The 8 Mark "Write a Narrative Account" Question (Edexcel GCSE History)

Summary of Question 2

• Question 2 requires you to explain the sequence or connections of the event or period in the question

• You also need to create an 'analytical narrative' which explains how one event caused another to occur

• You must write about each stage of the narrative in chronological order

• 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 from the American West: 

The importance of chronology

• Chronology is the ability to place events in time order

• For this question in the American West exam, chronology is important

  • You can only achieve a maximum of two marks if the events in your narrative account are not written in chronological order

  • Events that are not in the correct time order cannot be linked together to create a correct, analytical narrative

  • You will not be awarded any marks for using knowledge before or after the stated period of time in the question

• To help, the exam provides you with two stimulus points

  • The stimulus points are sometimes given with dates

  • If not, the stimulus points are arranged in time order

  • You need to add an event either before, between or after the events in the stimulus box to access the full marks for the question

    • If you only use the two stimulus points, you can only achieve a maximum of four marks

How to Explain Sequencing and Linkage 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 Battle of the Little Big Horn happened before the passing of the Dawes Act

• 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  

Linkage  

• A linkage in history refers to the connections between events or issues

  • For the example question, the extermination of the buffalo links to the Dawes Act

• Linkage allows 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 

• Linkages can be written at any point in your answer 

• Planning your answer will make it easier to make linkages

How to answer a "Write a narrative account" question

• Your answer should consist of: 

  • An organisation of three events into chronological order

  • Specific and relevant knowledge of each event in the narrative account

  • An explanation of how each event connects to the next

• Before you write the question ensure that you have the following:

  • Good knowledge of the three events that you are using in the narrative account

    • You can use the two stimulus points in your narrative account and select an additional event

    • If you do not know the stimulus points, you are allowed to use your own knowledge. You will not be limited in marks if you do not use the stimulus points

  • A clear understanding of how each event links together

    • This will allow you to achieve the analytical narrative that the examiner is looking for

• To create successful linkages for American West, you should consider, where appropriate, if the event:

  • Increased or decreased migration to the West

  • Increased or decreased the settlement of the West

  • Improved or damaged relations with the Indigenous peoples (Plains Indians)

• 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 and linkages of events, not a story

"Write a narrative account" question structure

• Your answers could be written using CHRONOLINK

  • CHRONO - Put the sequence of events in chronological order

  • LINK - Connect each section of the narrative to the next event that occurred. You should use linkage terms such as: 'as a consequence', 'this led to' or 'because.'

• To achieve full marks, you should aim to write about three events in the narrative account

  • These events can be organised into a paragraph per event or one continuous paragraph

• The question is out of 8 marks

  • 4 marks for knowledge (K) 

  • 4 marks for your analysis of the second-order concepts of causes, consequences and/or changes (SOC) 

Worked example of a "Write a narrative account" question