What is the most effective way to analyse a primary source in order to maximise my marks for the exam?

When analysing a source question, you must understand the two-fold approach to the question at hand. For example, most source questions will follow the structure, 'with reference to the sources and your understanding of the historical context, assess the value of these sources to a historian studying...' Firstly, evaluate the provenance of the source, it is important to note who made the source and how they are relevent? What type of source is it, for example a newspaper, and when the source was produced? Ensure you understand the purpose of the source, what is the author trying to do and who is the audience? However, the trick for provenance here is to make sure you always relate your answers back to how valuable it makes the source. For example, how does the type of source affect the accuracy, what is the historical context at the time the source was produced? After evaluating the provenance, ensure you always link back to the tone of the source (make yourself a tone back of words for future essays so you have different adjectives to describe the sources). The most effective way to analyse tone is to question how does the tone support the purpose and arguments of the source? I would then go into a paragraph analysing the source, pick out 3-4 key arguments from the source and use quotes to back up your main point for eac arguments. Ensure you can extrapolate significant arguments that relate back to the topic of the question and use specific evidence to support this throughout. Finally, I would conclude with a short statement/summary evaluating how valuable the source is.