GCSE HISTORY

EXAM BUSTING

Questions that ask you to

TEST THE USEFULNESS OF SOURCES
Tip - All sources are useful but exam questions ask you whether a source is useful for a particular purpose. So your first task is to ask yourself what it tells you about that purpose. Tip - Secondly ask yourself how reliable the source is. Do a NOP test on the source. Tip - You need to look at reliability in the context of the purpose. Just because a source is unreliable, dont dismiss it. A speech by Hitler may be very biased but if you are asked if it tells you about Hitlers views, it might be very useful.

Questions that ask you to

TEST THE USEFULNESS OF SOURCES
Question:
Which of sources A and B is more useful for finding out about advances in surgery in wartime? Explain your choice. Remember you are not being asked about usefulness in general. You are asked about usefulness for a particular purpose. What purpose? Now read the 2 sources. For each, jot down notes about: What does it tell you about advances in surgery in wartime? Is it reliable?

Questions that ask you to

TEST THE USEFULNESS OF SOURCES
SOURCE A Edmonds was placed in the bed next to mine. He had been trapped in the aircraft when it turned over and burst into flames. He fried for several minutes before they dragged him out. When he was first brought to Archie McIndoe he was unrecognisable. Never once did Edwards complain although it would take years to build him a new face. Three days after the operation to replace his eyelids, I noticed a dribble from under the dressings of this eyes. It was the blood-poisoning streptococcus germ at work again. The Last Enemy by Richard Hilary, a 2nd World War fighter pilot who was also treated by McIndoe. Published 1950.

Questions that ask you to

TEST THE USEFULNESS OF SOURCES
SOURCE B

The new weapons of the 1st World War caused horrific facial injuries. To deal with these, Harold Delf Gillies set up a jaw and plastic surgery unit in Aldershot. Shortly after the 2nd World War began, Archie McIndoe, consultant in plastic surgery in the RAF, founded a unit at the hospital in East Grinstead. The Battle of Britain in 1940 brought McIndoe some 4,000 young men with new injuries terrible burns to the face and hands from the high octane fuel that had caught fire. It often took several operations to rebuild a face.
A History of Medicine by Nancy Dunn, a historian, and Jenny Dunn, a doctor. Published 1992.

Questions that ask you to

TEST THE USEFULNESS OF SOURCES
Which of sources A and B is more useful for finding out about advances in surgery in wartime? Explain your choice. Level 1: Describes what is in the sources. No comparisons. (1-3 marks) Level 2: Comments on reliability of sources. Bottom of level if source rejected. (4-6 marks)

Level 3: Uses comments on reliability of the sources to make comparisons of usefulness. (7-9 marks)

Questions that ask you to

TEST THE USEFULNESS OF SOURCES
Which of sources A and B is more useful for finding out about advances in surgery in wartime? Explain your choice. Now mark these 3 answers.

Questions that ask you to

TEST THE USEFULNESS OF SOURCES
Source A tells us how people were treated for burns by McIndoe. He carried out operations to rebuild peoples faces after their planes caught fire after crashing. We learn that not all his operations were successful. Source B tells us who did plastic surgery in both wars. We learn that there were 4,000 pilots who suffered burns in the Battle of Britain and it took several operations to rebuild a damaged face.

Level 1: Describes what is in the sources. No comparisons. (1-3 marks)

Level 2: Comments on reliability of sources. Bottom of level if source rejected. (4-6 marks) Level 3: Uses comments on reliability of the sources to make comparisons of usefulness. (7-9 marks)

Questions that ask you to

TEST THE USEFULNESS OF SOURCES
Both sources have their uses but both present problems. Source A is not very useful because it only describes one patient. Hilary was one of McIndoes patients so may be biased in his favour. Source B is a secondary source but the authors will have researched the topic. One is a historian and one a doctor so between them they are likely to get things right. Source B tells us that plastic surgery began in the 1st World War and gives reasons and figures for the 2nd World War. It is therefore more useful than source A for finding out about advances in surgery in wartime.
Level 1: Describes what is in the sources. No comparisons. (1-3 marks) Level 2: Comments on reliability of sources. Bottom of level if source rejected. (4-6 marks) Level 3: Uses comments on reliability of the sources to make comparisons of usefulness. (7-9 marks)

Questions that ask you to

TEST THE USEFULNESS OF SOURCES
Neither of these sources is really much use in telling us about advances in surgery in wartime. Source A was written 10 years after the events and the author could have remembered them wrongly. It only tells us about one operation. He was bound to feel grateful to a man who treated him. Source B was written 50 years later by people who were not there at the time. In finding out about surgery in wartime, they could have made all sorts of mistakes.

Level 1: Describes what is in the sources. No comparisons. (1-3 marks) Level 2: Comments on reliability of sources. Bottom of level if source rejected. (4-6 marks) Level 3: Uses comments on reliability of the sources to make comparisons of usefulness. (7-9 marks)

Questions that ask you to

TEST THE USEFULNESS OF SOURCES
Question:
How useful is this source to an historian studying 19th century attitudes to anaesthetics? Explain your answer. Are you clear about the purpose? Now read the source and think about: What does it tell you about attitudes to anaesthetics? Is it reliable?

Questions that ask you to

TEST THE USEFULNESS OF SOURCES
SOURCE A In years to come, those who follow us will look back with sadness on those doctors today who believe in the need for pain in surgical operations. They will marvel at the idea of kind men believing that the terrible agonies they inflict should be endured and not avoided. It will seem impossible that they would prefer to operate on patients while still awake instead of under anaesthetic. All pain is destructive and even fatal.

Extract from a report by Dr James Simpson, December 1847.

Questions that ask you to

TEST THE USEFULNESS OF SOURCES
How useful is this source to an historian studying 19th century attitudes to anaesthetics? Explain your answer. (7 marks). Have a go at writing an answer. 10 minutes allowed.

Exchange papers and use the mark scheme to mark your partners answer.

Questions that ask you to

TEST THE USEFULNESS OF SOURCES
How useful is this source to an historian studying 19th century attitudes to anaesthetics? Explain your answer.

Level 1: Takes source at face value for its content. (1-2 marks) Level 2: Comments on reliability, bias etc. (3-4 marks)

Level 3: Uses comments on reliability to make statements about usefulness. (5-7 marks)