The 8 Mark "Write an Account" Question: Restoration England (Q3) (AQA GCSE History)
Revision Note
Written by: Natasha Smith
Reviewed by: Bridgette Barrett
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
Amount of marks | 8 |
|---|---|
The time that you should spend on the question | No more than 10 minutes |
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 Restoration England:
Year | Question Topic |
|---|---|
2018 | |
2019 | The growth of trade and British colonies during the Restoration period |
2020 | |
2021 | How the conflict with the Dutch affected Restoration England |
2022 | |
Sample 1 | How the Great Plague affected Restoration England |
Sample 2 | How the English Civil War and Commonwealth affected the Restoration of the monarchy |
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 fire at Pudding Land occurred before the rebuilding of St Paul's Cathedral
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 expense of the rebuilding of London was connected to the Second Anglo-Dutch War
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 the Great Fire of London was the fire at Pudding Land
The consequences are the other dominos that fall
For the example question. a consequence of the Great Fire of London was the loss of the Anglo-Dutch War
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 Second Anglo-Dutch War was the rivalry of England and the Netherlands over colonies and trade
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, the increase of new colonies in the New World happened because of Charles II’s desire to continue to make money and to continue to gain influence and power in this region
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 building of the Royal Observatory in Greenwich resulted in the creation of two of the fasted clocks ever made
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
Worked Example
Write an account of how the Great Fire of London affected Restoration England.
[8 marks]
Answer:
The Great Fire of London affected Restoration England as it destroyed London. The Great Fire of London started at a bakery on Pudding Lane on the 2nd of September 1666. The fire lasted for approximately five days and spread throughout the city quickly as a result of the hot summer, strong winds and very dry thatched roofing on London homes. The Great Fire of London affected England as blockades were set up to slow the fire and buildings were demolished to create a firebreak. Despite the precautions to protect the city, 13,000 buildings were destroyed, therefore London took 50 years to rebuild.
The Great Fire of London affected Restoration England economically. The rebuilding of London was expensive as buildings including St Paul’s Cathedral were damaged in the fire. The rebuilding was not only expensive, due to the rebuilding of large and expensive buildings like Christopher Wren’s St Paul’s Cathedral, but Britain in the middle of the Second Anglo-Dutch War. Therefore, the Great Fire of London affected Restoration Britain because the economic blow left England vulnerable. As a result, Britain lost the Anglo-Dutch war and Charles II dismissed Lord Clarendon from his parliament, paving the way for the Cabal’s rise to power and the Third Anglo-Dutch War.
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