How do I compare two sources in an exam answer?

It may seem simple, but the first and most important thing to remember when comparing two sources is not to forget to include some kind of analysis on both of the sources in your answer. Just because one may be more relevant to a point you want to make, the question has specifically asked you to compare the two, so leaving one out will miss the point of the question. The whole content of your essay must be focused on these two sources - try not to let your essay run away with a point that is a valid analysis of one of the sources, but irrelevant to the other. Since the focus of your essay must always be the two sources, supporting contextual information must be related specifically to the content of these sources, or at least a logical extension from what the source states.You may, of course, treat one source and then the other when you first come to explain what the sources are actually saying and how they're relevant to the wider historical context, but then you must make connections between the two and show how they approach the same topic in a different way, and the reasons why the source's author may be presenting their view in such a way. This means you are explaining both how the sources differ and why they differ. It is always a good idea to spend some time reading both sources thoroughly and spend several minutes on each, making a rough note of who has written the source and probable reasons why they have written the source (this is where your knowledge of the wider historical context comes in - was the year significant? Were they writing just after a significant event? Were they a political figure?).When sitting an exam, always be extra careful of the wording of the question. Some questions specifically ask you to explain why the sources are different - in which case, your focus should be the author of the source and their motivations for what they've written. Other questions might ask you how the sources differ, in which case your focus should be more on the actual content of the source.