The 8 Mark "Write an Account" Question: Norman England (Q3) (AQA GCSE History)

Summary of Question Three

• Question Three requires you to explain one of the following about the given event, issue or development shown in the question

  • Sequence 

  • Connections 

  • The causes and consequences 

• You also need to analyse how the event, development or issue impacted a wider development in the course

• An example of the type of question you may encounter can be seen below:

• In previous years, this question has focused on the following topics in Norman history:

How to Explain Sequencing and Connections in GCSE History

Sequencing 

• A sequence in history refers to a set of events, issues or developments that followed each other in a particular order

  • For the example question, the pope's support of William I occurred before and encouraged William's invasion of England

• A sequence of events could:

  • Happen over a short or long period of time 

  • Stretch over multiple events 

  • Have negative and positive impacts 

• When explaining sequencing you need to be careful not to write a story 

  • You could write PEE paragraphs to help prevent you from doing this 

Connections  

• A connection in history refers to the links between events or issues

  • For the example question, the exile of Anselm linked to the pope's threat to excommunicate Henry I

• Connections allow historians to: 

  • Demonstrate their understanding of events, issues and development within a historical period 

  • Compare historical events 

  • Explain the causes and consequences of an event 

  • Explain the wider developments of a period 

• Connections can be written at any point in your answer 

• Planning your answer will make it easier to make connections 

How to Explain Cause & Consequence 

• Cause and consequence is a second-order concept

• Causes and consequences are like falling dominos

  • The causes are what push the dominos over

    • For the example question, a cause of William I's good relations with the Pope was the restoration of the Peter's Pence tax

  • The consequences are the other dominos that fall

    • For the example question. a consequence of William I's good relations with the pope was the increased legitimacy of his rule in England

• Cause and consequence can be directly linked and can be used to help explain the relationship between events, issues or developments 

Cause

• A cause in history is usually something that resulted in an event or issue to happen

  • For example, a cause of the succession crisis in 1066 was Edward the Confessor not having a male heir

• There can be multiple causes of a single event

  • Some can be short-term and long-term 

• A cause does not always have to be something which happened before the event or issue happened 

  • For example, one of the causes of the development of motte and bailey castles was the ongoing threat of attack from Anglo-Saxon rebels

Consequence 

• A consequence in history is something which has happened in response to the cause 

• Consequences can be:

  • Different for different groups of people 

    • E.g. the consequences of Norman rule on society affected villeins differently to wealthy, Norman lords

  • Short and long-term 

  • Both positive and negative 

• When explaining cause and consequences you may want to use causation connectives such as:

  • Due to 

  • As a result

  • Consequently

• For the British depth study, you may want to revise key events by organising them into cause and consequence, as it will help you to answer this question 

“Write an Account” Question Structure

• Your answer should consist of: 

  • Specific and relevant knowledge 

  • A demonstration of the cause and consequence of the event or issue

  • An explanation of how the event or issue mentioned in the question impacted the wider development of the topic

• Your answers could be written in PEE paragraphs: 

  • P- Make a point about the question

  • E- Include knowledge to support the point you have made

    • Focused on the group or development mentioned in the question 

    • Show knowledge to help demonstrate sequencing, connections, cause and/or consequence

  • E- Explain the question

    • Focus on the key demands of the questions 

    • Include a complex explanation showing your understanding of  sequencing, connections, cause and/or consequence

• To achieve full marks, you need to repeat this twice

• It is tempting in this question to write your answer like a story, do not do this 

  • The question is asking you to explain the sequence, connections, cause and/or consequence of the event, issue or development, not a story

Worked Example of a “Write an Account” Question