How far do you agree? (18 marks)
The final question has the most marks and is worth 18 out of the 40 marks for this unit.
You will be given a statement and are expected to look at different views and reach an overall judgement. In your answer you will be expected to show clear knowledge of the period and topic you are examining AND use what are called 'second order concepts', such as change and continuity, causation, consequence, similarity, difference and significance. What is really important is that you reach an overall conclusion.
You could structure your answer in the following way:
Section one - introduction - outline
Section two - agree with the statement - write a series of paragraphs that each pick out a factor that supports the statement. Provide focussed, relevant evidence AND clearly link this to the question (ie “…this is clear evidence that opposition to the Nazis was extremely weak as…” You should include several paragraphs in this section.
Section three - challenge the statement – write a series of paragraphs that each pick out a factor that supports the statement. Provide focussed, relevant evidence AND clearly link this to the question (ie “…this is clear evidence that opposition to the Nazis could at times be effective as it is suggesting that…” You should include several paragraphs in this section.
Section four - conclusion - your conclusion needs to balance everything you have looked at in your writing. Do you agree or disagree with the statement? Why have you reached this conclusion? What factors have been most important in helping you reach this conclusion? Why?
Tips:
- Before you begin answering a question think very carefully about which of the two questions is best for you; which do you know most about?
- Before you start writing make sure that you have carefully considered what the question is asking about; is this question looking at significance or is it considering causation? Make sure your planning takes this into consideration.
- Briefly plan out what you will be writing – don’t spend ages on this but make sure you are clear about which areas you will focus on.
- You will need to examine both points of view, so your writing should include paragraphs that support the statement as well as paragraphs that challenge the statement. It is usually sensible to group these together, with all the agreements together and all the paragraphs challenging the statement together.
- You must make sure that you show you know what you are talking about – this doesn’t mean writing EVERYTHING you can think of about a topic BUT when you give evidence making sure it is clear, concise and most importantly relevant to the question.
- Make sure that EVERY paragraph links directly back to the question AND focusses on whatever the question is asking; don’t let your writing become descriptive.
- To reach the top levels you must consider the extent that something influences your decision. Ask yourself which events/issues have the most influence on your decision and explain clearly why you think this.
- Make sure that you make an overall judgement at the end of your answer – without a judgement your potential score will be severely limited.
