USA Exam Questions(See bottom of page for exam technique)

How far did the US economy BOOM in the 1920s?

How far was the US a free and equal society in the 1920s?

What were the causes and consequences of the Wall St Crash?

How successful was the New Deal?

Notes on exam technique

Key: If you want to stand out then you will follow the FOUR GOLDEN RULES:

1. Have specific, specialist own knowledge that other students won’t have. E.g. dates, names, laws, statistics. There is a reason people don’t know them; they are hard to learn. Only people who work hard and revise hard will be able to do this.

2. Focus on the question. Underline the key words and refer back to them often.3. Write in paragraphs.4. For the source questions at the start, refer to quotes or features of the source.5. Don’t run out of time and not get to the 10 marker. To prevent this, I recommend

doing just two sentences on the 4 markers as you can still get 2/4 marks and you can always come back to it at the end.

What sort of exam technique do I need to use for the question types?

1. What is the cartoonist message? Same as for Britain paper. You must include quotes/features of the sources, you must focus on the question and you must, must, must include specific own knowledge.

2. Why was the cartoon published? Use the word ‘reason’, explain what the person publishing the source was trying to achieve (usually trying to get people to DO or THINK something) and support with specialist own knowledge.

3. Use source and own knowledge to say whether or not you agree with something. Do as it says on the tin. Use source (quotes/features picked out from image) and specific, specialist own knowledge. Do for and against, then short conclusion.

4. 4 marker: include two points with a bit of supporting detail for each.

5. Explain why...... You need to include at least two developed reasons why. You must be using connectives e.g. this meant that

6. A hypothesis question in which you get a statement and are asked how far you agree……You must do a paragraph for the hypothesis, including specific own knowledge and connectives, then a paragraph against including specific own knowledge and connectives and you must end with a conclusion. If you are an B/A/A* student then you should aim to have a conclusion that is fully justified by key supporting evidence and follows on from the argument.