GCSE History
20 th Century Depth Studies
Section A

There are three parts to each question
1.
An ‘Explain how’ question (6 marks)
2.
A ‘Usefulness’ question (10 marks)
3.
An ‘Inference Question’ (4 marks)

How to answer an ‘Inference ‘ question
What does Source A suggest about…? (4 marks)
 Find at least TWO facts in the source.
 Draw an inference …. What does the author of the source want you to think about the event, or to believe about the event?
 What is going on under the surface?

What does the source tell us…?
Mark Scheme Marks
0 Writes nothing of relevance
Level 1 Identifies 1 or 2 facts
Level 2 Identifies 1 or 2 inferences
1-2
3-4

How to answer an ‘Explain how’ question
 For a WHY question give reasons.
 For a HOW question give ways.
 For a CONSEQUENCES question give results
 You must give at least TWO reasons.
 You must explain how one thing led to another.

An ‘Explain how’ question
Mark Scheme Marks
Writes nothing of relevance 0
Level 1 General comments or simple statements.
1-2
Level 2 Simple explanation – gives one reason supported by facts
Or Offers a number of reasons but limited explanation or facts.
Level 3 Developed explanation
Explains two or more reasons in detail .
3-4
5-6

Examples of ‘Explain how’ questions.
 Why was Henry Ford successful?
 Why was there a ‘Red Scare’ in the 1920s?
 Why did the US government impose
Prohibition in 1919?
 Why were the 1920s called the ‘Roaring
Twenties’?
 Why did Wall Street ‘crash’ in 1929?

How to answer a ‘Usefulness’ question
 Deal with the CONTENT
– What is the message of the source?
– How is the information useful?
Deal with the PROVENANCE
–
–
Who wrote it?, When? And Why?
What was the purpose and motive of the author? What are they trying to achieve?
– How do these factors make the source useful, or less useful.

How useful is the source..?
Mark Scheme Marks
Writes nothing of relevance 0
Level 1 Basic or limited information
Level 2
Level 3
Level 4
Simple comment
Sees how the content is relevant
Source is useful because of origin, context or purpose
Developed explanation
Explains how the content illustrates important aspects of topic.
Or explains how origin, context, purpose of source make it useful.
Explanation of usefulness using both content and provenance
1-2
3-5
6-8
9-10