
