Every card in Interpretations and significance, Year 10: explaining change and writing a narrative account
The whole deck, in order — so you can read it through before your child ever sees it.
- In the period study, the question beginning 'In what ways…' asks how a group or development was affected by an event. AQA's specification names one second-order concept that this question tests. Which is it?
Change
HintAsk what was different afterwards.
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.
- The eight marks for the 'In what ways…' question are divided equally between two assessment objectives. What are they?
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.
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.
- Which sentence explains, not just describes? (A) 'Prices rose very fast in Germany in 1923.' (B) 'Prices rose so fast in 1923 that savings became worthless, so many middle-class Germans lost faith in the republic.'
Sentence B
HintLook for the one that says what the fact led to.
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.
- The second-order concept, paired with 'cause', for something that happened because of an event or development
Consequence
HintThe other end of the chain from a cause.
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.
- A question asks how the lives of German women were affected by Nazi rule. What should each paragraph of the answer be built around?
One way their lives changed, backed with precise detail and explained
HintOne point at a time, each followed through.
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.
- How many marks is a 'Write an account…' question worth? (number only)
8
HintHalf the marks of the essay that follows it.
WhyThe question appears in both depth studies: once in Paper 1 Section B and once in Paper 2 Section B.
- Besides putting events in the right order, what must a narrative account show?
How each event led to the next
HintA chain, not a list.
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.
- Which linking phrase shows causation in an account: 'and then', or 'as a result'?
'As a result'
HintOne only says what came next; the other says why.
WhyOther useful links are 'this led to', 'because of this' and 'which meant that'. They turn a sequence into an explanation.
- A question asks for an account of how events in Manchuria became a crisis for the League of Nations. Should the account stop at the invasion of 1931, or go on to Japan leaving the League in 1933?
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.
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.
- An account says: 'The League sent the Lytton Commission. The report took a year. Japan left the League.' What is missing?
The links explaining how each event caused the next
HintThe facts are right and in order; ask what joins them.
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.'
1★ GCSE-HIST-INT-0016
2★ GCSE-HIST-INT-0017
3★ GCSE-HIST-INT-0018
4★ GCSE-HIST-INT-0019
5★ GCSE-HIST-INT-0020
6★ GCSE-HIST-INT-0021
7★ GCSE-HIST-INT-0022
8★ GCSE-HIST-INT-0023
9★ GCSE-HIST-INT-0024
10★ GCSE-HIST-INT-0025
Keep what you learn
Here, nothing is saved. In your child’s own sky every card is scheduled — it comes back just before they’d forget it — and the professor who wrote it is one tap away.