11 replies to this topic

[NikkiTikki99]

Hi,
As you probabely well know, i and many people are going to be taking the History B Unit 2: 20th Century Depth Studies exam on Friday and...yeah not a problem with that.

BUT i have no idea how to structure the answers!!

Unit 1 was fine because i could see past papers and there were lots of information about it, but ABSOLUTELY nothing about unit 2, not even past papers to familiarise myself with it. Also there was no information about Race Relations either!

So now i'm worrying. =[

Could somebody help me to structure an answer mainly for these topics:

• The Roaring Twenties: USA, 1919-29
  
• Depression and the New Deal: the USA, 1929-41
  
• Race Relations in the USA, 1955-68

And help on Race Relations in the USA


Thanks!!!

[MrJohnDClare]

Don't worry - this is something we can help with fairly easily.
I'm assuming you are doing AQA - if you are not you MUST ignore what I am about to say and tell us which Board you are doing!

Anyway on the AQA paper 2, you will face the following questions:
Paper Two, Section A, will probably include the following kinds of question:

• Inference from a source
  
• ‘Explain how’
  
• A ‘Utility’ (usefulness) sourcework question

Paper Two, Section B, will probably include the following kinds of question:

• Detailed factual recall (‘describe’)
  
• Analysis and explanation (‘Do you agree’ with a suggestion)

As I have done for another Paper, the next few posts will tell you how to do each question.

[MrJohnDClare]

Inference (4 marks - 7 minutes)

You will get aquestion which asks you something like: What does this source suggest about the government of Nicholas II in Russia?



• You get up to TWO marks by extracting surface statements explicit in the source.
• You get up to TWO further marks by identifying inferences in the source

NOTE that the question specifies a topic (in this case 'about the government of Nicholas II); if you give facts or inferences about things that arenot to do with Nicholas II's government - even if they are true in the source - you will not be credited.

So:


PROVIDE two explicit ‘surface statements’ about the government of Nicholas II,
then
ADD two or three inferences about the government of Nicholas II.

[MrJohnDClare]

Explain how (6 marks - 10 minutes)


You will get a question which asks you something like: ‘Explain why the Bolsheviks grew in popularity between March and November 1917.’


To get full marks you will need to:

•Cite a number of REASONS for the stated result (two good or 3 'OK' ones should be enough)
•EXPLAIN (with relevant facts) HOW the reason produced the result.



NOTE that you MUST make sure that you know what result you are trying to explain; many pupils explain the wrong thing!

So:

Write a paragraph for each reason, remembering for each paragraph to:
- SUGGEST a reason for the Bolsheviks growing popularity
- PROVIDE a fact to go with it, then
- EXPLAIN HOW it made the Bolsheviks more popular, using the word ‘so’.

[MrJohnDClare]

Utility (usefulness) of a source (10 marks - 17 minutes)

You will get a question which asks you something like: How useful is Source B for studying the success of Red Army in the Russian Civil War?


To get full marks you will need to evaluate the usefulness of the source addressing:

•How useful is the CONTENT?
•How useful is the PROVENANCE?



Note that the number of marks you get depends on how fully you explain your ideas, and prove them with facts!

So:
- write a section explaining (including facts from their own knowledge) whether the source’s ‘content’ seems useful (what does it tell us, and fail to tell us).

- write a section explaining (including facts from their own knowledge) whether the source’s ‘provenance’ is reliable (is this a 'good' source, or a useless one).

- finished with a conclusion, giving and explaining a ‘telling’ point.

[MrJohnDClare]

Description using a source (8 marks - 15 minutes)

You will get a question which gives you a source (e.g. an old photo) and then asks something like: Use Source G and your knowledge to describe Stalin’s Great Terror

The marks come like this:

• One or two marks (at most) for your ‘description’ of the source.
• Up to six more marks for ‘detailed description of several aspects’.


Note that 'detailed' means facts, dates, names, specialised terms … you really need to put just everything you can remember for your revision factsheet.


So:

Write your essay, remembering to:
DESCRIBE the source, pointing out what it tells, and doesn’t tell us,
then
WRITE everything you know about Stalin’s Great Terror from your own knowledge – including specific details on at least TWO aspects of the Terror.

[MrJohnDClare]

Analysis and explanation; ‘Do you agree’ with a statement - (12 marks - 20 minutes)


You will get a question which asks you something like: ‘Life got better for people in Hitler’s Germany.’ Do you agree? Explain your answer.
Note that it makes a statement and asks you if you agree


You get:

• Up to three marks for basic description/factual knowledge.

• You can score three more marks for identifying (and describing) relevant points, for or against the suggestion.
• You can earn a further four marks if you explain how the points you are making are for or against the case.


• And finally, you will score full marks if you organise your explained points into a ‘for-against-judgement’ argument.


NOTE that this essay uses two skills you know already because you have used them in other questions - describe and explain.
You have to use both skills within a 'On the one hand ... on the other' essay structure.


So:


1. Write a section arguing FOR the case – describe what happened and explain HOW this seems to prove the case;
then
2. Write a section arguing AGAINST the case – describe what happened and explain HOW this seems to DISprove the case;
and finally
3. Finish with a paragraph which makes a decision which directly answers the question.What is the ‘telling point’ – explain why.

[NikkiTikki99]

- finished with a conclusion, giving and explaining a ‘telling’ point.

Could you explain what this means please.
What i have read is great so far =] Really great help

[NikkiTikki99]

Thank you very much for this. It really helped me out for what my teacher didn't tell me.
Cheers!
Do you know anything about race relations in the USA?? <---- Most confusing out of all of them!

Thanks.

[MrJohnDClare]

I'm sorry I don't have a revision section on this on my site.
Actually, however, i think it's one of the easier sections to learn - it's mainly about knowing the different stories of the events of the civil rights movement:

7. Race Relations in the USA 1955–1968

Key issue: To what extent did racial inequality exist in the USA in the 1950s?

• Segregation laws; attitudes in the Southern States; the Ku Klux Klan
  
• Rosa Parks and the Montgomery Bus Boycott, 1955–1956
  
• Brown versus Topeka Board of Education
  
• Little Rock High School,1957
  
• Living standards for African Americans.

Key issue: How effective were the methods used by members of the Civil Rights Movement between 1961–1968?

• The Freedom Rides, 1961; Freedom Marches 1963
  
• The Washington March, 1963
  
• Black Power protests at the Mexico Olympics, 1968
  
• The Black Power movement in the 1960s.

Key issue: How important was Martin Luther King in the fight for Civil Rights in the USA?

• His role as a protest organiser, 1955–1963
  
• The Civil Rights Act, 1964
  
• Winning the Nobel Peace Prize, 1964
  
• Race Riots, 1965–1967
  
• The assassination of Martin Luther King.

[MrJohnDClare]

- finished with a conclusion, giving and explaining a ‘telling’ point.

Could you explain what this means please.
What i have read is great so far =] Really great help

Yes
Where you are asked what you think in an either-or essay, you must not just put the two sides or it looks as though you cannot make your mind up.
You MUST finish by coming down on one side or the other (or find a third solution); 'a bit of both' is not accepted.

Where you do come down on one side, you must explain WHY you chose that side, and the best way to do this is to cite a 'telling fact' - i.e. the most important fact which was so significant it overruled all the other facts.

[NikkiTikki99]

Thank you very much, I feel much more confident in the exam now!!