PAPER 1 SKILLS

This section requires students to analyse in detail two of the sources that they will use in their investigation. The sources can be either primary or secondary sources.

Students must:

• clearly state the question they have chosen to investigate (this must be stated as a question).

• include a brief explanation of the nature of the two sources they have selected for detailed analysis, including an explanation of their relevance to the investigation.

• evaluate two sources in detail. With reference to the origin, purpose and content, the student should evaluate the value and limitations of the two sources in relation to the investigation.

Important:

• Begin your IA with the statement, “This investigation will address the question: ...”

• Use the rest of the first paragraph to introduce the two sources you have chosen to evaluate, including a clear explanation of why they are significant/relevant to your research question.

  • • Use the term “relevant” explicitly

• Your second paragraph should address the value of the first source for a historian studying your research question; the third paragraph should address its limitations. Just as you do in your Paper 1, the value and limitation should be justified by referencing the source’s origin, purpose and content (which you can quote).

  • • Identify what type of a source it is and whether it is a primary/secondary source

• The same process should be repeated for the second source in paragraphs four and five.

• Aim to include two reasons why source is valuable and two limitations it has

• Make sure you explicitly use the terms value, limitation, origin, purpose, and content.

  • • Sources may have limitations but they’re not limited. If they’re limited you probably shouldn’t be using them.

• It can be tempting to personalize the essay; however, personal pronouns (“I”, “my”) should not be used in Section 1 and 2.

• Which sources to evaluate?

  • • Choose two different types of sources; that difference could be based on nationality, time period produced, type of source, etc. Sources do not have to be written.

    • The sources chosen should be two of the four most commonly cited sources in your investigation.

Things to consider:

• Origin: the academic credentials of the author; journalist vs. historian; date published; country published; private/public; type of document

• Purpose: broad/focused; often expressed in the preface or introduction; the title will also serve as a clue; if you cannot locate a clearly articulated purpose, you may couch your language such as: “Given that the author’s purpose appears to be...”

• Content: nature of language used (formal/informal, neutral/emotive); scholarship / what are the sources that are used to support their argument?