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Historical Way of Thinking. Primary Sources. Newspaper articles Journals Autobiographies Letters Paintings Pictures Sculptures News segments Eyewitness account Interview Facebook posts E-mails Tweets Instagram pictures Etc. Primary Sources.
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Primary Sources • Newspaper articles • Journals • Autobiographies • Letters • Paintings • Pictures • Sculptures • News segments • Eyewitness account • Interview • Facebook posts • E-mails • Tweets • Instagram pictures • Etc.
Primary Sources Why are they useful for studying history?
Sourcing • What background information do we know about the author or the source itself? • Leading Questions: • What is the author’s point of view? • Who wrote this? • When was it written? • We’re trying to determine the reliability of the source • Example: • Would a Facebook post about the Colts written by a Patriots fan be 100% trustworthy?
Contextualization • What was the world like at the time this source was created? • Leading Questions • What was different back then? • What else was going on at the time this source was created? • Provides us a deeper understanding of the source and what it says • Example: • According to ESPN.com, the average attendance for Colts games in 2007 was 55,531. In 2008, the average jumped to 66,300. • How can contextualization help us explain this?
Close Reading • How convincing is the source? • Leading Questions: • What evidence does the author use? • What information does the author leave out? • Helps us decide if the source is useful • Example: • ESPN analyst Mike Ditka sent out a tweet that said, “The Colts are the worst team in the NFL” • Is his argument convincing?
Corroboration • Do other sources back up what this source says? • Leading Questions: • What do other documents say? • Are they the same, or do they say something different? • This will help us figure out whether or not we should believe it • Example: • 15 out of 17 ESPN analysts have picked the Colts to finish first in the AFC South division this year • Based on these sources, can we believe that the Colts will be good this year?
Bias • Nearly every primary source has bias • Finding the bias can help us in all 4 aspects of Thinking Like a Historian • Always be looking for bias in primary sources!
Quick Review • Why do we “source” a document? • Find out if it is reliable • Why do we “contextualize” a source? • Get a deeper understanding of the source • Why do we use “close reading” while analyzing a source? • To determine whether or not the source is useful • Why do we “corroborate” a source? • To figure out if we should believe it or not • What should we always be looking for when we analyze primary sources? • Bias