The ‘How Fully’ Question
Learning Intention
• To understand how to answer the ‘How Fully’
enquiry skills question.
How Fully
• This question will ask you to look at a source
and discuss how fully it explains an area of the
course.
• Simply put, does this source tell us everything
about the topic in the question or does it miss
things out?
Tip
• The source will NEVER tell you everything.
There will always be points missing.
Answer
• In this question, you have to pick out 2 or 3
points that the source tells us about the topic
in question.
• You then need to comment on what the
source misses out.
• The first step to answering this question is
identifying the relevant points that are
mentioned in the source.
Source A is from a slave captains journal
Over time, these slaves have developed ways of
rebelling against us. In turn, we have had to adapt
and learn how to stop them. If the slaves try to
attack us, usually it is quite easy to defeat them as
most of the crew have guns. Also, the slaves tend to
be quite weak because they don’t get fed as much as
they are used to. However, they have resorted to
trying to throw themselves overboard. We have
combated this by adding nets to the side of our ship
to catch them.
How fully does Source A explain why it was difficult for slaves to resist on the Middle
Passage? (6 marks)
Source A is from a slave captains journal
Over time, these slaves have developed ways of
rebelling against us. In turn, we have had to adapt
and learn how to stop them. If the slaves try to
attack us, usually it is quite easy to defeat them as
most of the crew have guns. Also, the slaves tend to
be quite weak because they don’t get fed as much
as they are used to. However, they have resorted to
trying to throw themselves overboard. We have
combated this by adding nets to the side of our ship
to catch them.
How fully does Source A explain why it was difficult for slaves to resist on the Middle
Passage? (6 marks)
Structure of the answer
• You should always have an overall judgement
at the start of the answer :
• Source A partially explains why it was difficult
for slaves to resist on the Middle Passage
Structure
• You then have to explain what the source tells
us.
• However, you cannot simply list these points.
• You must write your answer in a certain way.
Structure
• Source A explains why it was difficult to resist on
the middle passage as it says ‘If the slaves try to
attack us, usually it is quite easy to defeat them
as most of the crew have guns’.
• It also explains why it was difficult to resist on the
middle passage because it says that slaves were
weak due to the poor diet they received.
• A third point the source makes which explains
why it was difficult to resist on the middle
passage is ‘We have combated this by adding nets
to the side of our ship to catch them.’
Structure
• Notice that you can either use quotes or your
own words.
• The most important part of this section of the
answer is that you put ‘Source A explains why
it was difficult to resist on the middle passage
as it says……….’ (or something similar) for each
point you make.
What is missed out?
• You must now comment on what is missed
out.
What is missed out
• Slaves were chained up.
• Some were too afraid of punishments.
• They couldn’t go anywhere even if they took
over the ship.
• Disease also kept the slaves weak.
• The slaves spoke different languages so
couldn’t make a plan.
Structure
• You should have a separate paragraph saying :
However the source fails to mention several other points about why it
was difficult to resist on the middle passage.
For example it does not tell us that slaves were chained up which
made it difficult for them to move so they couldn’t resist on the
middle passage.
It also fails to mention that it was hard to resist on the middle passage
because many were too afraid to rebel due to the harsh
punishments they would receive.
Thirdly, it fails to mention that it was hard for slaves to resist on the
middle passage because they were also weak due to high levels of
disease on a slave ship.
Source A is from an article written by a
Historian
The inhumane conditions on the Middle Passage are
hard to imagine. The slaves were kept below the
deck for the vast majority of the day. Here they lay in
their own waste and vomit which resulted in disease
spreading rapidly. The slaves were also chained by
the hands and feet and often to the ground to
restrict their movement as well.
How fully does Source A describe the conditions faced by slaves
during the Middle Passage? (6 marks)