GCSE History
20th 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 Source A suggest about
American attitudes towards immigrants?
(4 marks)
 Source A Immigration and the quota
system of 1921
 “The quota system was set up in 1921. It
was a victory for the ‘WASPs’. They had
little respect for the southern and eastern
Europeans who were most of the
immigrants between 1900 and 1920”.
How marks are awarded
Level 1 Answer that takes information from the source
(1-2)
 e.g. there was a quota system; this was a victory for the
WASPs who didn’t like southern and eastern Europeans.
Level 2 Answer shows understanding and is able to
make inference(s) from source (3-4)
 e.g. many Americans were racist and wanted to control
which European races came to the USA;
 American attitudes had become less tolerant following the
influx of southern and eastern European immigrants
before, during and immediately after the First World War.
What does the source tell
us…?
Mark Scheme
Marks
Writes nothing of relevance
0
Level 1 Identifies 1 or 2 facts
1-2
Level 2 Identifies 1 or 2 inferences
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.
3-4
Level 3 Developed explanation
Explains two or more reasons in detail.
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?
Explain the consequences of
Prohibition for the USA in the 1920s.
(6 marks)








Level 1: Simple descriptive comment and/or
indentifies one consequence (1-2)
e.g. many people were arrested.
Level 2: EITHER Identifies several consequences
(3-4)
e.g. the creation of speakeasies; moonshine; raids on
illegal drinking clubs;
arrests; the development of ‘gangsterism’; the impact
on daily lives.
OR
Explains one consequence
e.g. detailed explanation of gangsters such as Al
Capone and Bugs Malone.
Level 3 Explains two or more
consequences
 e.g. two or more from the list above.

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
1-2
Level 2
Simple comment
Sees how the content is relevant
Source is useful because of origin, context or purpose
Level 3
Level 4
Developed explanation
Explains how the content illustrates important aspects
of topic.
Or explains how origin, context, purpose of source
make it useful.
3-5
6-8
Explanation of usefulness using both content and
provenance
9-10
(c) How useful is Source B to an historian studying attitudes towards the
stock market in the USA in the 1920s? Use Source B and your
knowledge to


explain your answer.
(10 marks)
Source B The importance in people’s lives of the American stock market
This cartoon comes from the New York Magazine in 1927. It shows a man in
hospital about to have an operation but still worrying about his investments.

Level 1: EITHER
 Accepts the content of the source at face value
 e.g. the source shows a man in hospital being
interested in the stock market.
 OR
 Generalised or learned response which could
apply to any source
 e.g. it is a cartoon; cartoons always exaggerate, so it
is of limited use.
 1-2





Level 2: EITHER
Simple comments on the usefulness or the
limitations of the source based on
information in the source and/or own
knowledge
e.g. the source is useful for showing how the
stock market was important to many Americans,
even when they were ill and about to have an
operation.
OR Simple comments on the usefulness or
the limitations of the source in terms of
provenance or reliability or bias.
e.g. the source is of limited use, because it is a
biased cartoon which ridicules the excessive
interest in the stock market in the USA.
Level
3: EITHER
Developed
explanation about the utility/limitations of the
source using the source and own knowledge
e.g.
the source is useful for showing how some American
newspapers assumed that their readers were familiar with
stock market activities as indeed they were in many sections of
society during the boom of the 1920s, with many people
tempted to invest their money, even mortgaging their homes.
OR
Developed explanation about the utility/limitations of the source
focusing on the provenance of the source in relation to the content
and/or own knowledge.
e.g.
the source is useful for showing how some Americans were prepared
to ridicule the American preoccupation with the stock market, and suggest
that there might be other priorities in life such as health. By 1927 there were
significant criticisms of the stock market developing.
6-8
Level 4: Both strands above, one at Level 3, the other at
Level 2 (9 marks)
Both strands above at Level 3 (10 marks)