Name: ___________________________ Class: ____________ Date: ___________

Sec3 Social Studies

SBQ Skills
Writing Skills and Identifying Enhanced Reliability, Purpose and Tone
Format of Writing
A. Enhanced Reliability:
Is when an author (of a source) who is supposed to side with one group supports another opposing
group. E.g. British general condemning the British Army.
We see this type of source as having an enhanced reliability
<After you have written the reliability based on content and cross referenced to other sources.>
Infer I can also infer that the source has enhanced reliability.
Provenance He is a British general but he is not supporting the British but instead supporting the
other (or opposing) side.
Support The source says that .
Explain This means that what he mentions becomes more reliable as he does not seem to have a
reason to condemn his own organisation. Since he is a general from the army, he has an in depth
knowledge of how the army works, therefore what he says can be depended on as evidence as to
what is really happening within the oreganisation, that is, the British army.
Conclude therefore what he says is reliable / can be trusted / has enhanced reliability / is not
surprising.
B. Purpose (PAMOSE)
Purpose shows the intention of the author of the source. Thus, this hidden intention always makes a
source unreliable no matter what the circumstances.
Purpose : The source is trying to convince
Audience: the British people / Government / the British army
Message: that they have done wrong during the Bloody Sunday incident
Outcome: so that they will admit their mistake and be punished for what they had done.
Support: This can be seen by what the source says
Explain: This means that the author of the source the General is exposing the crimes that the
British Army had done. By doing so it is hoped that the Army will be charged in court for the murders
of innocent people in the Bloody Sunday incident.
Conclude: Thus the source is not reliable due to the purpose. Therefore, I am surprised that the
general said this as he is supposed to support the army.

C. Tone (I.S.E)
Tone refers to the emotional state of the author of the source. His emotional state will determine
whether the source (or what he said) is reliable or not. An overly angry / unhappy / sad /
disappointed person will be showing emotions in his words when he speaks. This may render the
source unreliable.
Also if the author is overly praising something, he may also not be reliable because he is
exaggerating. This makes what he says also unreliable.
Infer I am surprised by the source. I can infer that the source has a negative / blaming / accusatory
/ contemptuous / condemning / sarcastic tone.
Support The source uses very emotional and value laden words such as . And
Explain This means that the author of the sources does not support the British Army and is
condemning their actions in the Bloody Sunday Incident. He is making it a point to discredit the
British Army for their actions as he sees it as utter disregard for the law. Therefore, we can see that
he is biased against the Army and wants to seek justice for the crimes that it committed.
Conclude: Thus the source is not reliable as the tone is rather emotional and biased. Therefore I am
surprised by what the general said.

Now practice writing the above skills so that you can achieve the higher level marks in reliability
questions.