Edward Jenner and the Smallpox Vaccine - GCSE 1-9 History Source Analysis

These resources are designed to help students break down the content of a visual source. The Anti-Vaccine Society image ‘The Cow Pock’ is full of suggestions and fears about Jenner’s Vaccination. The presentation highlights some of these and asks students to identify the key features of these segments. This allows the larger picture to then be pieced back together for an overall view of the sources strengths, weaknesses, uses and limitations. The youtube video briefly outlines Jenner’s role in the history of medicine. The worksheet can be used whilst working through the presentation, or afterwards as a means of checking understanding. Not all areas of the famous image are analysed in the presentation. To do so would take more than one lesson in many cases. I’d advise making this clear to students, some will be able to identify additional imagery and it’s intended purpose.