INFERENCE SKILL:

Steps:
One Inference + Evidence
Message / Purpose: keeping in mind audience, evidence, outcome (reaction expected from the
audience)
Structure
From the source I can infer that . The evidence is The
message / purpose of the source is to .. (keep in mind the audience and
outcome). The evidence of the source is
OR
From the source I can infer that. The evidence is . The cartoonist is
trying to say .. (keep in mind the audience and outcome). The evidence of the
source is
Bring in tone into the message / purpose, if possible
An example:
The message of the source is to tell the Westerners that Saddam is a coward who do not dare
face problems uprightly. In other words to criticize Saddam for taking hostages. The evidence is
the Saddam hiding, looking afraid, behind the POWs legs. The impact is to generate an outcry
among Westerners on the actions of the Iraqi leader. This might pressure the Iraqi leader to
release the captives in the face of criticisms. (6/6 marks)

An Example:
I think the message is that the government wants to reassure Singaporeans that they have taken
care of all the worries of Singaporeans as in the picture the lady represents the government and
the government shows its reassurance as seen in the cartoon when the lady repeats CHECK!
CHECK! CHECK!.[4]. And finally the government hopes that Singaporeans will take advantage
of the benefits and choose to have children as seen in the evidence where in the final part of the
cartoon where the lady, representing the government says ALL IN ORDER NOW, LETS
HAVE BABIES [5/5marks].

COMPARISON SKILL (Compare and Contrast)

How to answer Compare and Contrast Questions?
Look at the Issue. Establish what it is focusing on.
Look at the Provenance of the Sources. Get clues from the Provenance:
Eg: place, person/people, event/activity
3. Based on Issue and Provenance, establish Similarity keeping in mind:
Matching Content
Eg of Matching Content:
Issue: Do we need people to keep the world going?
Provenance of Source A: Observation of People of varying heights
Provenance of Source B: Factual Account of Tall people
Similarity?
Both sources talk about the personal traits of people of varying heights
Difference: Source A says that short people are cute and friendly
(personal trait) while / however Source B says that tall
people are serious all the time

False Matching? Source A says that short people are cute and friendly
(personal trait) while / however Source B says that
most tall people have blue eyes (physical characteristic)

Structure
Comparison Skill
Both Source A and B are about. (Hint: Matching Issue must be stated
when making the inference) The evidence from Source A is and the evidence from Source
B is .
Source A is about (infer content of Source A) while Source B is about (infer content
of Source B) (Hint: The difference must be on the same issue) The evidence from
Source A is and the evidence from Source B is .
The tone of Source A is (explain the tone) while the tone of Source B is (explain
the tone) The evidence from Source A is and the evidence from Source B is
. [difference in tone]
OR

The tone of both source A and Source B is . as both the sources tone shows (explain
the tone). The evidence from Source A is .. and the evidence from Source B is
.[similarity in tone]

The purpose of Source A is to ______ (W) the ____ (A) that . The
evidence is .. (S) is to gain the support / to go against (O)..

The purpose of Source B is to ______ (W) the ____ (A) that . The
evidence is .. (S) is to gain the support / to go against (O)..

Advice: Given the time constraint, you may want to stop at the Tone level.

RELIABILITY SKILL : (One Source)

Steps to take to answer the question:
Infer how the Source is Reliable (keep in mind the question asked)
Give evidence to prove that it is reliable
Provide a cross-reference source that supports what the given Source says
Infer why the source is unreliable
Give evidence from the source to show that the content is unreliable
Provide a cross-reference source that shows that the given source cannot be trusted
Make a judgement on whether you can believe the source based on the provenance. That is,
evaluate the reliability by assessing the provenance
Structure:
Source E is reliable as it shows that (explain Source E) . The evidence is
.. Source __ supports Source E as is also shows that . The
evidence is ..
Source E is not reliable because (explain Source E) . The evidence is
Source __ shows that Source E is not reliable because Source E shows that
The evidence is
I believe that Source E is reliable because (use the information in the provenance to decide why
the Source is reliable: Evaluate the provenance in relation to what has been said in the source)
This is your personal opinion
OR
I believe that Source E is not reliable because (use the information in the provenance to decide
why the Source is not reliable: Evaluate the provenance in relation to what has been said in the
source) This is your personal opinion

Last step: Give the purpose: WAOS

RELIABILITY SKILL : (Two Sources)
How to answer the question.
[These two sources are different. Which one is wrong]
[If unable to find a wrong source, then state that the two sources are expressing different views
or opinions]

Step 1: Give the content + Evidence of Source B (in relation

to the question)
Give the Content + Evidence of Source C (in relation
to the question)

Step 2: Proof which ONE is wrong

Give the CR source for Source B (to show if Source B
is reliable or not reliable)
Give the CR source for Source C (to show if Source C
is reliable or not reliable)

Step 3: Purpose of Source B (W_A_O_S)

Purpose of Source C (W_A_O_S)
OR

In proving reliability with 2 sources, (similar to proving reliability with one source) What do you
have to do?
Infer Source B + evidence
Infer Source C + evidence
Do CR for Source B to show whether source is more / less reliable
Do CR for Source C to show whether source is more / less reliable
State which Source is more reliable
Give purpose of Source B and Source C

Structure:
Source B is about . (infer the source). The evidence is
Source C is about . (infer the source). The evidence is
(Use the provenance and the content to build up your argument on which is wrong)

Source B is less reliable / more reliable because. . The evidence is

Source __ shows that Source B is (less reliable / not reliable) as it states. The evidence is .
Source C is less reliable / more reliable because.. The evidence is
Source __ shows that Source C is (less reliable / not reliable) as it states. The evidence is .
Therefore Source __ gives a less reliable view on the North Koreans intention in the nuclear
crisis.

Source _ is less reliable because .. while Source _ is more reliable because

OR

The purpose of Source B is

The purpose of Source C is .

USEFULNESS SKILL
Structure:
Source D is useful as it shows that . The evidence is ..
Source __ supports Source D as is also shows that . The evidence is
..

Source D is not useful because . The evidence is Source __

shows that Source D is not reliable because Source __ shows that The
evidence is

Usefulness for what it reveals about.. (keep in mind the given question)
[7th mark]

ASSERTION SKILL
Study ALL the sources
Do the sources show that the British Army was to be blamed for the
conflict?
Do the sources show that ...EYA
L1 : Identifies sources that show AND/OR do not show (1-2)
Award 1mark for identifying 1 source that shows OR does not
show.
L2 : Shows OR does not show, using source details
Award 2 marks for reference to 1 source supported by details,
and an additional mark for any further sources supported by details.
L3 : Both elements of L2
Award 4 marks for reference to 1 source from both sides.
Award 5 marks for reference to 2 sources that show and 1 that
does not show, or 1 that shows and 2 that do not show, or 2
sources that show and 2 sources that do not show.
Award 6 marks for reference to 3 sources that show and 1 that
does not show, or 1 that shows and 2 that do not show, or 2
sources that show and 2 sources that do not show.
Award 7 marks for reference to 4 sources that show and 2
sources that do not show.
* There is no value in grouping sources. Sources have to be explained
specifically.

Structure:
Keep in mind: (The choice of Sources that support / do not support the statement made in the
question depends on the sources. There is no standard ratio)
Source _ , _ and _ shows that the British Army was to be blamed for the Norhtern Ireland conflict.
However, Sources _ and _ show that they were not to be blamed as there were other factors
contributing to the conflict.
Source _ shows that (infer the source, keeping in mind that you want to show that the source
supports the statement made in the question). The evidence is
Continue this step with the other sources that support the statement made in the question.
Source _ shows that it was . The evidence is Therefore, this shows that
it was not the British Army that was responsible for the Northern Ireland conflict
Continue this step with the other sources that support the statement made in the question.