1. Unit 3 Part B The Controversy Question Advice from the chief examiner

2. What is the Controversy Question?  The maximum mark for the Controversy Question is 40 (24 for use of the sources and 16 for own knowledge)  15 minutes planning and 50 minutes writing  You should aim to write 800-1000 words

3. What is the Controversy Question?  Requires you to make and support a judgement about a historical interpretation (causes, consequences or key features)  The 2-3 secondary sources provide evidence of differing views

4. How to use the sources  Source-led analysis (24 marks)  Content  Cross-referencing  Evaluation of historical claims

5. How to keep the Examiner happy  Clear structure  Source-led analysis  Short quotations from the sources

6. How to keep the Examiner happy  Own knowledge used to supplement source-based arguments and introduce new issues  Focus on interpretation NOT historiography  An explicit judgement

7. How to annoy your Examiner  ‘Stream of consciousness’  Source by source summaries  Failure to include quotations from the sources  Over-reliance on either sources or own knowledge

8. How to annoy your Examiner  Memorised perspectives  ‘Name-dropping’  Failure to reach a judgement

9. Use sources 7, 8 and 9 and your own knowledge. How far do you agree with the view that the development of the Cold War in the years 1945-48 owed more to Soviet expansionism than to the USA’s economic interests? Explain your answer, using sources 7, 8, 9 and your own knowledge of the issues related to this controversy.