The 8 Mark "Write an Account" Question: The Gulf & Afghanistan (Q3) (AQA GCSE History)
Revision Note
Written by: Zoe Wade
Reviewed by: Bridgette Barrett
Summary of Question Three
Question Three requires you to explain the sequence or connections of the event or issue outlined
You also need to analyse how the event or issue impacted a wider development in the course
For the wider world depth study, this question will focus on cause and consequence
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:
Year of Exam | Question Topic |
|---|---|
2018 | The 11th September attacks led to an international crisis in 2001 |
2019 | The actions of the Taliban in Afghanistan led to opposition in the West, 1996 to 2001 |
2020 | |
2021 | No paper available |
2022 | |
Sample 1 | Saddam Hussein’s occupation of Kuwait became an international crisis in 1991 |
Sample 2 | The difficulties faced by weapons inspectors in Iraq became an international crisis in 2002 and 2003 |
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 actions of the Taliban in Afghanistan was Sharia Law
The consequences are the other dominos that fall
For the example question, a consequence of the actions of the Taliban in Afghanistan was the 9/11 attacks
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 tensions in the Gulf was disagreements over oil prices
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, a cause of tension in Afghanistan was the presence of US troops which lasted until 2010
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 the Iraq War affected the Shia, the Kurds and the Sunni communities in different ways
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 wider 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 demonstrate cause and/or consequence
E- Explain the question
Focus on the key demands of the questions
Include a complex explanation showing your understanding of 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 causes and consequences
Worked Example of a “Write an Account” Question
Worked Example
Write an account of how the actions of the Taliban in Afghanistan led to opposition in the West, 1996 to 2001.
[8 marks]
Answer:
One way the actions of the Taliban in Afghanistan led to opposition in the West was the enforcement of Sharia law. Sharia law is an Islamic legal system based on the Quran. It acts as a code of conduct for modern Muslims to adhere to. From 1996 to 2001, the Taliban created a strict version of Sharia law. This ranged from banning music to punishments such as public stonings, whippings and hangings. Consequently, the West opposed the Taliban as their interpretation of Sharia law was considered an extreme abuse of Afghan people’s human rights. It caused so much international outrage that many Western countries did not legally or politically recognise the Taliban regime as the rightful leader of Afghanistan. Therefore, the Taliban’s use of Sharia law caused significant political opposition from the West.
Another way the actions of the Taliban caused Western opposition was the Taliban’s support of jihadi groups. Jihad is the Islamic concept of a holy war, with an extreme version being the right to defend Islam using force if necessary. Groups like al-Queda and jihadi leaders such as Osama bin Laden and Ayman al-Zawahiri received special treatment in Afghanistan. They were given areas to create al-Qaeda training bases. As a result, this angered the West as jihadi groups targeted the West in terrorist attacks such as attempts to sink a US ship the USS Cole in Yemen in 2000 and eventually the 9/11 attacks. Therefore, Western countries believed Afghanistan was a threat to world peace and just as bad as the jihadi groups that they were protecting.
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