How to answer short answer, type “c” and type “d” questions in the Year 11 Exam. Castro says: “Relax. You’ll be fine.”

Short answer questions I Remember that you have to answer two of these questions in 30 minutes (15 minutes each) There are twenty lines allocated for each question ( words per line = 200 ~ 220 words per question). Read the question carefully. Underline/highlight key terms and ensure you know what the question is asking you. If a time frame is given (eg. between 1945 and 1962) stick to it. If you stray, you pay. The first sentence must answer the question. Often this involves an explanation of how something came about. It acts in the same way as a topic sentence.

Short answer questions II The following sentences should offer a point to support your argument. This should be following by a detailed explanation. Precise historical knowledge should be demonstrated in these questions (cause, effect, events, dates, places, groups, individuals etc) The final sentence should summarise your answer in a clear statement. Use signposting to indicate your points (Eg. Firstly,… Secondly,… Thirdly,… Finally,…).

Visual Source: Churchill peaks under the Iron Curtain

Type “c” questions The first sentence MUST answer the question rather than simply repeat it. The next few sentences should expand upon the first by using three or four examples. Be as specific as possible in the demonstration of your historical knowledge (dates etc). The final sentence must briefly summarise your findings.

Type “c” questions cont’d… Use signposting clearly and effectively to differentiate between your points and to help the assessor allocate marks. It is imperative that you refer directly to the extract at some point. Quote written sources or describe a particular element of a visual source. Highlight/underline key words in the question. You MUST stay within the time frame of the question. If you stray, you pay. Word limit: approx 120 ~ 140 words (12 lines for about words per line).

For example… c. Using your own knowledge and the representation, explain the concerns that motivated Stalin and Soviet Union at the end of the Second World War. The primary motivating factor behind Russian actions and decisions in the immediate post-war period was the desire to avoid another invasion from the west. Firstly, Russia had borne the brunt of two German invasions in thirty years, and the country and people had suffered terribly. Secondly, Stalin also feared that the Soviet Union would, in its weakened condition, fall prey to American “colonisation” as, from Stalin’s perspective, Western Europe had. Thirdly, Stalin responded by establishing communist regimes in the countries of Eastern Europe “liberated” by the Red Army during the war. Travel and information into and out of this zone was strictly limited, as depicted by the impregnable “iron curtain” in the cartoon. Hence, it was Stalin’s fears of economic and military domination from the west that prompted his virtual take- over of the countries of Eastern Europe. (137 words)

Type “d” questions After studying / analysing the source, decide whether you think it is reliable/accurate or not. This will be based on your understanding of the topic or event The first sentence MUST comment on the reliability, accuracy or usefulness of the source. Explain briefly what the source says about the particular topic or event. Bring up historians’ viewpoints that agree with the source.

Type “d” questions cont’d… Discuss historians who disagree with the viewpoint offered by the source. Use signposting throughout to indicate where viewpoints differ or concur (Similarly; on the other hand; however). Summarise your findings in the final sentence. Highlight/underline key words in the question/prompt. You MUST stay within the time frame of the question. If you stray, you pay. Word limit: approx 200 ~ 220 words (20 lines for about words per line).

For example… d. Evaluate to what extent this representation presents a reliable view of the origins of the Cold War. Refer to other views in your response. This political cartoon presents a typically Western, and therefore biased, interpretation of the origins of the Cold War. It suggests that, with the fall of the “Iron Curtain” across Eastern Europe, Stalin had effectively divided the continent in two. The factories behind the curtain hint at the industrialised might of the Soviet Union, surely a threat in the future. Former US Secretary of State Dean Rusk would agree with this view. He argued that Communism was an aggressive, expansionist power that the US needed to check. Similarly, US ambassador to the Soviet Union George Kennan believed that suspicious, paranoid Russia would seek to utterly destroy any perceived threat to their security. Former Soviet leader Nikita Khrushchev predictably claimed that the US was set on world domination and wanted to reduce all other power blocs to mere puppets of its will. A more balanced point of view, however, is offered by Noam Chomsky. He blames both sides for inventing the threat of the “other”, whether it be communism or imperialism, in order to suppress opposition at home. Similarly, Ambrose argues that the development of nuclear and rocket technology on both sides accelerated the Cold War and raised tensions to a point where neither side could back down. This cartoon does not acknowledge the roll the West played in initiating and propagating the Cold War, and is therefore of little use to the historian in this regard. (235 words)