How would you approach a source question?

I would first ask the student what exam board the question is from. I would also ask the student whether the source was written or visual, as there can be different approaches taken depending on the source medium. Regarding a written source, I would tell the student to consider the author of the source and the context in which it was produced, as this can show us whether a source is ideologically tainted. It is important to remember that a source will always have a bias, but it is up to the student to work out to what extent. I would ask the student to consider why the source was produced, and use the four W's - WHY, WHEN, WHAT and WHO to allow them to take an in depth look at the source. I would also ask the student to consider how the source can be useful even if it is a piece of propaganda, or if it is inaccurate factually. Moving on to discussing a visual source, I would ask the student to think about the wider picture when looking at the source. Whilst the context of production is also important to consider, when looking at a visual source is it arguably more important to consider what is being implied, and look for the underlying messages within the image. More often than not, visual sources are pieces of propaganda, so it can be useful to think about why the image was produced and what it means in relation to the historical context and the question being asked. Finally, I would ask the student to try to link the source to their existing historical knowledge.