History 1960s Coursework

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QUESTION 1

     Source A is telling us that the streets of London were astonishingly empty when the Beatles were going to be appearing on a television show. This is a written source, written by Joanna Lumley for the purpose of sharing her memories. The source tells us that when the Beatles were going to appear on television, instead of the usual rush hour, people would all rush home to make sure they catch it. Joanna Lumley says: “The nation held its breath” which expresses her views on how excited the nation was. Although this tells us that some people were in fact extremely excited; Joanna Lumley and probably a number of people she knew, it doesn’t tell us how the whole nation felt about this and only really tells us how Joanna Lumley felt therefore the source is not that useful, Joanna Lumley’s memories may be distorted (her remembering how few people were on the streets) by the fact that she herself felt that excitement.

QUESTION 2

     Sources C and A are similar as they both talk about the Beatles. Source A is a written source, written by Joanna Lumley in the 1990s, remembering the events of the 1960s and the purpose is to share memories. Source C is also a written source and is how Paul McCartney describing what it was like to interact with the Beatles fans, it’s purpose is also to share memories. So, sources A and C are similar because they have the same nature and purpose. Also, they are both written in hindsight making them both even more similar. They both agree with each other, both describing the effects the Beatles had on their fans and how obsessive they could be. They are also very different in some respects, both being written from completely different points of view; they clearly both experienced very different things concerning the Beatles.

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     Sources C and B are different because they are both talking about different bands altogether. Source B is a description of a concert that had been written in the 1990s by a fan of the Rolling Stones, written to share memories of their experience in 1964, whereas Source C is Paul McCartney talking about what it was like to be confronted by fans and how he handled it and how other bands at the time handled it. Although they both describe how mad fans went for their favourite musicians, they are talking about two different groups. Also, ...

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