Interpretations and significance, Year 11: significance, comparison, weighing factors and reading a site

At the time, and over time

HintOne looks at people living then; the other looks ahead.

The whyA full answer looks at what difference a person, event or development made to people living then, and at what it led to in later years or centuries.

8

HintThe same as each of the first three questions of the thematic study.

The whyIt is the second question of the thematic study in Paper 2. Two of its marks are for knowledge and six are for explanation.

The eradication of smallpox in 1980

HintLook for the later effect.

The whyThe opposition belongs to the story of its impact at the time. An answer on Jenner's significance would use both: limited acceptance at first, enormous consequences later.

What changed because of them

HintAsk how things were different afterwards.

The whyUseful questions are: how many people were affected, how deeply, for how long, and did it lead on to other developments? Each paragraph should make one such point and support it.

Two

HintThe number is printed in the question itself.

The whyThe question is worth eight marks, four for knowledge and four for explanation. It may ask for similarities or for differences, and the two things compared may come from different centuries.

Naming a shared feature and showing it in both

HintThe comparison has to be made by you, not left to the reader.

The whyA good pattern is: 'Both X and Y… In X, … Similarly, in Y, …'. For a difference: 'X… whereas Y…'. Each event needs its own precise detail.

In beliefs about cause

HintAsk what kind of thing 'blaming' is.

The whyNaming the category sharpens the point: 'One similarity is in beliefs about cause. In 1348 people carried sweet herbs against bad air; in 1665 they still did.'

Government action

HintWho is doing the ordering and the paying?

The whyThe same pair of events can be alike in one respect and unlike in another. Read carefully whether the question asks for similarities or for differences.

The role of the individual

HintThink of Jenner, Pasteur or Fleming.

The whyThe essay states one factor and asks whether it was the main one. The exact list of factors differs a little between the three thematic studies.

Other factors

HintThe question asks whether it was the main one.

The whyShow what the named factor achieved, with examples from different periods. Then do the same for at least one or two others, and decide which mattered most, or how they worked together.

Chance

HintNobody planned it.

The whyThe same story also shows the role of the individual, because it took a trained scientist to see what the accident meant. Most developments involve more than one factor.

War and government

HintOne created the need; the other paid.

The whyShowing how factors combined is often the strongest part of a factor essay. Here science had made the discovery, but it took a war to give a government the reason to spend the money.

All four

HintThink how long a stretch of history the essay ranges over.

The whySo the examples in the essay should come from different centuries, not from one period only. The essay is worth sixteen marks, with four more for spelling, punctuation and grammar.

10 per cent

HintAQA says it works out at about twelve hours of teaching.

The whyIt is examined by the last question of the British depth study, an essay worth sixteen marks.

Every year

HintEach exam series has its own.

The whyThe site is published three years in advance. This is why you should learn how to study a site, and check with your teacher which one applies to your exam year.

function; design

HintOne is what the place was for; the other is how it was planned to look and work.

The whyThe list goes on to ask how the design reflects the culture, values and fashions of the time, and how important events of the depth study are connected to the site.

The wider events and developments of the period

HintThe place is evidence for the age it belongs to.

The whyA strong answer moves between the two: a feature of the site, then what it shows about how people lived, were governed or believed, then back to the site. Knowledge of the site alone is not enough.

The country was peaceful enough for the rich to build for show, not for safety

HintAsk what its owner no longer feared.

The whyThis is the kind of reasoning the site question rewards: from a feature you can see, to a conclusion about the values and conditions of the time.