The 12 Mark "How Useful" Question: Asia (Q2) (AQA GCSE History)
Revision Note
Summary of Question Two
Question Two requires you to evaluate how useful two sources are for a historian about the topic 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 USA and the Vietnam War |
Sample 2 | Anti-Vietnam War protests in America |
Using the Content & 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 B:
Who | Martin Luther King, a Civil Rights leader |
|---|---|
What | A speech |
When | April 1968 |
Where | The USA |
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 Vietnam War might be biased or have inaccurate information. However, it tells historians about a government’s fears or problems during the 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 opposition towards the Vietnam War in America
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 should 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 opposition towards the Vietnam War in America?
[12 marks]
Source B: A poster advertising student protests across the United States from an unknown author in 1970. On May 4th 1970, students across the United States protested in response to Nixon’s bombing of Cambodia  |
Source C: Civil Rights leader Martin Luther King speaking in the USA in April 1968. "This confused war had played havoc with our domestic destinies. Despite feeble protestations to the contrary, the promises of the Great Society have been shot down on the battlefields of Vietnam. The pursuit of this widened war has narrowed the promised dimensions of the domestic welfare programs, making the poor … bear the heaviest burdens both at the front and at home." |
Answer:
Source B is very useful to a historian studying opposition to the Vietnam War in America due to the author and the source type. Between 1968 and 1970 war protests reached their height and the American student movement was the most powerful anti-war movement in America. Young Americans protested over the draft, moral corruption and violence in the Vietnam War. This poster was created to advertise a nationwide protest against Nixon's decision to invade Cambodia. During these protests at Kent State University, the National Guard troops opened fire on demonstrators and killed four students. This resulted in 400 colleges closing and 2 million students went on strike in protest. Therefore this source is useful as it represents the powerful student protest movement in America and shows a historian how people in America opposed the war in Vietnam.
Source C is also very useful to a historian due to the content of the source. Source C states that the war in Vietnam has affected the American people as it has made the poorest Americans suffer by neglecting the "promises of the Great Society". Due to the costs of the Vietnam War, Johnson’s Great Society was underfunded. The Vietnam War became associated with the issues of poverty in the United States as money needed for the Great Society was redirected towards the war. This is useful to a historian as it highlights the problems which the Vietnam War caused, but also that the cause of opposition was not only based on the war itself but the consequences that it was having at home.
Although these sources are very useful to a historian studying the American opposition to the Vietnam War, these sources are more useful together. These sources show that different sections of American society opposed the Vietnam War. Source B comes from an American student protest, whereas source C is a speech made by an African American, Martin Luther King. This is useful to a historian as it shows opposition towards the war did not come from one particular social group but from large sections of American society.
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