How do I approach a 'to what extent do you agree with this statement' question?

With these types of questions you will be given a statement in quotation marks, for example "Hitler's rise to power was a result of the Weimar government's inability to address economic problems". When approaching this question it is important to know to what extent you agree or disagree with the statement so that it makes it easier for you to write an essay with a clear line of argument. If you were to agree with the statement to a large extent, you would set this out in your introduction, and then the main body of text would set out the evidence to support your argument. You don't want a long list of facts, but evidence that you then link back to the question. It is important to not only focus on evidence which fully supports your argument, but also something which could prove otherwise, but you have to prove that this doesn't discredit your argument. So if you were arguing that Hitler did come to power as a result of the Weimar government's failure to deal with economic problems, you might also recognise that the Weimar government also failed politically to stop the rise of Hitler and the National Socialists due to the lack of strong political opposition within the Reichstag. This would be a good point to make, but it's important to show that while this was also a factor, the failure of the Weimar government to deal with economic problems was a more important factor in Hitler's rise to power as it was the main cause for the public's disillusionment with the Weimar government. This will show that you have considered all aspects of the question and have come to a conclusion having considered ideas on both sides of the argument.