Answering exam questions

How Useful Q
• Origin: who write it, when,
contemporary/secondary & benefit
• Purpose: why do you think it was written?
Bias
• Content: what does it say about the topic
in the question
• Missing: What relevant information does
not source not include?
• Conclusion: How useful is the source?
 How Fully?
• Say what the source includes
(that is relevant to the topic in the question)

• Give other information about the topic that

the source does not include.

• Answer the question:

How fully does the source show/explain?
(A lot/Not much as missing information on ….)
 COMPARE
How far do Sources A & B agree?
• What is the same in both
• What one says and the other doesn’t,
OR disagree
• How far do they agree?
– A lot
– Not much (explain why – i.e. give an example)
 Attitude
• READ source carefully

• Say what the author thinks about the topic

in the question

• EXPLAIN why he/she thinks that by giving

more detail and background information.