Source Questions

Read carefully Source A and B, then answer the following questions.

Source A is the article from the – DAILY MALTA CHRONICLE

Source B is the article from – LEHEN IS-SEWWA

In the later 1920’s and early 1930’s in Malta there was a Politico-Religious struggle
between Lord Strickland and his supporters and the Ecclesiastical authorities. Various
clashes occurred during the years and each time the British Authorities tried to appease
the climate between the two factions. From time to time, whenever an election was
approaching the Ecclesiastical authorities used their power and wrote a Pastoral Letter.
One such example is the letter dated May 1st 1930. Source A and Source B discuss this
particular letter from their own point of view.

1) Which source do you think is in favor of Lord Strickland and his party? (1 mark)

2) Which source do you think is against Lord Strickland and his party? (1 mark)

3) Bias can be detected by studying the language used within the text. The adjectives
used show the different emotions felt by the author of the text in relation of the
issue. Find the adjectives from Source A used to describe: pro-Italian
conglomeration, attacks (reference to those made by Lehen is-Sewwa), population
and Catholic. (4 marks)

4) The use of Punctuation and Italics can help to induce bias. By looking a Source B,
highlight the instances where punctuation was used to put forward an argument
made by the writer. Do you think they are effective? (3 marks)

5) Another tool which can be used to provoke bias is the use of Rhetoric Questions.
Source B is full of them. Underline one such example. Why do you think the author
used Rhetoric Questions? (3 marks)

6) Source A makes reference to another piece of writing the Aide Memoire. Do you think
that its author was in favor or against Lord Strickland? (2 marks)

7) Both sources were written at different times. Look at the date of both sources and
calculate the date difference. What does this tell you about the issue being discussed
in these sources? (2 marks)
©S.Abela & D.Camilleri - 2011
8) Write down two facts and two opinions that can be derived from the sources.
(4 marks)

9) Both sources are biased. Which source do you think is more biased? Why? (4 marks)

10) In Source A, the author makes reference to Enrico Mizzi and his plans with Italy.
What had happened in the local political scene before this Politico Religious struggle
broke out? What was the role played by Enrico Mizzi and why was Italy involved?
(6 marks)

11) Source B continuously makes reference to the ‘dnub mejjet’. Why do you think that
the author takes his/her time to explain what it means and its implications? What do
you think would be the effect of this ‘threat’ on the general Maltese public at the
time? Would the people react to the implications of the Pastoral letter in the same
way today? (6 marks)

12) Both sources take a different spin at the Pastoral letter and interpret it different.
According to Source B, what does Lord Strickland and his partisans think about the
meaning of the Pastoral letter? On the other hand, what is the Bishops’ idea in the
Pastoral letter according to Source A? (Back your argument by quoting the sources)
(10 marks)

13) Do you think that these sources are nonetheless reliable? Explain? (4 marks)

©S.Abela & D.Camilleri - 2011