Social Studies Format Notes

Reliability/Utility/Surprise:

These 3 are under the same umbrella. You just need to remember PEEL * 2 + Motive/Purpose/Tone

You'll also have to read to see what is he saying. If it's a friend saying good things about his ally or

himself, it is not reliable/surprised. If it's an enemy saying bad things about his enemies, it is not

reliable/surprised. All your friends will say good things about you so they would remain friends. Your

enemy forever hates you and would say bad things all the time.

BUT IF your friend says bad things about his ally or himself, it is reliable/surprised! If an enemy says

good things about his enemy, it is reliable/surprised! These are things people would not rather say

since it is usually the truth and degrades themselves and their social circle.

Reliability:

● Answer the question(Point)

● Give Evidence (Evidence)
● Explanation of your evidence(Explanation)
● Link back to the question above the background information(Link)
● Find another source to cross-reference to that either supports or disproves the first
source. (Point)
● Give Evidence (Evidence)
● Explanation of your evidence(Explanation)
● Link back to the question above the background information(Link)

Motive/Purpose/Tone Same as previous.

Utility:

● Answer the question(Point)

● Give Evidence (Evidence)
● Explanation of your evidence(Explanation)
● Link back to the question above the background information(Link)
● Find another source to cross-reference to that either supports or disproves the first
source. THEN, you have to write that the first source is Reliable and thus USEFUL or Not
reliable and thus not useful. (Point)
● Give Evidence (Evidence)
● Explanation of your evidence(Explanation)
● Link back to the question above the background information(Link)
 Social Studies Format Notes

Motive/Purpose/Tone Same as previous.

Surprise:

● Answer the question(Point)

● Give Evidence (Evidence)
● Explanation of your evidence(Explanation)
● Link back to the question above the background information(Link)
● Find another source to cross-reference to that either says the same thing or a different
thing. And thus, whether you are still surprised or not. (Point)
● Give Evidence (Evidence)
● Explanation of your evidence(Explanation)
● Link back to the question above the background information(Link)

Motive/Purpose/Tone Same as previous.

Inference:

Questions that are inference (w/o purpose): To identify questions that have no purpose, look at the

provenance of the source; Is it said by some famous person? Or is it by some random 70-year-old

uncle complaining about the Pioneer Generation Package? Aka if no names are given, and the person

is not famous, it falls here. Usually, this is about 5-6 marks.

1st para:

● Answer the question(Point)

● Give Evidence (Evidence)
● Explanation of your evidence(Explanation)
● Link back to the question above the background information(Link)

Questions that are inference (w/ purpose): "Do you think the cartoonist approved of the NHS? Explain

your answer, using details of the cartoon" (2012 Q1a) "Did the cartoonist approve of Argentina's

invasion of the Falkland Islands? Explain your answer, referring to details of the cartoon" (2004 Q1a)

"Why do you think Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher made this speech? Explain your answer" (2004

Q1c) "What is the message of this cartoon? Explain your answer, using details of the cartoon." (2007

Q1a) (Cartoonist or famous people name's will be shown.)

 Social Studies Format Notes

1st para:

● Answer the question(Point)

● Give Evidence (Evidence)
● Explanation of your evidence(Explanation)
● Link back to the question above the background information(Link)

2nd para:

● State the target audience for the source (If it's published in the British newspaper, the
target is British citizens. )
● What does he or she want them to feel?
● What does he or she want them to do?

Comparison: This one should be the easiest to identify. They will smack down ask you to study two

sources.

1st para:

● State the criteria for similarity (Criteria)

● State evidence from source A (Ev a)
● Explain your evidence from source A (Ex a)
● State evidence from source B (Ev b)
● Explain your evidence from source B (Ex b)
● Link to the question above background information

You could also skip steps and just directly state evidence from A and B at once then explain them

together. (Ev a + b, Ex a & b)

2nd para:

● State the criteria for difference (Criteria)

● State evidence from source A (Ev a)
● Explain your evidence from source A (Ex a)
● State evidence from source B (Ev b)
● Explain your evidence from source B (Ex b)

3rd para(if the question is 6 or more marks):

Is the question different in Tone

Social Studies Format Notes

● State what's different about the tone

● State what is the tone
● Explain the tone