The 12 Mark "How Useful" Question: East & West (Q2) (AQA GCSE History)
Revision Note
Written by: Natasha Smith
Reviewed by: Bridgette Barrett
Summary of Question Two
Question Two requires you to evaluate how useful two sources are for a historian about the issue outlined
You should:
Refer to the content and provenance of the sources
Include knowledge that is relevant to the source
Make a judgement on how useful the source is for the given issue in the question
Amount of marks | 12 |
|---|---|
The time that you should spend on the question | No more than 20 minutes 5 minutes of planning 15 minutes of writing |
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:
Year of Exam | Question Topic |
|---|---|
2018 | |
2019 | |
2020 | |
2021 | |
2022 | |
Sample 1 | The Marshall Plan |
Sample 2 | The threat posed by Cuba |
Using the Content and Provenance of a Source
A historical source is made up of two sections:
The provenance
The content
Provenance
Provenance is the background information of a source
The provenance can be found at the top of each source
The provenance usually tells you
Who created the source
What type of source it is, for example, a newspaper article
When the source was made
Where the source was created
For the example question, here is a breakdown of the provenance of Source C:
Who | Joseph Stalin, leader of the USSR |
|---|---|
What | An interview with Soviet News, a Soviet newspaper |
When | 1947 |
Where | Published in the USSR |
In this question, you should use the provenance of the source to:
Help you explain the usefulness of a source
Content
The content is the information presented in the source
The content could be a variety of different types of sources such as:
A picture
A photograph
An extract from a book
A speech
A political cartoon
A letter
In this question, you should use the content of the source to:
Help you explain the usefulness of the source
Making judgements in a 12 Mark “How Useful” Question
The 12-mark "How Useful” question requires you to make a judgement
The common mistakes that students make when making a judgement are:
Not giving a clear judgement. Students do this by:
Explaining that neither of the sources is useful to a historian
Failing to decide how useful the sources are
Not addressing the sources together
Using language in their answer which is not decisive e.g. “kind of” or “maybe”
Focusing on reliability rather than how useful the source is. Students do this by:
Not making any judgement about the source’s usefulness
Stating that, because the source is unreliable, the source is not useful to a historian
All sources are useful for a historian but not all sources are reliable
Unreliable sources can be very useful. For example, a propaganda poster from the Soviet Union might be biased or have inaccurate information. However, it tells historians about the Soviet Union’s fears or problems during the Cold War
Good judgements will:
Specific content from the sources
The source’s provenance
Your knowledge of the time period
This will help you to see if the source is accurate or typical for the period
Good judgements will also keep going back to the focus of the question
For the example question, you must only talk about how useful the sources are for the relations between the West and East between 1945 and 1947
Your judgement does not need to include limitations and you can receive full marks without one
Students’ responses are often given higher marks if they only focus on the source's strengths. This is because the question wants you to pick parts of the source that are useful
However, if you include a limitation you will be credited, you must make sure the limitation is:
Supported by knowledge
Focused on the question
Relevant to your answer
Unlike the 8-mark "How Useful" questions, to achieve full marks you need to make a complex evaluation of the sources together by addressing them in combination or as a pair
The best place to do this is in your conclusion at the end of your answer
Historical sources are always more useful together as they may show
A change in perspective over time
How different people viewed an event or person in history
How an event or person affected different people in the same country or place
“How Useful” Question Structure
You need two paragraphs, one for each source, and a conclusion
Your answer could be written in PEE paragraphs
P- Make a point about the question
Make it clear how useful the source is
Use the source to make an inference about the issue in the question
E- Use information from the source and knowledge to support the point you have made
Your knowledge should be specific
Focus on the content and provenance of the source
E- Explain why this shows that the source is useful
Focus on the given issue in the question
For top marks, your judgement about the source’s usefulness will combine the content of the source, the provenance of the source and your own knowledge of the issue in the question
To achieve full marks, you need to repeat this twice, a paragraph for each source
For the 12-mark "How Useful" question, you need a conclusion
Your conclusion should:
Include both of the sources
Address how the sources are more useful together
Be brief
Worked Example of a "How Useful" Question
Worked Example
How useful are sources B and C to a historian studying the relations between the West and East between 1945 and 1947?
[12 marks]
Source B: A cartoon published in the USA in 1947 by J.N. (Ding) Darling. The figures on the left represent the USA, Britain and France.  "Ding" Darling Wildlife Society owns the copyright of "Ding" Darling cartoons. |
Source C: Joseph Stalin discussed post-war international relations with a Soviet newspaper called the Soviet News, in 1947. The article focused on Churchill’s "Iron Curtain" speech made on March 5th in the presence of President Truman. "The following circumstances should not be forgotten. The Germans made their invasion of the USSR through Finland, Poland and Romania. The Germans were able to make their invasion through these countries ... So what can there be surprising about the fact that the Soviet Union, anxious for its future safety, is trying to see to it that governments loyal in their attitude to the Soviet Union should exist in these countries? How can anyone, who has not taken leave of his wits, describe these peaceful aspirations of the Soviet Union as expansionist tendencies on the part of our State?" |
Answer:
Source B is very useful to a historian studying the relations between the West and the East as it demonstrates the West's response to the actions of the USSR. Source B shows Britain, France, the USA and the United Nations attempting to pull up the "Iron Curtain". By 1946, there was a division in Europe. However, the West were still open to improving relations through a non-aggressive route despite the USSR's actions in Eastern Europe. Source B shows the USA were prepared to follow the policy of containment as the UN was lifting the curtain and not the US military because the USA rejected a policy of rollback which would have been more aggressive. Therefore, this source is very useful to a historian studying the relationship between the East and West because it shows the beginning of the policy of containment which shaped America's attitude towards the East for the majority of the Cold War.
Source C is relatively useful to a historian studying the relations between the East and the West because it outlines the motivation behind the USSR's actions. Source C article is based on an interview with Joseph Stalin, the leader of the USSR, who explains why the USSR created the "Iron Curtain". The source states that the USSR was "anxious for its future safety", the USSR created a Soviet buffer zone in Europe by establishing communist governments in Poland, Romania, Albania, Bulgaria and Hungary in 1946. Therefore, this source is useful to a historian because it shows that relations between the East and West were so poor that the USSR felt the need to create a buffer zone to prevent future invasion.
Although these sources are useful to a historian they are more useful together because they were created by authors from the West and the East who display the fears that these groups of people have of each other. This is useful to a historian because it explains why relations between the two countries are becoming worse.
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