Worked examples
Two examples
Example 1
Account A · written for this example
On which point do the two accounts agree?A. The British fired first.At dawn on April 19, 1775, about seventy-seven militiamen stood on the green at Lexington, Massachusetts, as hundreds of British soldiers marched up. A British officer ordered them to leave, and many began to go. Then the British fired. Eight militiamen were killed. Afterward, dozens of men from the town swore in written statements that the British had fired first.Account B · written for this example
At dawn on April 19, 1775, British soldiers marching to Concord, where they had been sent to seize weapons stored by the colonists, found armed men gathered on the green at Lexington. The British major in command, John Pitcairn, reported that he ordered his men not to fire, and that a shot came first from the colonists’ side. In the firing that followed, eight colonists were killed and one British soldier was wounded.
B. Eight colonists were killed at Lexington on April 19, 1775.
C. The colonists fired first.
D. The British were on their way to Concord.
- When two accounts come from different sides, first name where each one stands. Account A stands with the town: the militiamen began to leave, then the British fired. Account B stands with the British: their major ordered his men not to fire, and the first shot came from the colonists.
- Now read the choices one at a time, and check each against both accounts.
- A: only Account A says the British fired first. Account B says the opposite.
- C: only Account B says the colonists fired first. Account A says the opposite.
- D: only Account B tells where the British were going. Account A leaves it out. One account saying it is not agreement.
- B: Account A says eight militiamen were killed; Account B says eight colonists were killed. Both give the date and the place. They agree.
- Where two accounts from opposite sides agree, a careful reader can stand most firmly. Where they disagree, as on who fired first, the honest answer may be that we cannot be sure from these two accounts alone. Notice too that neither account calls the other a liar here; each tells what its own side swore or reported.
Answer: B
Example 2
Account A · written for this example
Which account would be more useful for a student studying how the government explained its action?A. Account AIn 1924, Congress promised the veterans of the First World War a bonus, to be paid in 1945. By 1932, in the Great Depression, many of them had no work. In the summer of 1932, thousands of veterans, some with their wives and children, came to Washington to ask that the bonus be paid early. They camped in shacks they built themselves. On July 28, soldiers under General Douglas MacArthur drove them out with tear gas, and their camps were burned.Account B · written for this example
On July 28, 1932, President Herbert Hoover ordered the army to clear the marchers who had camped in Washington, after a clash with the city police. In a statement that day, Hoover said that “a considerable part of those remaining are not veterans; many are communists and persons with criminal records.” He said the government had acted to restore order in the capital.
B. Account B
C. Both equally
D. Neither, because both lean
- Quiz 2’s rule, sharpened in Quiz 8: reliable for what? Do not ask which account is true in general. Ask which one fits the question.
- The question is about how the government explained what it did. So look for the government’s own words.
- Account A tells the veterans’ side: the promised bonus, the hard times, the camps, the tear gas. It is useful for the marchers’ story, but it gives no explanation from the government.
- Account B quotes President Hoover’s own statement from that day: that many of the marchers were not veterans, and that the army was restoring order. That is the government’s explanation, in its own words.
- D is the trap. Both accounts lean, but a source that leans is still evidence of something. Hoover’s statement is weak evidence of who the marchers really were, and excellent evidence of how the government explained its action.
- So the answer is B. If the question had been “what did the marchers want?”, the answer would be Account A. Match the source to the question.
Answer: B
Where this is taught: Skills Quiz 8, Point of view and bias: First, the idea · Skills Quiz 8: the worked example · Skills Diagnostic, Part 8
In your Kaplan book: Unit 3, Chapter 1, Lesson 5: Analyze Relationships Between Materials · Map of the Terrain, topic 8: Point of view, purpose, and bias
The drill
Ten questions
How many:
Read what is in the box first. Then tap your answer; a few questions ask you to choose words from a drop-down instead, the way the GED test does. Press Check my answers at the bottom.Read what is in the box first. Circle your answer; where there are brackets, circle the choice that fits. The answer key, with the reasoning, is on the last page.