answering the 12 mark useful question

AQA (B) GCSE Modern World History

Unit 2 Depth Study 1 Lesson 3

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Hodder Education Revision Lessons

Answering the ‘Utility’source question

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You are a policeman investigating a theft of gold.Two informers come to you:• One is an alcoholic who thinks he heard someone

selling gold in a pub last night.• One is a jeweller who says he was offered the

stolen pieces for sale yesterday, and that he has a name and address.

Which informant is more useful … and why?Click to continue

Principles



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The jeweller’s is certainly the better information because of:1. The information’s content His evidence is more precise and more accurate.2. The information’s provenance He is the more credible witness – he has relevant expertise, and less reason to lie.

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Principles



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You answer the ‘Utility’ question

in much the same way!



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Source BA court-martial by the Bolshevik Army of the USSR in Louza, Poland, in 1920

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The ‘Utility’ question will refer to a source – like this:



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Note that it is asking you to evaluate what it tells you about the Red Army’s success.

Then it will ask you to evaluate the utility of the

source, like this: ‘How useful is Source B for studying the success of the Red Army in the Russian Civil War?’

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The mark scheme requires you to address two issues to earn the 10 marks for this question:

• How useful is the content?

• How useful is the provenance?

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Note that the number of marks you get depends on how fully you explain your ideas, and prove them with facts!

You MUST refer

what you are saying about th

e source

to facts you know about th

e times.



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You are advised to spend17 minutes maximum

on this question.

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What ideas

and facts

might you

mention here?

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So, let’s begin with the CONTENT … What does the photo tell us about the Red Army?



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LOTS of interesting things, which mirror what we know from our studies:•Court-martial (cf. Red Terror/Trotsky ’s discipline)•Workers (cf. the Soviets/workers ’ control of factories)•Role of women (cf. equality / women could be soldiers)YET lots of things it DOESN’T tell us:•Tactics and equipment, battles, atrocities, role of Trotsky

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Write your first paragraph, remembering that the number of marks you get

depends on how fully you explain your ideas, and relate them to facts you know

about the times.

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What ideas

and facts

might you

mention here?

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And now let’s go on to the PROVENANCE … How useful is this photo as a source of information?



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LOTS to suggest it would be useful:• Contemporary to the time – taken in 1920• Taken in Poland – where the fighting was most vicious• Purports to show a genuine court-martialYET some things suggest it can’t be trusted:• Certainly posed – perhaps totally fabricated• Bolshevik propaganda to show how determined and

ruthless the Red Army was

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Write your second paragraph,

remembering that the number of marks you get depends on how fully you explain your ideas, and relate them to facts you

know about the times.

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Finally, write a brief paragraph summarising whether, overall, you feel the source is

useful or not to tell us about the success of the Red Army.

What is the ‘telling point’ – explain why.

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CONCLUSION



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• written a section explaining (including facts from their own knowledge) whether the source’s content seems useful?

Peer-assess each other’s essays. Have they:

• written a section explaining (including facts from their own knowledge) whether the source’s provenance is reliable?

• finished with a conclusion, giving and explaining a ‘telling point’?