How do you answer a source question at History GCSE?

At GCSE you will be expect to comment on the meaning behind visual and written sources. It is important to be aware of your exam board’s specific requirements. These can be accessed online and will help us to know what kind of answer will achieve the best mark.
For a visual source, for example, the question will often be ‘What is the cartoon’s message? Use details of the cartoon and your knowledge to explain the  answer.’
Here it is important to 1) say what you see, 2) consider what this implies, and 3) think about what else you know about the period that will help you understand exactly what is being implied. In this way you will be sure to cover the surface and ‘hidden’ message of the source by showing off your other knowledge. (Surface, Secret, Significance)

There will also be times when you have to assess just how ‘reliable’ a source is. This means how trustworthy you think it is as evidence.
When trying to work this out it is useful to consider: who wrote it/produced it? why did they do so? and, what was the context around them? WHO, WHY, and WHAT was going on WHEN.
Remember just because a source exaggerates or is factually incorrect this does not mean it is no longer useful. Instead, why it is not ‘true’ can be very interesting to historians.
We can go through practice questions during our lessons, building up to answering them under time restraints. This will make sure you understand the content of your course better as well as that you are able to translate this to marks in the exam!