The 8 Mark "Explain the Significance" Question: Migration, Empires & the People (Q2) (AQA GCSE History)

Summary of Question Two

• Question Two requires you to identify and explain the significance of a key event, development, person or group at the time and over time

• This question will require you to use second-order concepts in your answer

• 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 Migration, Empires and the People:

How to Explain Significance

• Significance is a key second-order concept in history

• Second-order concepts allow you to:

  • Understand history 

  • Have a complex explanation 

• Significance is decided using hindsight

  • Modern historians look at a time period and decide which events or people:

    • Created new ideas

    • Directly changed events at the time

    • Impacted a significant amount of people

    • Had important long-term impacts that can be seen today

  • For the example question, the Vikings have been selected as a significant group because of their impact on the development of a united England

• To understand significance, try to visualise the events and people of a period as a set of falling dominoes

  • A significant event, development or person is a domino which changes the direction of all of the dominos that come after it

• Historical significance is often:

  • Subjective

    • Each historian brings their own opinion on what events or people are important

  • Debatable

    • Historians use different evidence to come to their own conclusions about how important an event or a person was in history

• Imagine the set of dominos again

  • A significant development, event or person is a domino that, if taken out of the sequence, stops other dominoes from falling

    • This shows that the development, event or person is vital for causing the events of the period

  • An insignificant development, event or person is a domino that, if taken out of the sequence, does not stop the dominoes from falling

    • This shows that development, event or person did not significantly impact the events of the period

How to Answer an “Explain the Significance of” Question

• When answering an "Explain the Significance of" question you need to: 

  • Read the question carefully 

  • Include specific and relevant knowledge 

    • For the example question, the significant person that you need own knowledge about is the actions of the Vikings towards Britain

  • Explain how the event, development, person or group impacted the time period

    • In Britain: Migration, Empires & the People: c790 to the Present Day course, these could include

      • Conflicts like the Boer War

      • Individuals like Henry II

      • Empires such as the Norman Kingdom

      • Ideas like colonisation

      • Institutions such as the East India Company

• To access Level 4 (7-8 marks), explain that:

  • Significance can change over time

  • A person’s background and experiences affect how they view how significant an event is

“Explain the Significance of” Question Structure

• Your answer should consist of: 

  • Specific relevant knowledge 

  • Complex explanations showing:

    • How a development, event or person impacted the time period 

    • How significance changes over time or due to a person’s background

• 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 development, person or event mentioned in the question 

    • Show knowledge to demonstrate significance

  • E- Explain the question

    • Focus on the key demands of the questions 

    • Include a complex explanation showing your understanding of significance

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

Worked Example of a “Explain the Significance” Question

Explain the significance of the Vikings to the development of Britain

[8 marks]

Answer:

The Vikings were significant to Britain's development because they changed how Britain was governed. The Vikings settled in large areas of eastern and northern England. When the Vikings settled in Britain, they brought Scandinavian customs and laws with them. In England, this was called the Danelaw. This was significant because it caused conflict between Vikings and Anglo-Saxons which resulted in England becoming one kingdom. Therefore, the influence of the Vikings created the united England that we know today.

The Vikings were also significant for developing Britain because they improved England’s economy. The Vikings had established trade networks across Europe and the Mediterranean. The presence of Vikings brought England increased trade links with areas as far away as North Africa and Constantinople. This was significant because it allowed England to grow economically and culturally. It was the first step towards a multicultural society that exists today in modern-day Britain.