It’s exam question time! Your favourite time… genuinely!
Today we’re going to be looking at how to answer a 16 mark ‘how far do you agree’
question …with 4 spag.
First thing’s first, I’m talking about the type of question that appears as question
5/6 on paper 1 and question 4 c i / 4 c ii of paper 2 of the Edexcel 9-1 GCSE history
exams.
A 16 mark question is pretty much the same as a 12 mark question, but it has an intro
and a conclusion. Simple :)
The example I’m going to be using from the topic crime and punishment, but the way I’m
going to go through to answer this question will apply to 16 mark ‘how far do you agree’
questions from all topics. So here’s the question:
‘The most important factor in explaining witch hunts in the years c1500-c1700 was religion.’
How far do you agree? You may use the following in your answer:
- Demonology - English Civil War
You must also include information of your own.
A 16 mark question will be structured like this:
Introduction 3 paragraphs
Conclusion
For each paragraph, just like with a 12 mark question, we’re going to make 1 point. So
we need 3 points - one for each paragraph. Luckily, the question has already provided
us with our first two points: Demonology and the English Civil War. That means we only
have to come up with a 3rd point. In this case, we could use Matthew Hopkins as our
3rd point.
As 16 mark questions require an introduction, that’s the first thing we need to write.
Our introduction only needs to be one or two sentences and we’ll use it to introduce
the 3 points we’ll talk about in our 3 paragraphs, so it could go something like this:
In the years c1500-c1700 there was a series of witch hunts which affected many in England.
There are several factors which contributed to these hunts, but some of the most prominent
were James I’s book Demonology, the Civil War and the work of Matthew Hopkins.
This brings us on to our paragraphs. The structure we’re going to use for our paragraphs is
PEEL. That’s Point, Evidence, Explain, Link.
So we’ll start with our first paragraph - on Demonology. We can start each paragraph
in pretty much the same way. ‘The first reason for the witch hunts in the period c1500-c1700
was…’ and then we make our point ‘James I’s book Demonology’.
We then move on to the next letter of PEEL -E -or Evidence. Our evidence is our SPEND.
SPEND, for if you don’t remember, is our Statistics, Places, Events, Names and Dates.
‘Originally published in 1597, and then again in 1603, the book gives justifications
on why witchcraft should be punished severely – it is not just a crime against the king,
but a crime against God. Moreover, it gives details on how to spot and trial witches and
promoted the idea of ‘swimming a witch’.’
The next letter is also E - but this time it’s Explain. Explain means showing how
the our evidence (our spend) links to the question and the point we’re trying to make.
So we could say ‘As James I held a position of respect and authority, King of England,
his ideas were able to have major effects over others. It also actively encourages people
to hunt witches themselves, causing them to do as such. However, James I’s fear of witches
came partially from his fear of Catholics, offering continuity with previous fears of
witchcraft, caused by the gunpowder plot.’
The final step left for us in our paragraph is ‘L’, ‘Link’. This is ‘linking
it back to the question’ - essentially just repeating our point. ‘Consequently, ‘Demonology’
supports that the most important fact in explaining witch hunts was religion.’
We then repeat this process again for our second paragraph, which is on the English
Civil War.
“A second reason for the witch hunts was the English Civil War.” - point - “The
civil war of 1642-51 caused chaos within Britain and resulted in the rule of Puritan, Oliver
Cromwell, between 1651 and 1658.” - evidence - “This caused much religious tension and
the chaos resulted in a greater belief in superstition in England. Consequently, witches,
who were blamed for many negative occurrences were blamed for many of England’s problems.
This brought continuity with the rising trend of witch hunts.” - Explain - “Thus the
Civil War and consequently religion were a significant reason in explaining the witch
hunts.” - Link
And again we do this for our 3rd paragraph, which is on Matthew Hopkins.
“A final reason is the work of ‘Witch Finder General’, Matthew Hopkins.” - Point
- “Hopkins operated in the years 1645 to 1647, getting local authorities to pay him
to hunt out witches. He was the cause of the hanging of 180 people for witchcraft, and
would gain confessions from them which would include the names of other witches, offering
continuity with previous hunts.” - evidence - “This meant he was able to continuously
hunt more ‘witches’ and make profit. Hopkins’ witch hunts caused wild hysteria as they brought
to light ‘witches’ previously totally unsuspected and spread the idea of witch hunting,
consequently inspiring others. However, Hopkins’ main motive was probably money.” - explain
- “Thus, whilst the Matthew Hopkins witch hunts contribute an explanation, they do not
support religion as the main explanation.” - Link.
That leads us onto our conclusion. In our conclusion we need to state whether or not
we agree with the statement in the question. And also we need to briefly summarise the
points we made and how they support our conclusion.
“In conclusion, religion was the main reason for the witch hunts c1500-c1700.” - that’s
showing whether we agree or disagree with the statement - then we briefly summarise
the points we made that got us to that conclusion - “Ideas, many of which were based on religion
and fear of Catholicism, brought forward in James I’s ‘Demonology’ contributed to
the hunts. Moreover, the Civil War and religions confusion it brought, with accusations of
Charles I being a Catholic caused a rise in superstition and consequently witch hunts.
However, the Matthew Hopkins hunts suggest monetary gain. But, as this is just a single
case, it can be assumed that religion was indeed the main factor in explaining the witch
hunts of c1500-c1700.”
And that’s it: we’re done!
There is one more thing I’d like to point out though. When responding to a 16 mark question
from your thematic study (also known as the one on your paper 1). As the topic is about
changes through time, try to, wherever possible use phrases like these (highlight examples
in answer) to show that you understand this about the topic.
So now for the final and most important step in this video: practice. Hooray yay woo woop.
In the description you can find a link to some example answers and practice questions,
if not, they’re not that difficult to find. And also make your teacher mark your practice
questions. If that doesn’t work find another teacher or give it a go at marking them yourself.
Your teacher will hate you after you’ve given them your 3876th practice question to
mark, but that’s ok, because when you get a 9 they’ll get a pay rise and forgive you.
It worked for me.
Thanks for watching, don’t forget to like, subscribe and tell all your friends. Also,
don’t forget to check out the resources in the description. And check out my twitter
@alongtimeago_YT. Wesath ge hale.