Phist - Exam Tips

The focus is not simply “Korean War” or “Impact of Hitler’s rule” 

The focus should be framed as a question, such as:

“Who was responsible for the Korean War?”  

“Was Hitler’s rule beneficial to Germany?”

a) What can you infer about Source A?

You: I can infer that…. 

b) Why was this source published?

You: This source was published BECAUSE 

c) Can you trust….?

You: I can/cannot trust…

Whatever the question is asking…

answer it.

P in PAMO 

Purpose TO convince/TO persuade

A in PAMO

Audience – audience must be SPECIFIC – look at the provenance carefully to figure the audience (American newspaper – American people/UN – international community 

M in PAMO

Message – the main inference of the source (MUST BE THERE IF NOT THE ANSWER HAS NO FOCUS)

O in PAMO

Outcome – Outcome MUST be done by the audience and have an actionable impact 

Audience & Outcome E.g.

Audience: American citizens 

Outcome: By doing this, the author hopes that the American citizens will persuade the government to invade North Korea to put an end to the war.

**IT IS NOT ENOUGH JUST TO SAY ‘to support him’… You must be specific in what kind of support.

Cross-reference (CR)

a) Note what you need to have in a cross reference 
1. Answer the question 

2. Inference/message of the source 

3. Evidence + Explanation 

4. State the source that supports or challenges the main source 

5. Inference and message of the CR source – THIS MUST MUST MUST match the inference/message in 2. 

6. Evidence and explanation of CR source