The How Fully Question Learning Intention To understand

The ‘How Fully’ Question

Learning Intention • To understand how to answer the ‘How Fully’ enquiry skills question.

How Fully • This question will ask you to look at a source and discuss how fully it explains an area of the course. • Simply put, does this source tell us everything about the topic in the question or does it miss things out?

Tip • The source will NEVER tell you everything. There will always be points missing.

Answer • In this question, you have to pick out 2 or 3 points that the source tells us about the topic in question. • You then need to comment on what the source misses out. • The first step to answering this question is identifying the relevant points that are mentioned in the source.

Source A is from a slave captains journal Over time, these slaves have developed ways of rebelling against us. In turn, we have had to adapt and learn how to stop them. If the slaves try to attack us, usually it is quite easy to defeat them as most of the crew have guns. Also, the slaves tend to be quite weak because they don’t get fed as much as they are used to. However, they have resorted to trying to throw themselves overboard. We have combated this by adding nets to the side of our ship to catch them. How fully does Source A explain why it was difficult for slaves to resist on the Middle Passage? (6 marks)

Source A is from a slave captains journal Over time, these slaves have developed ways of rebelling against us. In turn, we have had to adapt and learn how to stop them. If the slaves try to attack us, usually it is quite easy to defeat them as most of the crew have guns. Also, the slaves tend to be quite weak because they don’t get fed as much as they are used to. However, they have resorted to trying to throw themselves overboard. We have combated this by adding nets to the side of our ship to catch them. How fully does Source A explain why it was difficult for slaves to resist on the Middle Passage? (6 marks)

Structure of the answer • You should always have an overall judgement at the start of the answer : • Source A partially explains why it was difficult for slaves to resist on the Middle Passage

Structure • You then have to explain what the source tells us. • However, you cannot simply list these points. • You must write your answer in a certain way.

Structure • Source A explains why it was difficult to resist on the middle passage as it says ‘If the slaves try to attack us, usually it is quite easy to defeat them as most of the crew have guns’. • It also explains why it was difficult to resist on the middle passage because it says that slaves were weak due to the poor diet they received. • A third point the source makes which explains why it was difficult to resist on the middle passage is ‘We have combated this by adding nets to the side of our ship to catch them. ’

Structure • Notice that you can either use quotes or your own words. • The most important part of this section of the answer is that you put ‘Source A explains why it was difficult to resist on the middle passage as it says………. ’ (or something similar) for each point you make.

What is missed out? • You must now comment on what is missed out.

What is missed out • Slaves were chained up. • Some were too afraid of punishments. • They couldn’t go anywhere even if they took over the ship. • Disease also kept the slaves weak. • The slaves spoke different languages so couldn’t make a plan.

Structure • You should have a separate paragraph saying : However the source fails to mention several other points about why it was difficult to resist on the middle passage. For example it does not tell us that slaves were chained up which made it difficult for them to move so they couldn’t resist on the middle passage. It also fails to mention that it was hard to resist on the middle passage because many were too afraid to rebel due to the harsh punishments they would receive. Thirdly, it fails to mention that it was hard for slaves to resist on the middle passage because they were also weak due to high levels of disease on a slave ship.

Source A is from an article written by a Historian The inhumane conditions on the Middle Passage are hard to imagine. The slaves were kept below the deck for the vast majority of the day. Here they lay in their own waste and vomit which resulted in disease spreading rapidly. The slaves were also chained by the hands and feet and often to the ground to restrict their movement as well. How fully does Source A describe the conditions faced by slaves during the Middle Passage? (6 marks)