History Essay

Hi, I need help! I've got a history homework due tomorrow and I don't know what to write. Could anyone help me out? The essay needs to be roughly a page long.

The question is: Why do Source C and D have different views about the conditions of workhouses?

Questions to answer:
What is the message that each source is trying to say?
Why do they have different messages?
What are its strengths and weaknesses of each source?
Which view of the workhouse do you think is most likely to be true ?
Conclusion?

Source C:
What was the menu today, Tuesday? Roast mutton and potatoes, with bread. The young men and women each had four and a half ounces of meat, twelve ounces of potatoes, and four ounces of bread. For breakfast the ration was four ounces of bread, one pint and a half of porridge or one pint of cocoa; and for supper it will be six ounces of bread and one pint and a half of broth.
Now we reach the aged married couples' quarters- ten little rooms and a general room at the end for meals. Admirable is the only word for it. The brightly painted walls, the pictures, the furniture, the photographs and knick-knacks belonging to the inmates, who are allowed to bring in such property and arrange it as they choose. If an old couple must spend their last days in the workhouse, one could wish them no brighter or healthier quarters.
TW Wilkinson, a professional writer. Taken from his article called London's Homes for the Homeless from the non-fiction book entitled Living London (1902)

Source D:
I am writing with regard to the enquiries as to the sanitary conditions of the Cardiff Union Workhouse. The atmosphere of some of the apartments which are occupied by the invalid inmates, day and night, have become impregnated with malefic miasma, that many inmates have become diseased. Here they are living in squalid filthy lodgings and are no further away from destitution and squalor than where they previously came from.
The paupers mortality has been affected to a great extent, especially the children. It would be very desirable to reduce the number of children here or indeed remove them entirely from the Workhouse, especially as the vast majority of deaths in this workhouse are of children.
James Lewis, Doctor to the Cardiff Workhouse, writing a letter to the Poor Law Inspector, who was conducting a government enquiry into the conditions in the country's Workhouses. (1849)

I'll be very grateful if anyone could help me out as soon as possible. Thank you!

Hey! I'm not going to do your homework for you, but I can give you some pointers as to things you might want to think about

1) What is each source's message?
Source C - is the source generally positive or negative about the workhouse? What are the positive or negative aspects of the workhouse? (Think of family, separation, living conditions, possessions etc). Find a sentence as evidence for each aspect you come up with.Is the workhouse a place that the author would want you to live in?
Source D - is the source positive or negative about the workhouse? What are the positive or negative aspects of the workhouse identified in the source? Find a sentence that is evidence for each aspect. Is this workhouse one the author wants you to live in?

2) Why do the sources have different messages?
Look at the dates the two were published in - did anything happen in between those years that improved workhouse conditions? Look at who is living in each workhouse - were there differing standards for different types of people? Look at where the workhouses were located - were there regional differences between the quality of workhouses? Were some richer than others or did they receive the same level of government support? Look at who has written each source - are they both equally involved with and knowledgeable about workhouses? Have they both experienced them at the same level?

3) Strengths and weaknesses of each source
Source C - Strengths and weaknesses: again, look at who wrote the source and think about whether he'd have truly known what the workhouse was like. What audience would have been reading Wilkinsons' article? Would he have exaggerated certain aspects to make the article more interesting to read? Would his profession mean he would take great care in getting his facts correct?
Source D - strengths and weaknesses: consider the author again - is he in a good position to describe the conditions of the workhouse? Is there any reason for a doctor to exaggerate the conditions of the workhouse?

4) Which source is more likely to be true?
You need to make your own mind up on this one! Weigh up the things said in each source with what you know to be factually true, then consider the authors and their motives etc and then decide!

5) Conclusion
I would put 4) in your conclusion, and then explain your reasons why you chose that source.


Hope this helps a bit! Feel free to PM me if you want any further explanation good luck!

Thank you! These are useful tips!