How do you answer secondary source questions (Paper 1) at A Level?

There are several ways to approach source questions, but the most effective way is to give an overall summary of the source followed by an analysis of 3 points the source makes.
1) Read the source and DO NOT write or highlight anything as you are trying to get the overall message of the source. 2) Summarise the source's main message and comment on the overall tone i.e. is it positive, negative, condemning? 3) Read the source again and highlight the main 3 arguments the writer makes4) Take each point in turn and analyse it by answering these questions i) What contextual knowledge is there to support the argument? ii) What contextual knowledge is there to challenge the argument? iii) Overall, how convincing is the source?
There is no need for an introduction or conclusion and it is unnecessary to compare the sources (though you will not be penalised if you make brief comparisons) for these questions. It is also important to remember that these sources are written by historians so it is completely fine if you cannot think of any contextual knowledge to challenge the argument, just focus on supporting the argument.