It will be a 'What can you learn from?' question from the June 2010 paper for 4 marks.
You will have 20 minutes to answer this question, although in the real exam you will need to spend only about 5 minutes on it.
In the GCSE paper questions like this are the first question on the exam paper.
You need to know
- the different reasons for riots over the last 500 years
- how riot control has changed over time
What is a 'What can you learn from?' question?
You will have 2 sources. One is a picture and the other is short text.
Source A will be about an earlier period we have studied; Source B will be about a later period.
The question will be 'What can you learn from Sources A and B about changes in.............?'
1 or 2 marks: Level 1 answer (grade F or G) - simple statements about what is in the sources.
3 or 4 marks: Level 2 answer (grade D or E) - you make an inference and you support it with evidence from both sources.
What is an inference? It is something you can work out from the sources even though they do not actually say it.
How to prepare for this at home. In class you will study the first example and your teacher will show you how to answer it.
Look at these pairs of sources. Think about the changes they show. Then spend no more than 20 minutes answering each question.
Example 1
SOURCE A
A 19th century painting of soldiers opening fire on rioters during the Gordon Riots in 1780
SOURCE B
The courts dealing with rioters
appear to be sending them to jail for longer than expected. There has already
been clear evidence of some long sentences... Many of the looters have been
convicted of burglary which carried a maximum sentence of 14 years. Consultation
(with the public) said that burglars
should normally be jailed because of their impact on victims...The longest
sentences are reserved for those who go equipped with weapons.
(BBC News 23 August 2011)
Question:
What can we learn from Sources A and B about changes in how the authorities have dealt with riots ? (4 marks)
Example 2
SOURCE A
Gracious
God! what's the matter now? I was obliged to leave off--the shouts of the mob
-the horrid clashing of swords--and the clutter of a multitude in swiftist
motion--drew me to the door--when every one in the street was employed in
shutting up shop.-- It is now just five o'clock-- , S--h, and N--h,--Lord
S--h narrowly escaped with life about an hour since; the mob seized his chariot
going to the house, broke his glasses, and, in struggling to get his lordship
out, they somehow have cut his face--The guards flew to his assistance--the
light-horse scowered the road, got his chariot, escorted him from the
coffee-house, where he had fled for protection, to his carriage, and guarded
him bleeding very fast home.
from the diary of Ignatius Sancho during the Gordon Riots 1780
SOURCE B
Aftermath of the Brixton Riots 1985
Question:
What can we learn from Sources A and B about the actions of rioters in the 18th and 21st centuries?
(4 marks)
Example 3 (Three sources this time!)
SOURCE A
Two days before the riot, a number of young men of the City engaged in a
series of sporadic attacks against foreigners. ‘Some were stricken and some
buffeted and some thrown in the canal’, reports Hall. As the malefactors were seized
and jailed, rumours abounded ‘that on May Day next the City would rebel and
slay all aliens’
Graham Noble in History Review (2008), writing about 'Evil May Day' in 1517.
SOURCE B
1915: London crowds attack a German business premises in
Poplar High Street in the East End of London.
SOURCE C
A cartoon published around the time of the 1981 Brixton riots.
Question:
What can we learn from these three sources about the causes of riots in London in the 16th, 20th and 21st centuries? (4 marks)
