Topic 1: Historical Concepts
What is Bias?
A: a one-sided viewpoint that favours or disfavors something.
B: the deliberate use of biased information to influence public opinion or behaviour.
Bias is a one-sided viewpoint that favours or disfavors something.
Propaganda is the deliberate use of biased information to influence public opinion or behaviour.
The key task verb in the question, "Identify two reasons for the decline of the feudal system,"
is:A. Analyse B. Evaluate C. Identify D. Explain
C. Identify
Evidence is derived from sources.
What are two examples of what sources could be?
Sources may include: documents, pictures, graphs, maps, articles, speeches, cartoons, text books.
An Achieved exemplar will successfully demonstrate:
A. Insight and synthesis.
B. Evaluation of reliability.
C. Interpretation of explicit evidence.
D. In-depth analysis of provenance.
C. Interpretation of explicit evidence.
TRUE/ FALSE
Internal Context refers to the historical background of the time period the sources describe.
False. (That is External Context; Internal Context refers to the source's own content/argument.)
Which historical concept involves examining the way things stayed the same over a period of time?
A. Change B. Causation C. Continuity D. Consequence
C. Continuity
T/F
An Achieved response to a Sources Exam question requires linking the explicit evidence to a historical concept.
True. (Analysis involves interpreting evidence to demonstrate understanding of historical concepts.)
T/F
Evidence used in your response must be identified by the source letter.
True. (This is a fundamental requirement for referencing.)
TRUE OR FALSE
In an Achieved exemplar, the student's explanation should clearly link the evidence to the question's focus.
TRUE
(This is the definition of analysis at the achieved level.)
Reliability primarily concerns:
A. How useful a source is for a topic.
B. The audience the author wrote for.
C. The accuracy and trustworthiness of the source's claims.
D. The author's place of birth.
C. The accuracy and trustworthiness of the source's claims.
To demonstrate Perspective, a historian must primarily identify:
A. The source's date of publication. B. The long-term consequences of the event. C. The author's position, background, and potential biases. D. The external context of the time.
C. The author's position, background, and potential biases.
When a question uses the verb Compare and Contrast, the minimum evidence requirement for a Merit response is:
A. One quote showing similarity.
B. One quote showing difference.
C. A summary of the main idea.
D. Evidence from at least two sources showing both similarities and differences.
D. Evidence from at least two sources showing both similarities and differences.
To achieve the in depth requirement (Merit), a student's analysis should primarily focus on:
A. Only using long quotes.
B. Integrating content from multiple sources and/or using provenance/context.
C. Summarising the author's opinion.
D. Simply describing the historical events.
B. Integrating content from multiple sources and/or using provenance/context.
An exemplar moves from Achieved to Merit when the student demonstrates thorough understanding by:
A. Writing more words.
B. Explaining the evidence in the context of its authorship and by integrating two sources.
C. Only using primary sources.
D. Using the word 'therefore' frequently.
B. Explaining the evidence in the context of its authorship AND by integrating two sources.
The best definition of a Historical Argument is:
A. A fight between two historians.
B. An interpretation of the past supported by evidence. C. A summary of events from a single source.
D. A list of all the facts about an event.
B. An interpretation of the past supported by evidence.
T/F
A source that is highly Biased automatically has low Reliability for a historian.
False. (A biased source is highly useful for revealing the specific perspective or intense feelings of the author/group.
Which instruction requires a judgement of worth, supported by criteria and evidence?
A. Explain B. Analyse C. Evaluate D. Describe
C. Evaluate
T/F
An answer that thoroughly analyses the source material but fails to explicitly answer the question OR mention the relevant historical concept (e.g., Causation) will likely be capped at Achieved.
True. (Explicitly applying historians' skills/concepts is necessary for thorough understanding.)
An exemplar cross-references the sources they analyse.
This moves the exemplar grade into which bracket:
Achieved
Merit
Excellence
Merit
TRUE/FALSE
Synthesis is a skill used only in the conclusion, not in the body paragraphs of an Excellence response.
False. (Synthesis involves integrating different pieces of evidence or ideas throughout the response, culminating in an insightful conclusion.)
The concept of Contestability in history most directly requires a student to demonstrate:
A. Accurate quotation of evidence.
B. Knowledge of multiple historians.
C. Synthesis of competing interpretations from different sources.
D. The immediate effects of an event.
C. Synthesis of competing interpretations from different sources.
T/F
To earn "Insight" (Excellence), a student must focus only on the evidence explicitly stated within Source D.
False. (Insight requires 'reading between the lines' and synthesis of all sources to draw conclusions that go beyond the immediately obvious.)
To demonstrate Insight in the conclusion, a student should:
A. Re-state the main points made in the body paragraphs. B. Synthesise the analysis and draw a nuanced, non-obvious conclusion about long-term impact. C. Introduce a new quote that wasn't used earlier. D. Write a very long summary of all the sources' claims.
B. Synthesise the analysis and draw a nuanced, non-obvious conclusion about long-term impact.
The defining feature of an Excellence exemplar is the student's ability to:
A. Summarise all sources perfectly.
B. Demonstrate a nuanced understanding of the concept and synthesise evidence to show insight.
C. Use formal, academic language.
D. Simply state the long-term consequences of the event.
B. Demonstrate a nuanced understanding of the concept and synthesise evidence to show insight.
The idea that events could have turned out differently if certain factors or decisions had been different — history is not inevitable is called:
Contingency