A quotation only earns credit when you explain why it matters to the question. The method has three parts: quote briefly, say what it shows, and link it back to the question. This lesson also keeps three things apart: established fact, a source’s viewpoint and your own interpretation.
It belongs to writing and answer development and uses the reading habits from evidence and source interpretation.
What does the quote, show, link method look like?
- Quote only the short phrase you need, in quotation marks.
- Show what the phrase tells you. Is it a fact the writer states, or the writer’s viewpoint? What can you infer about the writer or the situation?
- Link that inference to the question, ideally with a second piece of evidence that agrees or disagrees.
Worked example
Both extracts below are invented for teaching and are not real documents. They belong to the invented Port Marlow dock dispute of 1926.
The pay cut was announced on 1 March and the strike began on 3 May. Outside workers arrived on 17 May and unloading ran at about half speed. The fund was empty by 12 June.
Source A (invented union leaflet, late May 1926): “We will not unload a single crate until the cut is withdrawn.”
Source B (invented letter from a shipping firm, early June 1926): “The port has not lost a single day’s trade.”
Question: How reliable is Source B about the effect of the strike on the firms?
Quote: The firm writes that “the port has not lost a single day’s trade”.
Show: This is the firm’s own claim. It tells us what the firm wanted to say in public: that the strike had failed to hurt it. It is a viewpoint, not an established fact, because the writer has an interest in sounding unharmed.
Link: Other evidence disagrees. Outside workers arrived on 17 May, and unloading ran at about half speed. A port working at half speed has lost trade capacity, so the claim looks exaggerated. This suggests Source B is better evidence of how the firm wanted to appear than of what the strike did to it.
Notice the three layers: the source’s claim, the fact from other evidence and the interpretation that links them.
The mistake to watch for
Mistaken use: Source A says “We will not unload a single crate until the cut is withdrawn.” This shows the dockers were angry. The strike began on 3 May.
The student quoted well but stopped at “angry”, which is a vague guess. The final sentence changes the subject to a date. The correction is to say what the line shows about the situation, then link it to the question.
For example, if the question asks about the union’s attitude to compromise: “This shows an early firm demand for full withdrawal. Yet the agreement on 19 June accepted a reduction to 5%, so the union’s position changed over time.”
Check yourself
1. Which is the better quotation choice for Source A: the whole leaflet or “not unload a single crate”?
Show answer
The short phrase “not unload a single crate”. It carries the point about the union’s stated position, and leaves you space to explain it.
2. Is “the port has not lost a single day’s trade” established fact or viewpoint? Say why in one sentence.
Show answer
It is a viewpoint. It is the firm’s own claim, written by a party with an interest, and other evidence (half-speed unloading) does not fit it well.
3. Write a “link” sentence connecting Source A to the question “Why did the strike last until 19 June?”
Show answer
For example: “The demand to withdraw the cut entirely suggests the union would not settle early, which helps explain why the strike ran for seven weeks before the compromise.” Any link tying the quote to the length of the strike is acceptable.
Where does this lead next?
The final skill is repairing your own draft: revise an unsupported assertion in an original answer. Try the full integrated practice set after that.
A teacher in online one-to-one History tuition can give you fresh invented sources each session, so you rehearse the method without relying on memorised examples.