O-Level Social Studies — Question Formats Cheat Sheet

O-Level Social Studies — Question Formats Cheat Sheet 1 ⃣ INFERENCE Spot it by: ● General → "What can you tell/learn from this source?" ● With focus → "What can we learn from this source about ___?" ● Message → "What is the message of the source?" ● Attitude → "What is the attitude of [author] towards ___?" Format (3 steps): Step What to do 1. Copy question phrasing "I can tell…" / "I can learn that ___ is…" / "The message is…" / "The attitude is…" 2. Evidence Source A states, "……" 3. Explain This shows that… ⚠ Message Qs → must cover the whole source (read entire text, or describe entire picture/cartoon) ⚠ Attitude Qs → MUST name the attitude (positive / supportive / negative / critical / mocking) 2 ⃣ PURPOSE ("Why…?") Spot it by: "Why do you think this poster was produced?" / "Why did he make this speech?" Method: PAMEO (one paragraph) Letter Meaning Notes

P – Purpose verb convince / criticise A – Audience specific group, NOT "people" e.g. Singaporeans, the government M – Message main message (inference) do NOT lift words from source E – Evidence quote or describe Source A states, "…" O – Outcome visible action wanted ❌ NOT understand/trust/feel/believe Sentence template: This poster was produced to [PURPOSE VERB] ___ [AUDIENCE] that ___ [MESSAGE] . Source __ states ___ [EVIDENCE] . This poster was produced so that [AUDIENCE] would ___ [OUTCOME] . 3 ⃣ COMPARISON Spot the question type first: Question wording What's needed How similar/different / To what extent 1 similarity + 1 difference In what ways different? 2 differences In what ways similar? 2 similarities ➤ Similarity (one paragraph) 1. Common criteria 2. Source A evidence (+ explain if needed) 3. Source B evidence (+ explain if needed) Sources __ and __ are similar in showing that ___ [COMMON CRITERIA] . Source __ states that, " " [EVIDENCE A]. SIMILARLY, Source __ states that, " " [EVIDENCE B] . ➤ Difference (one paragraph)

1. Common criteria 2. Inference (Source A) 3. Inference (Source B) — must be DIRECTLY OPPOSITE 4. Evidence (Source A) 5. Evidence (Source B) Sources __ and __ are different in showing whether ___ [COMMON CRITERIA] . Source __ shows that ___ [INFERENCE A] . IN CONTRAST, Source __ shows that ___ [INFERENCE B] . Source __ states that, " " [EVIDENCE A]. IN CONTRAST, Source __ states that, " " [EVIDENCE B] . 📌 Always copy the question phrasing (e.g. "similar in…" / "agree in…") 📌 If evidence doesn't clearly match the criteria → add an