https://www.google.com/amp/s/m.wikihow.

com/Analyze-a-Primary-Source%3famp=1

https://www.scholastic.com/teachers/blog-posts/john-depasquale/2017/Straight-to-the-Source-A-
Primary-Source-Analysis-Guide/

Primary Source Analysis Guide

After selecting rich and meaningful primary sources, I teach students to analyze these texts in order for
them to elicit meaning and draw thoughtful conclusions. The analysis of a primary source starts with
content and context. Students first identify the author, audience, and historical context of the source.
Since an author may have a particular bias or position, it is important to teach students to identify and
acknowledge an author’s perspective or point of view as they begin to analyze a primary source.

After identifying the content and context of a primary source, students then work through a four-step
analysis process. I guide the students’ thinking with prompts and questions for each step of the process.
The four steps and questions are:

· Observe: What do you observe? Consider the images, people, objects, activities, actions, words,
phrases, facts, and numbers.

· Explain: What is the meaning of the objects, words, symbols, etc.?

· Infer: What sentiment (attitude or feeling) do you think the author is trying to convey through the
source? What, based on the source, can you infer about the historical event or time period?

· Wonder: What about the source makes you curious? What questions still remain? What additional
information would you need to know in order to deepen your understanding of the ideas expressed in
the source?

As a final step, students summarize the central idea of the source by considering the author’s message
and specific supporting details. To support students in this process, I provide them with fill-in-the-blank
prompts to concisely state the central idea.
Analyzing historical primary sources in this way tunes students’ ears and focuses their eyes to the stories
of the past. Primary sources personalize history and provide students varying perspectives of an event or
time period.

Additional Primary Source Resources

For additional ideas on using primary sources in the classroom, I recommend the following resources.

· The Underground Railroad: Escape from Slavery — This comprehensive activity includes
photographs, illustrations, and news articles chronicling the people and events of the Civil War.
https://www.carleton.edu/history/resources/study/primary/

When you analyze a primary source, you are undertaking the most important job of the historian. There
is no better way to understand events in the past than by examining the sources–whether journals,
newspaper articles, letters, court case records, novels, artworks, music or autobiographies–that people
from that period left behind.

Each historian, including you, will approach a source with a different set of experiences and skills, and
will therefore interpret the document differently. Remember that there is no one right interpretation.
However, if you do not do a careful and thorough job, you might arrive at a wrong interpretation.

In order to analyze a primary source you need information about two things: the document itself, and
the era from which it comes. You can base your information about the time period on the readings you
do in class and on lectures. On your own you need to think about the document itself. The following
questions may be helpful to you as you begin to analyze the sources:

Look at the physical nature of your source. This is particularly important and powerful if you are dealing
with an original source (i.e., an actual old letter, rather than a transcribed and published version of the
same letter). What can you learn from the form of the source? (Was it written on fancy paper in elegant
handwriting, or on scrap-paper, scribbled in pencil?) What does this tell you?

Think about the purpose of the source. What was the author’s message or argument? What was he/she
trying to get across? Is the message explicit, or are there implicit messages as well?

How does the author try to get the message across? What methods does he/she use?

What do you know about the author? Race, sex, class, occupation, religion, age, region, political beliefs?
Does any of this matter? How?

Who constituted the intended audience? Was this source meant for one person’s eyes, or for the public?
How does that affect the source?

What can a careful reading of the text (even if it is an object) tell you? How does the language work?
What are the important metaphors or symbols? What can the author’s choice of words tell you? What
about the silences–what does the author choose NOT to talk about?
https://libguides.usc.edu/primarysources/evaluate

It is important to examine primary sources with a critical eye since they represent unfiltered records of
the past. Below are some questions to consider once you've found a primary source(s):

RUSA's Guide to Evaluating Primary Sources:

Who is the author or creator?

What biases or assumptions may have influenced the author or creator?

Who was the intended audience?

What is the origin of the primary source?

What was the significance of the source at the time it was created?

Has the source been edited or translated, or altered in some way from the original?

What questions could be answered about the time period by using this source?

What, if any, are the limitations of the source?

Does your understanding of the source fit with other scholars’ interpretations, or does it challenge their
argument?

The 6 C's of Primary Source Analysis:

Content - What is the main idea? Describe in detail what you see

Citation - When was this created?

Context - What is going on in the world, the country, the region, or the locality when this was created?

Connections - Link the primary source to other things that you already know or have learned about.

Communication - Is this source reliable?

Conclusions - Ask yourself: How does the primary source contribute to our understanding of history?
http://faculty.uncfsu.edu/jibrooks/FRMS/rubricPSA.htm

The following rubric describes levels of competence in completing a Primary Source Analysis on a history
exam or homework assignment.

A primary source is something from the time and place you are studying. To analyze a primary source
historically, you need to understand all of the following:

CONTEXT: the historical situation in which the primary source was produced.

CONTENT: the major point or meaning of a primary source in its historical context. This can differ
significantly from what the primary source may appear to mean to the modern observer.

CONSEQUENCES: the effects or significance of a primary source in history.

A Primary Source Analysis should be a substantial paragraph in length (5-7 sentences). A bulleted list
(such as above) is acceptable, provided that the information in each bullet is complete. See Primary
Source for more information on analyzing sources historically.

Levels correspond roughly to letter grades (4 = A, 1 = F), although criteria will vary somewhat depending
upon the nature and level of the class.

Level Criteria

CONTEXT: thorough knowledge of what the source is, who produced it, where, when, and why it was
produced.

CONTENT: sensitive and sophisticated understanding of the meaning of the source in its historical
context; appreciation of the complexity or subtlety of the source.

CONSEQUENCES: clear grasp of the effect or importance of the source in history.

CONTEXT: good knowledge of what the source is, who produced it, where, when, and why it was
produced; no more than one of the above elements incomplete.

CONTENT: good understanding of the meaning of the source in its historical context.
CONSEQUENCES: clear grasp of the effect or importance of the source in history.

CONTEXT: good knowledge of what the source is, who produced it, where, when, and why it was
produced; no more than two of the above elements incomplete or missing.

CONTENT: adequate understanding of the meaning of the source in its historical context; some
important points missing.

CONSEQUENCES: some grasp of the effect or importance of the source in history.

CONTEXT: little or erroneous knowledge of what the source is, who produced it, where, when, and why it
was produced; more than two of the above elements incomplete or missing.

CONTENT: no understanding of the meaning of the source in its historical context; major points missing
or incorrect.

CONSEQUENCES: no or erroneous understanding of the effect or importance of the source in history.

https://www.coursehero.com/file/27560505/RPH-Syllabusdocx/

Philippine history viewed from the lens of selected primary sources in different periods,analysis and
interpretation. (Mga piling primaryang sanggunian ukol sa ibat-ibang yugto ngkasaysayan ng Pilipinas,
pagsusuri at interpretasyon.)COURSE DESCRIPTION: (Appendix of CHED CMO 20 S. 2013)The course aims
to expose students to different facets of Philippine history through thelens of eyewitnesses. Rather than
rely on secondary materials such as textbooks, which is theusual approach in teaching Philippine history,
different types of primary sources will be used –written(qualitative and quantitative), oral, visual, audio-
visual, digital – covering various aspectsof Philippine life (political, economic, social, cultural). Students
are expected to analyze theselected readings contextually and in terms of content (stated and implied).
The end goal is toenable students to understand and appreciate our rich past by deriving insights from
those whowere actually present at the time of the event.

Context analysis considers the following: (i) the historical context of the source [time and place itwas
written and the situation at the time], (ii) the author’s background, intent (to the extentdiscernable), and
authority on the subject; and (iii) the source’s relevance and meaning today.

Content analysis, on the other hand, applies appropriate techniques depending on thetype of source
(written, oral, visual). In the process students will be asked, for example, toidentify the author’s main
argument or thesis, compare points of view, identify biases, andevaluate the author’s claim based on the
evidences presented or other available evidence at thetime. The course will guide the students through
their reading and analysis of the texts andrequire them to write reaction essays of varied length and
present their ideas in other ways(debate format, power point presentation, letter to the editor of the
source, etc).
https://clas.uiowa.edu/history/teaching-and-writing-center/guides/source-identification/primary-source

Contact Information

Good reading is about asking questions of your sources. Keep the following in mind when reading
primary sources. Even if you believe you can't arrive at the answers, imagining possible answers will aid
your comprehension. Reading primary sources requires that you use your historical imagination. This
process is all about your willingness and ability to ask questions of the material, imagine possible
answers, and explain your reasoning.

As a historian, you will want to ask:

What can I know of the past based on this material?

How can I be sure about it?

How do I know these things?

Evaluating primary source texts: I've developed an acronym that may help guide your evaluation of
primary source texts: PAPER.

Purpose and motives of the author

Argument and strategy she or he uses to achieve those goals

Presuppositions and values (in the text, and our own)

Epistemology (evaluating truth content)

Relate to other texts (compare and contrast)

Ask the questions that come under each of these headings.

Purpose

Who is the author and what is her or his place in society (explain why you are justified in thinking so)?
What could or might it be, based on the text, and why?

What is at stake for the author in this text?

Why do you think she or he wrote it?

What evidence in the text tells you this?

Does the author have a thesis? What is that thesis?

Argument

How does the text make its case?

What is its strategy for accomplishing its goal? How does it carry out this strategy?

What is the intended audience of the text? How might this influence its rhetorical strategy?

What arguments or concerns does the author respond to that are not clearly stated?

Do you think the author is credible and reliable?

Presuppositions

How do the ideas and values in the source differ from the ideas and values of our age?

What presumptions and preconceptions do you as a reader bring to bear on this text? For instance, what
portions of the text might you find objectionable, but which contemporaries might have found
acceptable?

How might the difference between our values and the values of the author influence the way you
understand the text?

Epistemology

How might this text support one of the arguments found in secondary sources you've read?

What kinds of information does this text tell you without knowing it's telling you?

Relate

Now choose another of the readings, and compare the two, answering these questions:
What patterns or ideas are repeated throughout the readings?

What major differences appear in them?

Which do you find more reliable and credible?

Here are some additional concepts that will help you evaluate primary source texts:

Texts and documents, authors and creators:

You'll see these phrases a lot. I use the first two and the last two as synonyms. Texts are historical
documents, authors their creators, and vice versa. "Texts" and "authors" are often used when discussing
literature, while "documents" and "creators" are more familiar to historians.

Evaluating the veracity (truthfulness) of texts:

For the rest of this discussion, consider the example of a soldier who committed atrocities against non-
combatants during wartime. Later in his life, he writes a memoir that neglects to mention his role in
these atrocities, and may in fact blame them on someone else. Knowing the soldier's possible motive,
we would be right to question the veracity of his account.

The credible vs. the reliable text:

Reliability refers to our ability to trust the consistency of the author's account of the truth. A reliable text
displays a pattern of verifiable truth-telling that tends to render the unverifiable parts of the text true.
For instance, the soldier above may prove to be utterly reliable in detailing the campaigns he
participated in during the war, as evidenced by corroborating records. The only gap in his reliability may
be the omission of details about the atrocities he committed.

Credibility refers to our ability to trust the author's account of the truth on the basis of her or his tone
and reliability. An author who is inconsistently truthful -- such as the soldier in the example above --
loses credibility. There are many other ways authors undermine their credibility. Most frequently, they
convey in their tone that they are not neutral (see below). For example, the soldier above may
intersperse throughout his reliable account of campaign details vehement and racist attacks against his
old enemy. Such attacks signal readers that he may have an interest in not portraying the past accurately,
and hence may undermine his credibility, regardless of his reliability.

An author who seems quite credible may be utterly unreliable. The author who takes a measured,
reasoned tone and anticipates counter-arguments may seem to be very credible, when in fact he
presents us with complete fiction. Similarly, a reliable author may not always seem credible. It should
also be clear that individual texts themselves may have portions that are more reliable and credible than
others.

The neutral text:

We often wonder if the author of a text has an "ax to grind" which might render her or his words
unreliable.

Neutrality refers to the stake an author has in a text. In the example of the soldier who committed
wartime atrocities, the author seems to have had a considerable stake in his memoir, which was to
expunge his own guilt. In an utterly neutral document, the creator is not aware that she or he has any
special stake in the construction and content of the document.

No texts are ever completely neutral. People generally do not go to the trouble to record their thoughts
unless they have a purpose or design which renders them invested in the process of creating the text.
Some historical texts, such as birth records, may appear to be more neutral than others, because their
creators seem to have had less of a stake in creating them. (For instance, the county clerk who signed
several thousand birth certificates likely had less of a stake in creating an individual birth certificate than
did a celebrity recording her life in a diary for future publication as a memoir.) Sometimes the stake the
author has is the most interesting part of a document.

If you take these factors into account, you should be able to read and understand the historical
implications of your primary source