TIPS FOR HSC CORE: SOURCES

1. TIPS FOR HSC CORE: SOURCES • Ensure you have detailed notes on each syllabus point • Do a range of practice questions to prepare for the HSC Examination

2. QUESTION 1: SHORT ANSWERS • Examine the sources carefully • You don’t need full sentences (“List”) • Make sure where you are asked for 3 things, that you supply these. If in doubt, supply an extra • Stick closely to the language in the source • See the example on the next slide

3. EXAMPLE Question 1 SOURCE B: An account of the response of the German people to the outbreak of the war, published in 1917 In the third winter of the war, owing to a breakdown of the means of transportation and want of labourers, coal became very scarce. All public places, such as theatres, picture galleries, museums, and cinematograph shows, were closed in Munich for want of coal… As more as and more men were called to the front, women were employed in unusual work. The new underground railway in Berlin is being built largely by female labour. Women are employed on the railroads… there were women guards on the underground… Banks, insurance companies and other large business institutions were filled with women workers, who invaded the sacred precincts of many military and governmental offices. Using Source B, list THREE ways female labour was used in Germany during World War I: -building new underground railway in Berlin -employed on railroads -women guards on the underground (could also include banks, insurance companies large business institutions, military and government offices)

4. QUESTION 2 Using Source A, B and your own knowledge to answer an extended response question. REMEMBER: 1. This is an Extended Response: you must answer the question asked with a clear, coherent argument 2. Use the 2 sources to support your answer: that is, integrate the sources into your response 3. USE the sources fully in a specific way (minimal quoting), don’t just retell them or quote slabs from them See the example on the next slide

5. EXAMPLE Question 2 Question 2: Use Sources A, B and your own knowledge to explain the impact of trench warfare on soldiers on the Western Front • Part of a good answer using Source A (below) to answer the question: The weaponry used in trench warfare, such as gas, artillery shells and machine guns had a profound impact on the soldiers. Gas caused horrific injuries (Source A) such as blindness, and attacked the lungs, leading to painful death. Although less than 5% of gas casualties died, it was a weapon of terror; soldiers feared its use and thus its impact was both physical and psychological (then the answer would continue) Source A: Gassed soldiers, Western Front

6. QUESTION 3: Usefulness There are 3 elements you need to address: PERSPECTIVE RELIABILITY USEFULNESS How informative for the particular question? Point of view How accurate? • Source type • Date/author • Audience/purpose • Factual content/degree of specificity/verifiability • Underlying ideology • Tone • Completeness • Internal consistency • Time • Gender • Power/authority • Proximity • Social class • To what extent can the content-written and visual-be trusted? • How relevant is it to the investigation? • If not reliable, what does it tell us about attitudes & beliefs? • Link to perspective and reliability

7. TIPS ON USEFULNESS • Be specific. For example, pretend a given source (Source D) is a letter from a soldier at the Western Front regarding trench routine, and you determine it is reliable. Your question asks “How useful” is it in regard to the experiences of soldiers during the war, you could write: • “Source D is useful to the investigation because it is a reliable source from a soldier who experienced trench routine in the British Army for 18 months on the Western Front, and it outlines the daily routine, night raids and system of rotation between the front line, reserve trenches and periods of rest. Although it is restricted to the British experience, it gives valuable insight into trench routine at a particular area of the front over an extended period of time between 19-4-18 from the British perspective…” • TOO MANY ANSWERS ARE VERY GENERAL AND DO NOT LINK THE PERSPECTIVE AND RELAIBILITY OF THE SOURCE TO USEFULNES • It may be relevant to consider the combined usefulness of the sources (for example if together they provide a German and British perspective)

8. TIPS ON USEFULNESS • If a source is unreliable, it can be useful-not for its content but for revealing beliefs and attitudes • Propaganda is a good example of this. Propaganda is subjective, and designed to persuade rather than present a balanced point of view. See the example on the next slide.

9. The intention of the poster is to instil fear and hatred of the Germans, by depicting the German as a violent, piratical brute. The image is exaggerated and emotive, showing innocent children being slain by the German, and brandishing a bloody sword. • It is a highly subjective and persauasive source, giving a clear message to support the navy as the only means of stopping the German rampage. Its content is unreliable • However, the poster is useful in revealing anti-German sentiment during the war, especially as a result of the German unrestricted submarine campaign and the sinking of the Lusitania, and how this was used to rally anti-German feeling. It is also an example of British war propaganda, which the government used to shape public opinion to mobilise the war effort in a situation of total war.