Analyzing Primary Sources
I) Initial Questions: What is basically going on here?
A) Who is the creator?
1) Gender and age? (e.g., young women)
2) Socioeconomic class? (e.g., poor farmer)
3) Degree of knowledge about her/his historical situation? (e.g., uneducated
and provincial)
B) When was the source created? (e.g., ten years after the
revolution)
C) Who is the intended audience? (e.g., the king—it is a written
plea)
II) Next-Level Questions: What can I learn from this?
A) What is the purpose of the source? (e.g., to swing public opinion)
B) What is the type of source? (e.g., a newspaper article)
C) What was happening when the source was created? (e.g.,
widespread economic depression and civil violence)
III) Deep Questions: How can I apply this?
A) What is missing?
1) Other voices? (e.g., women, the poor, minority groups, etc.)
2) Other information—and is this intentional? (e.g., there is no mention of
the previous year’s coup d’état)
3) Assumptions shared by the author’s contemporaries? (e.g., most people
believed women’s appropriate sphere was the home)
B) Can I trust this? (e.g., ask: is there an ulterior motive?)
C) What can I learn about broader society? (e.g., ask: is this
emblematic of an occupational group’s values?)
HIST 118/Ticket #2320
FA 2017
Paper #2
Due: December 4
Instructor notification (explained below): November 20
Your first paper analyzed a single primary source and critically considered its
strengths, weaknesses, and lessons for contemporary historians. Now, we
will apply those skills while connecting two primary-source accounts of an
American historical event or phenomenon.
PROMPT Juxtapose two primary sources while explaining how their
similarities and differences help advance historians’ understanding of events.
A successful investigation will:
• briefly summarize the sources.
• critically analyze their strengths and shortcomings.
• compare them, considering their author’s identities, biases, purposes,
and other relevant details.
• apply them to an historical theme (or historical themes) that we have
studied this semester.
Use the “Analyzing Primary Sources” tip-sheet as a guide.
GUIDELINES
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2-3 pages, double-spaced, Times New Roman, 12-point font., one-inch
margins.
You do not need a title page. A header—including details like the date
and course number—is gratuitous and bothersome and takes up
valuable space. Really, the only pieces of information you need are:
o Your name in the top-left corner of the first page.
o The sources (e.g., John Morrison, “Testimony of a Machinist”) in
the top-right corner of the first page.
o Page numbers in the bottom center of each page.
An example first page follows.
One primary source can come from the assigned class material but the
other must come from outside research. For help with your research:
o Consult the History Department’s CampusGuide on the Glendale
College Library website: http://campusguides.glendale.edu/
c.php?g=610376&p=4269143. Helpful websites are linked under
the “Research” tab.
o Consult with a Research Librarian. These helpful folks are located
on the third floor of the Library (i.e., the same level as the main
entrance).
You must notify your instructor what outside source(s) you plan on
using by November 20. The notification is a single sheet of printed
paper that includes a basic citation (author, primary-source title and
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FA 2017
other identifying information, medium [book, website address, etc.])
as well as the topic you plan on exploring (e.g., Second-Wave
Feminism). The notification will later be submitted with the hard-copy
paper.
A successful paper necessarily cites from the primary sources.
Moreover, information from the Shi textbook and/or Mack lecture gives
your analysis greater credibility. When referencing sources, employ
parenthetical notation rather than footnotes or endnotes. A
bibliography is not necessary. For this assignment, a correct citation
will include the author’s last name or identifying name, the work (or
lecture), and the page number (and line number if available).
Examples:
o “It must also be remembered,” Bryce writes, “that the merits of
a president are one thing and those of a candidate another
thing” (Bryce, “Why Great Men Are Not Chosen Presidents,” p.3
l. 87-88).
o The ideal of equal opportunity has always been the engine of
American distinctiveness” (Shi and Tindall, America, p. 1246).
o As Kevin Mack argues, economic motives behind late-nineteenth
century imperialism played a secondary role in the eyes of most
citizens (Mack, “Imperialism”).
For subsequent citations of the same work, only mention the author’s
last or identifying name and the page number:
o He argues that “first-rate” Americans usually devote themselves
to “the business of developing the material resources of the
country” rather than politics (Bryce, p. 1 l. 30-38).
o During the twenty-first century, America’s population grew
rapidly more diverse as immigration levels surged (Shi and
Tindall, pp. 1203-1204).
Failure to cite according to these guidelines will adversely affect your
final grade.
Your paper must be submitted two ways:
o A hard copy presented to your instructor.
o A digital copy uploaded to our Canvas website.
Consult the syllabus for grading, rewriting, and late-submitting
policies.
A SUCCESSFUL PAPER:
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addresses the prompt with a clear, concise thesis that both describes
how the primary sources advance historical understanding as well as
compares the documents.
supports that thesis with secondary- and primary-source evidence.
organizes the argument in a structured and easy-to-understand
framework. Typically, the argumentative model is as follows:
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HIST 118/Ticket #2320
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FA 2017
1) Short introductory paragraph. After some discussion of historical
context, your thesis statement should outline the argument. The
effective thesis is the key component and “secret sauce” of
compelling essays. Moreover, careful attention to the thesis will
help organize everything that follows. For this assignment, your
thesis should explain why these sources are important, how they
are similar and different, and what they tell modern historians.
2) Body paragraphs. These support and give the evidence for your
thesis statement. Avoid extraneous or unrelated points, and stay
focused on your thesis—tangents only undermine your
persuasiveness. In general, each paragraph should explain and
extend a distinct point, theme, or concept.
3) Conclusion. This very briefly restates the thesis, then extends
beyond it for the reader. Typically, a conclusion might argue why
this argument is important, or reference remaining questions, or
propose directions for future inquiry.
More specifically:
“A”
“B”
“C”
“D”
“F”
RUBRIC
Clear and focused thesis; excellent organization; ample support of
the argument (by way of extensive and appropriate citations from
the texts); concise prose; near-flawless grammar and spelling
Clear thesis; strong organization; satisfactory support of the
argument (by way of sufficient citations from the texts); concise
prose; occasional grammar and spelling mistakes
Satisfactory, if unfocused, thesis; decent organization; passable
support of the argument (by way of minimal citations from the
texts); intelligible, if at times sloppy, prose; several grammar and
spelling mistakes
Unclear thesis; lack of organization; inappropriate or poor support of
the argument (by way of excessive or negligible citations from the
texts); sloppy prose; frequent grammar and spelling mistakes
Lack of defined thesis; confusing structure and organization;
complete lack of textual citation; unintelligible prose; rampant
grammar and spelling mistakes
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HIST 118/Ticket #2320
Kevin Mack
FA 2017
John Morrison, “Testimony of a Machinist”
John D. Rockefeller, “Testimony to the U.S. Industrial Commission”
Blah blah blah. Stuff about industrialization. This is your introduction. The context bit
should be short. Get to the thesis statement: make it clear, unambiguous, confident. A good
thesis helps structure everything that follows.
Remember, keep everything double-spaced. You get the idea. Insert page numbers at the
bottom center. Now I’m just rambling.
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A Beveridge.pdf
Bryce.pdf
Bush.pdf
Carter.pdf
Chenery.pdf
A Compton.pdf
Douglas.pdf
Evans.pdf
Falwell.pdf
Friedan.pdf
Hoover.pdf
49 In-mut-too-yah-lat-lat.pdf
Indians of All Tribes.pdf
King Jr.pdf
Le Sueur.pdf
Lloyd.pdf
AMECHA.pdf
A Morrison.pdf
NSC.pdf
Rockefeller.pdf
Roosevelt, F.Four Freedoms.pdf
Roosevelt, F.Speech to the DNC.pdf
Roosevelt, T.pdf
Southern Manifesto on Integration.pdf
Stevenson.pdf
Strong.pdf
Szilard.pdf
Thomas.pdf
Wallace.pdf
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