History Social Studies Answering Technique

History & Social Studies: Answering Technique Questions / ​ Parallels ​ / ​ Main Ideas Notes Message State the Answering Format for Message questions ● What must the message be linked to? Example Questions: ● What is the message of this source? (5m) ● How far does Source A support that idea that….? ● Why do you think the author of source A says that...? Format: ​ AAAMO + CA P: Author + Action + Audience + Message E: Quote and Interpret source 1 - 2 times E: Context ➝ Anticipated Outcome L: Link to Message ● Action: ​ Verb ​ e.g. Condemn, Criticise, Mock, Praise ● Message: Base off the ​ SBQ issue ○ The main guiding question at start of paper ● Context: Based off Date ○ Memorise a ​ Timeline of important events ​ for History SBQs ○ Explain how the Context motivated the Author to express his Message Inference Example Questions ● What can you infer about…? Format: PEEL ● P: Use Adjective ○ I can infer that Obama is the persona of a reptilian overlord Comparison

How many similarities/differences should one find in comparison questions? What are the 2 best factors for comparison? Example Questions: ● How similar are sources B and C? ● How far does source B support/agree with source C? Format: 1. Both paragraphs are similar/different as… PEEL 2. Both paragraphs are different as… PEEL ● Best to have 1 Similarity and 1 Difference ● Compare Based on ○ Content ○ Motive: Message, Action, Audience, Reaction (can use message format too) ○ Message (see above) ○ Attitude ○ Perspective ■ Optimally: 1 Content + 1 Message Comparison Reliability/Utility State the 3 factors to analyse in Reliability Questions Example Questions: ● Does source A prove that…? ○ In this context “prove” does not mean “show to be true”, but “provide evidence in support of” ● Is source A reliable in saying....? ● Is source A useful for saying...:? Format 1. Content: What does the Author say about the issue in contention? a. E.g: Source A proves that the Earth is Flat as Neil Degrasse Tyson highlights the non-existence of the Earth’s curvature + PEEL 2. Contextual Knowledge/Cross-Referencing a. History: Use Contextual Knowledge b. Social Studies: Use Cross-Referencing i. Ensure that the reference source is Reliable ii. Best to use ​ Background Information ​ at Beginning c. Format: However, source A is unreliable/reliable as it is contradicted by my contextual knowledge about...which refutes the source’s claim that...Thus, (Link) 3. Provenance: Motive, Tone, Enhanced Reliability a. Motive: However, source A is unreliable as it has an ulterior motive of (MARC). Thus as the source has an ulterior motive, (author) would be likely to twist the facts to….Thus the source is unreliable. b. Enhanced Reliability: Likely Motive + Contrast with Quotes in Source ➝ Therefore the source has enhanced reliability; it is

reliable as (Author) mentioned (Message) in spite of having (selfish reason) to do otherwise in order to convey the truth. c. Tone: Discouraged ● Always link to the Question: ○ Therefore source A is reliable. ○ Therefore source A proves... Example Questions ● Does source A prove that source B is wrong? ○ Focus on Source B Format: 1. Source A proves that source B is wrong as it refutes source B’s claim that… a. PEEL for both sources b. Emphasis on Clash 2. Content: Source B is wrong/correct as… 3. Context: Motive, Tone, Enhanced Reliability for B Source Support Example Questions: ● How far do sources C and D support the idea that…? Format: 1. Prove that both sources support the idea 2. Evaluate which source offers better Support