Interpretations and significance, Year 10: explaining change and writing a narrative account

Change

HintAsk what was different afterwards.

The whyAQA's second-order concepts are continuity, change, cause, consequence, significance, similarity and difference. Knowing which one a question targets tells you what kind of answer it wants.

AO1, knowledge and understanding, and AO2, explanation and analysis: four marks each

HintOne is for what you know, one for what you do with it.

The whySo accurate facts alone can earn only half the marks. The other half comes from explaining: showing how the event changed things for the people in the question.

Sentence B

HintLook for the one that says what the fact led to.

The whyThe second sentence links the fact to its effect on people. Phrases such as 'this meant that', 'as a result' and 'so' are the usual signs of explanation.

Consequence

HintThe other end of the chain from a cause.

The whyIt can be short-term or long-term, intended or unintended. A good 'explain' answer follows a chain: the event, what it led to, and what that in turn meant for the people in the question.

One way their lives changed, backed with precise detail and explained

HintOne point at a time, each followed through.

The whyFor example: a paragraph on work, with the marriage loans and dismissals from the professions, and what these meant for women; then a paragraph on family life. Two or three developed points are better than a list of many.

8

HintHalf the marks of the essay that follows it.

The whyThe question appears in both depth studies: once in Paper 1 Section B and once in Paper 2 Section B.

How each event led to the next

HintA chain, not a list.

The whyAQA describes the question as testing cause and consequence. An account that only says 'then… then… then…' gives the order without the reasons, and misses half of what is being tested.

'As a result'

HintOne only says what came next; the other says why.

The whyOther useful links are 'this led to', 'because of this' and 'which meant that'. They turn a sequence into an explanation.

Go on to 1933: Japan's departure is what made it a crisis for the League

HintAsk which of the two events shows the organisation itself in trouble.

The whyA narrative account should end at the outcome named in the question. Choose the events that lead there and show at each step why the League's position got worse: the Mukden incident, the slow Lytton inquiry, the vote, the walk-out.

The links explaining how each event caused the next

HintThe facts are right and in order; ask what joins them.

The whyImproved: 'Because the report took a year, Japan had time to tighten its hold on Manchuria. When the League finally condemned the invasion, Japan chose to leave, which showed that the League could not make a great power obey.'