GCSE HISTORY

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GCSE HISTORY

• EXAM
• BUSTING

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Questions that ask you toTEST THE USEFULNESS OF
SOURCES

• Tip - All sources are useful but exam questions
  ask you whether a source is useful for a
  particular purpose. So your first task is to ask
  yourself what it tells you about that purpose.
• Tip - Secondly ask yourself how reliable the
  source is. Do a NOP test on the source.
• Tip - You need to look at reliability in the
  context of the purpose. Just because a source is
  unreliable, dont dismiss it. A speech by Hitler
  may be very biased but if you are asked if it
  tells you about Hitlers views, it might be very
  useful.

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Questions that ask you toTEST THE USEFULNESS OF
SOURCES

• Question
• Which of sources A and B is more useful for
  finding out about advances in surgery in wartime?
  Explain your choice.

Question Which of sources A and B is more
useful for finding out about advances in surgery
in wartime? Explain your choice.
Remember you are not being asked about usefulness
in general. You are asked about usefulness for a
particular purpose. What purpose?
Now read the 2 sources. For each, jot down notes
about What does it tell you about advances in
surgery in wartime? Is it reliable?
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Questions that ask you to TEST THE USEFULNESS OF
SOURCES
SOURCE A Edmonds was placed in the bed next to
mine. He had been trapped in the aircraft when
it turned over and burst into flames. He fried
for several minutes before they dragged him out.
When he was first brought to Archie McIndoe he
was unrecognisable. Never once did Edwards
complain although it would take years to build
him a new face. Three days after the operation
to replace his eyelids, I noticed a dribble from
under the dressings of this eyes. It was the
blood-poisoning streptococcus germ at work again.
The Last Enemy by Richard Hilary, a 2nd World
War fighter pilot who was also treated by
McIndoe. Published 1950.
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Questions that ask you to TEST THE USEFULNESS OF
SOURCES
SOURCE B The new weapons of the 1st World War
caused horrific facial injuries. To deal with
these, Harold Delf Gillies set up a jaw and
plastic surgery unit in Aldershot. Shortly after
the 2nd World War began, Archie McIndoe,
consultant in plastic surgery in the RAF, founded
a unit at the hospital in East Grinstead. The
Battle of Britain in 1940 brought McIndoe some
4,000 young men with new injuries terrible
burns to the face and hands from the high octane
fuel that had caught fire. It often took several
operations to rebuild a face.
A History of Medicine by Nancy Dunn, a
historian, and Jenny Dunn, a doctor. Published
1992.
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Questions that ask you to TEST THE USEFULNESS OF
SOURCES
Which of sources A and B is more useful for
finding out about advances in surgery in wartime?
Explain your choice.
Level 1 Describes what is in the sources. No
comparisons. (1-3 marks) Level 2 Comments on
reliability of sources. Bottom of level if
source rejected. (4-6 marks) Level 3 Uses
comments on reliability of the sources to make
comparisons of usefulness. (7-9 marks)
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Questions that ask you to TEST THE USEFULNESS OF
SOURCES
Which of sources A and B is more useful for
finding out about advances in surgery in wartime?
Explain your choice.
Now mark these 3 answers.
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Questions that ask you to TEST THE USEFULNESS OF
SOURCES
Source A tells us how people were treated for
burns by McIndoe. He carried out operations to
rebuild peoples faces after their planes caught
fire after crashing. We learn that not all his
operations were successful. Source B tells us
who did plastic surgery in both wars. We learn
that there were 4,000 pilots who suffered burns
in the Battle of Britain and it took several
operations to rebuild a damaged face.
Level 1 Describes what is in the sources. No
comparisons. (1-3 marks) Level 2 Comments on
reliability of sources. Bottom of level if
source rejected. (4-6 marks) Level 3 Uses
comments on reliability of the sources to make
comparisons of usefulness. (7-9 marks)
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Questions that ask you to TEST THE USEFULNESS OF
SOURCES
Both sources have their uses but both present
problems. Source A is not very useful because it
only describes one patient. Hilary was one of
McIndoes patients so may be biased in his
favour. Source B is a secondary source but the
authors will have researched the topic. One is a
historian and one a doctor so between them they
are likely to get things right. Source B tells
us that plastic surgery began in the 1st World
War and gives reasons and figures for the 2nd
World War. It is therefore more useful than
source A for finding out about advances in
surgery in wartime.
Level 1 Describes what is in the sources. No
comparisons. (1-3 marks) Level 2 Comments on
reliability of sources. Bottom of level if
source rejected. (4-6 marks) Level 3 Uses
comments on reliability of the sources to make
comparisons of usefulness. (7-9 marks)
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Questions that ask you to TEST THE USEFULNESS OF
SOURCES
Neither of these sources is really much use in
telling us about advances in surgery in wartime.
Source A was written 10 years after the events
and the author could have remembered them
wrongly. It only tells us about one operation.
He was bound to feel grateful to a man who
treated him. Source B was written 50 years later
by people who were not there at the time. In
finding out about surgery in wartime, they could
have made all sorts of mistakes.
Level 1 Describes what is in the sources. No
comparisons. (1-3 marks) Level 2 Comments on
reliability of sources. Bottom of level if
source rejected. (4-6 marks) Level 3 Uses
comments on reliability of the sources to make
comparisons of usefulness. (7-9 marks)
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Questions that ask you toTEST THE USEFULNESS OF
SOURCES

• Question
• How useful is this source to an historian
  studying 19th century attitudes to anaesthetics?
  Explain your answer.

Are you clear about the purpose?
Now read the source and think about What does it
tell you about attitudes to anaesthetics? Is it
reliable?
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Questions that ask you to TEST THE USEFULNESS OF
SOURCES
SOURCE A In years to come, those who follow us
will look back with sadness on those doctors
today who believe in the need for pain in
surgical operations. They will marvel at the
idea of kind men believing that the terrible
agonies they inflict should be endured and not
avoided. It will seem impossible that they would
prefer to operate on patients while still awake
instead of under anaesthetic. All pain is
destructive and even fatal.
Extract from a report by Dr James Simpson,
December 1847.
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Questions that ask you to TEST THE USEFULNESS OF
SOURCES
How useful is this source to an historian
studying 19th century attitudes to anaesthetics?
Explain your answer. (7 marks).
Have a go at writing an answer. 10 minutes
allowed.
Exchange papers and use the mark scheme to mark
your partners answer.
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Questions that ask you to TEST THE USEFULNESS OF
SOURCES
How useful is this source to an historian
studying 19th century attitudes to anaesthetics?
Explain your answer.
Level 1 Takes source at face value for its
content. (1-2 marks) Level 2 Comments on
reliability, bias etc. (3-4 marks) Level 3 Uses
comments on reliability to make statements about
usefulness. (5-7 marks)