GUIDES FOR CORE STUDIES 4

Analysis of Primary Materials | Textbook Notes | Writing Advice |

| Research & Writing Guides | Glossary |

Primary Sources: Historians depend on primary sources to understand the past. For a discussion of why primary sources are so important read Why Study Primary Sources?

ANALYZING DOCUMENTARY SOURCES USING A "DIALOGUE NOTEBOOK"

Your notebook pages should be divided into left and right sides. The following five questions apply to all primary sources. For any document you are studying you should make left-side notes in your notebooks to answer these questions briefly. If you have any questions or comments of your own about the material, note them on the right side.

FOR EACH DOCUMENT YOU NOTE, BE SURE TO HAVE A RIGHT-SIDE COMMENT ON YOUR UNDERSTANDING OF ITS HISTORICAL SIGNIFICANCE. Your comment should give your view of how the document could be useful for understanding some historical issue, movement, event etc.

Your notes should touch on the following areas:

1. WHAT KIND OF DOCUMENT IS IT? Is it an essay, diary, report, state paper, poem or piece of fiction, transcript of testimony or meeting etc.? The first thing to do is CLASSIFY the source.

2. WHO IS THE AUTHOR AND WHAT WAS THE MOTIVATION FOR WRITING? Identify the writer as to country, life dates, historical role, etc. The introductions in the source book and the text book should give you this information. Can you discover, from the text book background or from the content of the document, what motive the writer had? [See questions 4 & 5 below.]

3. WHAT IS THE HISTORICAL CONTEXT OF THIS DOCUMENT? What are the place and date of the document? What were the special circumstances of its writing? What was happening at the time? The introduction may give you some information, but you will also use your text book. Note the text book pages which may be relevant. Remember, the text book may not mention either the document or the writer, but you should be able to find something about the general context.

4. WHAT IS THE SOURCE ABOUT? What is its TOPIC? What do you see as its MAIN POINT or IDEA? The title is usually a good guide to the topic. Note both topic and main point or idea. If the source is an essay or other piece of persuasive writing, you will find that the topic can be turned into a question to which the main idea or thesis is an answer. State both topic and main point in your notes.

5. WHAT ARE THE MAIN PARTS AND KEY WORDS AND PHRASES OF THE DOCUMENT? Here you will note the major sections of the document and a few examples or points the writer makes in developing the main idea. It is important to note also key words, phrases, images, etc.

READING THE TEXTBOOK, LISTENING TO LECTURES, AND YOUR DIALOGUE NOTEBOOK

For each textbook chapter and lecture, use your notebook's left column for the following:

1. Topic

2. The thesis or most important organizing idea about the topic.

3. Several key events you consider are most significant for illustrating the topic and thesis.

4. Key names, words, concepts.

5. Note any primary sources from SB or the Web that may be relevant to the textbook chapter or lecture.

The right column should have your comments on why you chose the events as well as questions or ideas of your own about the material. WRITE ONE OR TWO SENTENCES ON WHAT THIS CHAPTER OR LECTURE ADDS TO YOUR UNDERSTANDING OF HOW THE MODERN WORLD WAS SHAPED.

RESEARCH & WRITING GUIDES

Prof. Currah's Writing Guide [rich with advice & information]

A Check List for Evaluating WWW Data

Guide for citing online sources