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Dr. Dube, History 101, Spring 2017
Writing Assignment
The writing assignment for this course will consist of two papers. The first is due February 17, 2017.
The second paper is due April 14, 2017. Each paper is worth 30% of your final course grade. Each of
the two papers should be 1.5-2 pages. Both require you to evaluate a primary source. For Paper I,
use Document 2-3 and for Paper II, use Document 10-2 in the assigned primary source text:
Walter D. Ward and Dennis Gainty, Sources of World Societies, vol. I, 2nd edition (Bedford/St. Martins,
2011) ISBN: 978-0312569709. You will be required to submit electronic copies of your papers to
Safe Assign on Blackboard and to submit hard copies in class.
Writing a Primary Source Evaluation
I. WHAT IS A PRIMARY SOURCE?
A primary source is a record left by a person or group who participated in or witnessed an
historical event or who provided a contemporary expression of the ideas or values of the
historical time period under examination.
Examples of primary sources include letters, autobiographies, newspapers, diaries,
government documents, minutes of meetings, or books written about the topic at that time.
Non-written sources include audio recording (such as music, radio programs, taped
interviews), films, photographs, clothing, buildings or tools from the period.
What is not a primary source? Examples include encyclopedia articles, dictionary entries, and
scholarly monographs (i.e., a book written by an historian in 2005 about World War I).
II. WHAT IS A PRIMARY SOURCE EVALUATION?
Essentially, this is an essay in which you analyze and interpret a primary source. As you read a
primary source, you should ask yourself the following questions: Who? What? When? Where? Why?
Asking these questions about the document will enable you to make a judgment as to: a) what you
can know about the past based on the document; and b) whether the information provided in the
document is reliable.
III. FORMAT
The primary source evaluation must be 1.5-2 pages long, double-spaced, written in a 12point font and with 1-inch margins top/bottom and left/right. Because this is a short paper,
any quotations should be short. No block quotes. Use footnotes to cite any quotations (direct
quotations as well as paraphrased quotes).
This paper must be written in formal English.
A hard copy of the paper must be handed in on the due date; I will not accept papers that are
e-mailed to me.
Late assignments will be subject to a 10-point penalty per day, including weekends and
holidays.
Citation: Provide a proper citation using the Chicago Manual of Style 15th edition bibliography format
(see sample citation below).
Vital Statistics: Here you will need to briefly explain what the source is. That is, who created it, when
was it published, what format does it take, etc.
Summary: This section should be a synopsis of the source. You should briefly summarize the
document. That is, explain what the document describes and says. Do not become overly detailed so
that the main points become obscured.
Analysis and Interpretation: This section is the most important one. In it, you need to analyze the
document with a critical eye, exploring hidden meanings or dominant themes or underlying values.
Consider some of the questions outline above. Finally, explore what the document reveals about the
period under consideration and the themes of World history it reveals. What interpretations can you
make? What conclusions can you draw? This task of interpretation is what historians do.
Page 1 of 2
Dr. Dube, History 101, Spring 2017
SAMPLE INTERPRETATION: (do not include the subheadings in your paper)
Citation: Hammurabi, “Hammurabi’s Code: Laws on Society and Family Life, ca. 1800 B.C.E.” In
Walter D. Ward and Dennis Gainty, Sources of World Societies, vol. I, 28-33. Boston: Bedford/St.
Martins, 2011.
Vital Statistics: This source is a letter/diary/journal, etc.
Summary: This letter/diary/journal, etc. describes … (include citations).
Analysis and Interpretation: consider the following questions in four paragraphs (include citations):
1) Who?
a.
b.
c.
Who is the author? Is the author credible and reliable? Why or why not?
What is the author’s place in society? If the author’s place in society is unknown, what
might it be, based on what is written in the document?
Who was the intended audience of the document? How might this influence what the
author did and/or did not write?
2) What?
a. What kind of document is it? Is it a letter? A report? A diary? A newspaper article?
How might the type of document affect what information is included and what
information is left out?
b. What information does it represent? Is the information correct? Why or why not? If
there are inaccuracies, might these be deliberate and why? What information does it
leave out and why?
c. How does the text make its case? What kind of argument does the text make? What
arguments or concerns does the author respond to that are not clearly stated?
3) When? Where?
a. Not just the date and place, but, more importantly, what was the context? What was
going on in the world and in that part of the world when this document was written?
How did this affect what was written?
4) Why?
a. Why was this document written? What did the author hope to accomplish by writing
this and what evidence from the text tells you this? What is at stake for the author?
Do you think the document is biased? Why or why not, and what evidence from the
text leads you to think this?
IV. HOW WILL YOUR GRADE BE DETERMINED?
Your grade will be determined by the following criteria:
Style – how well you write, if you use proper written English. Spelling, punctuation and
grammatical errors will lower your grade
Content – how well you summarize what you have read.
Analysis – how carefully and completely you have evaluated the document and answered the
“who, what, when, where, why” questions; whether or not you have provided evidence from
the text to support your evaluation/analysis
Original thinking – to what extent your paper demonstrates that you have read and considered
the information in the text and drawn your own conclusions/ judgments about the information.
Page 2 of 2
Mohammed,
Mohammed,
Mohammed,
Mohammed,
…
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