Hi,
How would you approach the first extended response question in section 1 of the modern paper? It's the question that asks you to incorporate two sources and your own knowledge to a "to what extent" question.
I'm really unsure how to approach this
thankyou in advance
Hey! Do you mean the source analysis question marked out of 10 or the 5-8 marker?
If you mean the source analysis marked out of 10 (even if you don't I might as well answer that anyway because it'll probs still be useful to someone - if you meant the 5-8 marker let me know and I'll type up an answer for that too
) first of all you are defs not the only person unsure about how to approach this (the state average totters at 4.5/10... yikes - and that is in the final HSC exam!) so please don't be discouraged
Unfortunately a lot of teachers forget that even though you have been taught how to do a source analysis in junior history, the structure of a modern history is actually quite different/strict!
When it comes to approaching this section, just remember that the question is NOT asking you to content drop all of your knowledge on event or syllabus dot point (the question usually centers around one), that is for the 5-8 marker (though of course with judgements!). It is instead asking you to analyse the usefulness of the sources in regards to
perspective and
reliability - these need to be your focus, not whatever event or issue is at the end of the question.
This is a really easy structure to follow (forget the acronyms they're dumb) that I know works for at least 99% of questions (basically I never came across a question where I couldn't use this, to the extent whereby since this structure was ingrained, source analysis was kinda an autopilot moment in exams where my brain could relax - crazy right I know but you'll get there
)
1. Judgement on how Source A (remember to deal with them separately) is useful. This is not whether the source is useful or not, but how useful, so remember to include buzzwords such as highly/partially/etc.
2. Explanation of your judgement (try if you can to link to perspective + reliability)
3. BRIEF explanation of content. Don't go on for too long, just one or two sentences to let the marker know that you know what the content is about (eg. for the 2016 question you'd write a bit on what the WAAC was etc).
4.
PERSPECTIVE (make sure to underline). 1-2 sentences on the perspective of the source. Who wrote it, why did they write it, who did they write it for etc etc. Make sure to go beyond just "British perspective" or "German perspective." Be specific.
5.
RELIABILITY (make sure to underline). This should be the longest part of your response. Make a judgement upon how reliable it is, and remember the buzzwords (I just answer a question specifically on how to approach reliability so I'll link that thread (have a read of the other stuff on there as well cos it's A+!)
Re: Source Analysis Tips and Tricks to get a Band 6 instead of retyping everything again
6. Restate your judgement on usefulness, relating back to how the perspective + reliability demonstrate this.
7. OPTIONAL - if you have time, it's nice to include a short sentence suggesting any other sources that might fill in any gaps that Source A had.
8. REPEAT STEPS 1-7 for Source B
9. OPTIONAL - if you have time, it's nice to include a couple of sentences on how the two sources corroborate/enhance the usefulness of each other.
Doing well in this section really comes down to practice. So many people neglect this section because it's the "easier" section (plus a lot of ppl find it the most boring), but remember that this is the only section where your response are marked in comparison with literally all 10,000+ other modern students in NSW, so you want to stand out
Feel free to submit any practice responses you do and we can check over them to see if you're on the right track
A lot of other helpful stuff can be found in the various boards here so I defs recommend having a little explore round
I hope this helped! If you are confused with anything let me know and I'll try to clear it up!
- Susie