How do I respond to a source based question?

Sources are what make history - without them we wouldn't know what actually happened in the past. So, how does this work in an exam setting with a source based question? Relax, first and foremost, you're likely prepared for this and all of your hard work is going to pay off. The first thing we have to do is establish the provenance of the source - where did it come from? Who wrote it? Who was the intended audience? Is it contemporary or a commentary made from a later date? When we've firmly established the provenance we need to expand off this. Do you know of any scholarly debates surrounding the source itself? If so great - mention them as it shows you have a wider awareness in regards to the historiography. Finally, we need to get into the bulk of the source itself. It's all well and good discussing where it came from and what historians think about it, but if we don't address its content then we won't push forward into the higher grade boundaries. We need to take this evidence and link it back to the question - the best system I found for this was PEAL: Point, Evidence, Analysis, Link. It's always important to link any argument you've made back to the original question.

To summarise, we have to establish the historical provenance, comment on historians opinions and discuss the content of the source itself whilst linking it back to the question. If you remember all of this and provide a detailed and confident answer then you should do well with any source question.

JS
Answered by Jamie S. History tutor

4897 Views

See similar History A Level tutors

Related History A Level answers

All answers ▸

‘The rebellion of 1173-4 was caused by the Henry II’s treatment of his sons.’ Assess the validity of this view.


How do you structure an essay?


'British society remained the same in the years 1951 to 1964.' Assess the validity of this view.


How far can WW1 be considered a turning point for bringing about a change to the role and status of women in the years 1850-1950?


We're here to help

contact us iconContact ustelephone icon+44 (0) 203 773 6020
Facebook logoInstagram logoLinkedIn logo

MyTutor is part of the IXL family of brands:

© 2025 by IXL Learning