primary source analysis example essay

Stay ahead of the AI revolution.

How to Write a Primary Source Analysis: A Step-by-Step Guide

If you've been assigned a primary source analysis for your coursework, it can seem like a daunting task. However, with the right approach and some guidelines, analyzing a primary source can be a rewarding and enriching experience. Here is a step-by-step guide for how to write a primary source analysis that will help you tackle this assignment with confidence.

Understanding Primary Sources

Before you begin analyzing a primary source, it is essential to understand what a primary source actually is. A primary source is a document or artifact that was created during the historical period you are studying. It could be a written document, such as a letter or diary entry, or a non-written document, like a painting or photograph.

Definition of a Primary Source

Primary sources provide firsthand accounts or direct evidence about an event or phenomenon. They are the raw materials of history, providing us with a glimpse into the past that cannot be found anywhere else.

Importance of Primary Source Analysis

Studying primary sources is an essential part of historical research. By analyzing primary sources, you can gain a better understanding of the past and the people who lived through it. You can also develop critical thinking skills and learn how to evaluate sources for their reliability and bias.

One of the most important aspects of primary source analysis is understanding the context in which the source was created. This means considering the historical, social, and cultural factors that influenced the author or creator of the source. For example, a letter written during the Civil War may have a different tone and perspective than a letter written during peacetime.

Another important aspect of primary source analysis is evaluating the credibility of the source. This means considering factors such as the author's bias, the accuracy of the information presented, and the purpose of the source. For example, a government report may be biased towards a particular political agenda, while a personal diary may be more subjective in nature.

Examples of Primary Sources

Primary sources can take many different forms. Some examples include:

• Letters and diaries - These personal documents provide firsthand accounts of events and can offer insight into the thoughts and feelings of the author.
• Official documents, such as treaties and government reports - These documents provide information about the policies and actions of governments and other organizations.
• Photographs and videos - These visual sources can offer a glimpse into the daily lives of people in the past and can provide evidence of historical events.
• Newspaper articles and advertisements - These sources can offer insight into the attitudes and opinions of people during a particular time period.
• Artifacts, such as tools and clothing - These physical objects can provide information about the daily lives and material culture of people in the past.

Overall, primary sources are a vital tool for historians and researchers who seek to gain a deeper understanding of the past. By analyzing these sources, we can gain insight into the thoughts, feelings, and actions of people in the past and learn how historical events have shaped our world today.

Preparing for the Analysis

Once you have selected a primary source, there are several steps you should take to prepare for your analysis.

Selecting a Primary Source

Choosing the right primary source is essential for a successful analysis. Look for sources that are relevant to your research question and that provide enough information to support your analysis. You should also consider the context in which the source was created and the audience it was intended for.

Gathering Background Information

Before you begin analyzing your primary source, you should conduct research to gather background information about the historical period and events it relates to. This will provide you with a better understanding of the context in which the source was created and the issues it addresses.

Identifying the Purpose and Audience

It's important to consider the purpose and intended audience of the primary source you are analyzing. Understanding the author's goals, motivations, and intended audience can give you insights into the source's biases and reliability.

Analyzing the Primary Source

Now that you have selected and prepared your primary source, it's time to begin analyzing it in detail.

Examining the Content

The first step in analyzing a primary source is to examine its content carefully. Read the document or look at the artifact closely and try to identify any significant themes or details. Look for patterns or trends that can provide insight into the author's perspective and the context in which the source was created.

Assessing the Author's Perspective

Next, consider the author's perspective. Think about their motivations and biases and how these might have influenced the source's content. Consider the author's background, political beliefs, and social status, and how these factors might have shaped their perspective.

Evaluating the Source's Reliability and Bias

One of the most critical aspects of analyzing a primary source is evaluating its reliability and bias. Look for any inconsistencies or inaccuracies in the source's content. Consider the author's bias and how it might have influenced the content of the source. Also, consider any external factors that might have influenced the source, such as censorship or pressure to conform to certain views.

Analyzing the Language and Tone

Finally, consider the language and tone used in the primary source. Look for any rhetorical devices, such as metaphor or symbolism, that the author uses to convey their message. Consider the tone of the source and how it might reflect the author's perspective and intended audience.

Organizing Your Analysis

Once you have completed your analysis of the primary source, you will need to organize your findings into a coherent and persuasive argument.

Creating an Outline

Creating an outline is essential for organizing your thoughts and arguments. Start by identifying the key themes and perspectives you have identified in your analysis. Then, arrange your findings into an outline that presents your argument in a clear and logical way.

Developing a Thesis Statement

Your thesis statement should reflect the main argument you are making based on your analysis of the primary source. It should be clear and concise and reflect the key themes and perspectives you have identified in your analysis.

Identifying Supporting Evidence

Finally, make sure to include supporting evidence from the primary source in your analysis. This will help to make your argument more persuasive and demonstrate your understanding of the source.

ChatGPT Prompt for Writing a Primary Source Analysis

Chatgpt prompt.

Compose a comprehensive and in-depth examination of a primary source.

[ADD ADDITIONAL CONTEXT. CAN USE BULLET POINTS.]

Writing a primary source analysis can be a challenging but rewarding experience. By following these guidelines, you can develop critical thinking skills and gain a deeper understanding of the past. Remember to select your primary source carefully, prepare thoroughly, and analyze the source's content, perspective, and reliability before organizing your analysis into a clear and persuasive argument.

Recommended Articles

How to write a theme: a step-by-step guide, how to write a research title: a step-by-step guide, feeling behind on ai, get the latest ai.

• What is PESTLE Analysis?
• Entrepreneurs
• Permissions
• Privacy Policy

A Step-by-Step Guide to Primary Source Analysis

Primary source analysis is what it sounds like: an analysis of a primary source. It’s beneficial to understand how to do primary source analysis correctly.

Primary source analysis is exactly what it sounds like: an analysis of a primary source.

You probably heard the term “primary source” often in school. It’s referred to as a first-hand experience or account of an event, person, or object.

An audio recording of Martin Luther King Jr’s speech where he’s famously quoted saying “I have a dream” is a first-hand account. It’s his words recorded from his mouth . Someone else who quotes it would be a secondary source.

Primary sources are critical to research . It’s beneficial to understand how to do primary source analysis and justify the source correctly.

1. Start simple

Begin by answering a few basic questions.

What type of source is it? Primary sources can be letters, diary entries, data entries, interviews, or even photographs.

Next, who created it? Self-explanatory: put down the name of the author or person who provided the primary source.

When was it created? Again, quite simple. Write down the date the primary source was created. It may be difficult to know the exact date depending on the source.

2. The context

What led the author to develop this primary source? It might be a significant event in history. Or it could be a series of circumstances. It could even be because of a coincidence. Whichever the reason write it down.

Think of it like this: the person created the content because X event was taking place and he needed to contact Y with Z information.

3. Who is it for?

You may have already done so in the previous step, making this part easier to do. But it’s relatively straightforward. Who was the piece created for?

Letters are often addressed to one person. Diary entries are often directed to no one in particular. If it’s not directly obvious, consider who it could’ve been for.

4. A quick summary

Now address what the key points of the source were.

If it’s a longer entry, try to pick out critical pieces of information that sum up the piece. Try to answer what someone, who knows nothing about the source, needs to know to understand its significance.

Keep that in mind while you dissect the article.

5. Reliability

A primary source must be reliable. But it’s not enough to say that it is.

State how it is reliable (what makes it a primary source) and then explain why it’s significant. Such as: It’s a reliable source as it was created by X during a critical time and has been verified by Y group. It’s significant because…

Consider how it helps to understand the topic at hand. If it doesn’t address anything key within the topic, it may be reliable but not significant. If this is the case, rethink the primary source.

The significance part can be determined from step 3.

6. Question everything

While you answer the above questions, stop and think. Does any of it not make sense?

This can help with reflection or bring an extra level of research to the analysis. Write down your thoughts as you read through the primary source as well. They may come in handy later.

At this point, the primary source analysis has completed. It can be as extensive as you deem fit. So long as you have followed the above steps and answered them to prove reliability and significance, your work here is done.

Each step should be repeated for every additional primary source you have.

Image: Baimieng/ Shutterstock.com

Photography Marketing Ideas For Growing Your Business

Packaging that Sells: Maximizing Brand Impact in the Marketplace

Social media swot analysis shows how marketing is changing.

How to Analyze a Primary Source

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?

Now you can evaluate the source as historical evidence.

• Is it prescriptive — telling you what people thought should happen — or descriptive — telling you what people thought did happen?
• Does it describe ideology and/or behavior?
• Does it tell you about the beliefs/actions of the elite, or of “ordinary” people? From whose perspective?
• What historical questions can you answer using this source? What are the benefits of using this kind of source?
• What questions can this source NOT help you answer? What are the limitations of this type of source?
• If we have read other historians’ interpretations of this source or sources like this one, how does your analysis fit with theirs? In your opinion, does this source support or challenge their argument?

Remember, you cannot address each and every one of these questions in your presentation or in your paper, and I wouldn’t want you to. You need to be selective.

– Molly Ladd-Taylor, Annette Igra, Rachel Seidman, and others

Analyzing Primary Sources: Strategies & Activities

When first starting out teaching with primary sources, we recommend trying out the Library of Congress Primary Source Analysis Tool (see Analyzing Primary Sources: Tools & Guides ). Below, we have compiled a rich list of primary source analysis strategies and activities developed by the Library, TPS Consortium partners, and teacher pros in the field.

Library of Congress

• 10 Ways to Enrich Your Classroom with Primary Sources – Part 1
• 10 Ways to Enrich Your Classroom with Primary Sources – Part 2
• Creating Ripples of Change with Primary Sources from the Library of Congress revising writing based on new information
• Primary Source Activities for the K-2 Classroom
• Using Claim, Evidence, and Reasoning (CER) with Primary Source Analysis
• What’s It All About? Capture the Heart of a Primary Source in a Headline

Primary Source Nexus

• 3D Pyramid created by Historica Canada
• Analyzing Primary Sources for Scientific Thinking & Organization guest post from Tom Bober
• Bloom’s Taxonomy Image Writing Prompts
• Determining the Main Idea of a Text guest post from Glenn Jensen
• Event Happenings
• Frozen Living Pictures
• Early Elementary
• Later Elementary
• Middle School
• Image Questions & Responses
• Image Sequencing Activities
• Journalistic Analysis
• K-5 Image Writing Prompts & Activities
• Let’s Recap & Primary Source Analysis guest post from Heather Klos
• Post-It App & Primary Source Analysis guest post from Tom Bober
• Predicting & Inferring with Primary Sources & Literature guest post from Kimberly Heckart
• Primary Source Analysis using Google Forms Kelly Grotrian
• Primary Source Thinking Triangle Activity
• Question Cubes
• Sensory Exploration
• Shake & Source Newspaper Game guest post from Ruth Ferris
• Using Primary Sources with 21st-Century Learners guest post from Heather Klos
• Using Skitch & Evernote to Analyze Images guest post from Kerry Gallagher
• Zoom-in to Primary Source Analysis guest post from Patti Winch
• 25 Questions to Ask Your Primary Source
• Analyzing Multiple Perspectives Worksheet
• E-S-P Analysis Worksheet
• Fishbowl Analysis Activity
• Graphic Organizer Worksheets
• HIPPO Analysis Worksheet
• Image Analysis Form
• Primary Source Investigation
• Synthesizing Sources
• T-Chart Worksheet
• Text-Context-Subtext
• Text-Context-Subtext in 3 Columns
• Thinking Like a Historian checklist
• Venn Diagram Worksheet
• Writing from Documents Worksheets

State Historical Society of Iowa

• Guided Inquiry Instructions
• Guided Inquiry Example
• Primary vs. Secondary Sources
• What is Inquiry?
• Gallery Walk
• Question Formulation Technique (QFT)
• Analyze That!
• 6-8: Gallery Walk
• 6-8: Question Formulation Technique
• 6-8: Analyze That! 

TPS UArts  Teacher Guides

• A is for Everything: How Typography Shapes our Language and Culture
• Amplifying Our Voices Through Music
• The City as a Primary Source
• Cross-Pollination: Botanical Illustrations
• Igniting Inquiry: Using Compelling Arts-based Primary Sources to Inspire Student Writing Across Disciplines
• Look Back, See Further: Studying photographs and drawing connections between primary sources from the Library of Congress and local collections.
• Pictures Worth Reading: A Teacher’s Guide to Comics
• The Power of the Poster: Connecting WPA Posters from the Library of Congress to Local Collections
• Roaring Twenties Redux: A Survey of the Arts of the 1920s
• TPS-STEM to STEAM

TPS SIUE  Resources

• 15 Things You Can Do with Narratives
• Analyzing Narratives Activity – Topic: Lincoln’s Assassination  Elementary/Middle School
• Fishbowl Analysis with Primary Sources – Topic: Poetry/Complex Primary Sources
• Mind Walk  Elementary/Middle School
• Museum Gallery Walk – Topic: Woman Suffrage  Elementary
• Primary Source Strategies and Books – Topic: “Fairness”  Elementary
• Teaching Ideas with Historic Newspapers

C3 Teachers Inquiry Design Model  

• Building Inquiries in Social Studies
• IDM At a Glance  (.pdf)
• Three Supporting Question Template  (.docx)
• Four Supporting Question Template  (.docx)
• Focused IDM Blueprint Template  (.docx)
• IDM’s Using Library of Congress Resources

Collaborative for Education Services: Emerging America

• Accessibility Resources & Tools
• Assessment Strategies
• Engagement Strategies
• Quadrant Analysis  Emerging America

Maryland Public Television

• Analyzing Primary Sources: Insights and Inquiry  self-paced online lesson
• Case Maker  civics-related primary source analysis challenges
• Inquiry Kits  Elementary, U.S. Government, U.S. History, World History

Stanford History Education Group

• Historical Thinking Chart
• History Assessments of Thinking

TPS Rockford University Videos

• Creating a Traveling Primary Source Bulletin Board  3:02
• Using Primary Sources to Teach Hometown History  2:57

TPS Civics Interactives 6 digital learning platforms with a variety of lessons/activities analyzing primary sources

TPS Western Region

• Brain Movers  47 ready-made primary source analysis activities

Right Question Institute

• Question Formulation Technique with Primary Sources

Minnesota Historical Society: Inquiry in the Upper Midwest

• Culturally Relevant Pedagogy with Primary Sources videos

University of South Alabama

• Applying Project Zero’s “Artful Thinking” Routines to Visual Images from the Library of Congress  webinar recording 34:24

Top of page

Program Teachers

Getting started with primary sources.

What are primary sources?

Primary sources are the raw materials of history — original documents and objects that were created at the time under study. They are different from secondary sources, accounts that retell, analyze, or interpret events, usually at a distance of time or place.

Why teach with primary sources?

Bringing young people into close contact with these unique, often profoundly personal, documents and objects can give them a sense of what it was like to be alive during a long-past era. Helping students analyze primary sources can also prompt curiosity and improve critical thinking and analysis skills.

Primary sources expose students to multiple perspectives on significant issues of the past and present. In analyzing primary sources, students move from concrete observations and facts to questioning and making inferences about the materials. Interacting with primary sources engages students in asking questions, evaluating information, making inferences, and developing reasoned explanations and interpretations of events and issues.

Before you begin

Successful student interactions with primary sources require careful primary source selections and lesson planning.

• Select one or more primary sources that support the learning objectives and are accessible to students. Consider your students' needs and interests and any logistical factors for using the item, such as legibility or copyright status. The Library of Congress Primary Source Sets for educators are a good place to start and the Free to Use and Reuse sets for more general audiences are another.
• Consider whether students will be able to identify point of view, put the items into historical context, and compare these items to other primary and secondary sources.
• Plan instruction, including activity types, time required, and whether students will work individually, in small groups, or as a whole class. Use the Primary Source Analysis Tool from the Library of Congress and select guiding questions from the teacher's guide to support students in analyzing the primary sources.

Engage students with primary sources

Primary sources help students relate in a personal way to events of the past and promote a deeper understanding of history as a series of human events. Because primary sources are incomplete snippets of history, each one represents a mystery that students can only explore further by finding new pieces of evidence.

Ask students to observe each primary source.

• Where does your eye go first?
• What do you see that you didn’t expect?
• What powerful words and ideas are expressed?

Encourage students to think about their response to the source.

• What feelings and thoughts does the primary source trigger in you?
• What questions does it raise?

Promote student inquiry

Inquiry into primary sources encourages students to wrestle with contradictions and compare multiple sources that represent differing points of view, confronting the complexity of the past.

Encourage students to speculate about each source, its creator, and its context.

• What was happening during this time period?
• What was the creator’s purpose in making this primary source?
• What does the creator do to get his or her point across?
• What was this primary source’s audience?
• What biases or stereotypes do you see?

Ask if this source agrees with other primary sources, or with what the students already know.

Assess how students apply critical thinking and analysis skills to primary sources

Primary sources are often incomplete and have little context. Students must use prior knowledge and work with multiple resources to find patterns and construct knowledge.

Questions of creator bias, purpose, and point of view may challenge students’ assumptions.

• Ask students to test their assumptions about the past.
• Ask students to find other primary or secondary sources that offer support or contradiction.
• Ask for reasons and specific evidence to support their conclusions.
• Help students identify questions for further investigation and develop strategies for how they might answer them.

Offer students opportunities to demonstrate their learning by writing an essay, delivering a speech taking a stand on an issue in the primary sources, or creating a museum display about a historical topic. For more follow-up activity ideas, take a look at the general or format-specific teacher's guides .

Primary Source Research

• Locating Primary Sources
• Primary Sources Online

Analyzing and Interpreting Primary Sources

• Primary Sources at Pratt Institute Libraries
• Citing Primary Sources

When first approaching a primary source it is important to consider the document itself and the time period in which it originates from.

Next, ask yourself the following questions in order to guide your analysis:

• What is the physical nature of your source? Is it a letter, diary entry, or a newspaper article? How does the physical nature of the source relate to the purpose?
• Who was the creator of the source? Does their background play a role in the creation of the source?
• What was the author’s message or argument? What is the overall purpose or message of the source? How is this message conveyed?
• Who is the intended audience of the source and how does this affect the interpretation? 
• What literary devices are used? How do these add to the source and why would the author choose to use them? 
• What historical questions can or can not be answered with this source? What are the limitations and benefits of this source?
• Does your analysis of the source conflict or agree with other researcher’s interpretations? Why or why not?

Adapted from Carleton University , Molly Ladd-Taylor, Annette Igra, Rachel Seidman, and others

Specific Examples

The above questions can be applied to any type of source, but you’ll find that certain documents lend themselves to medium-specific inquiries. Here are some further examples of questions you might ask yourself:

Photographs and Prints:

• What tools and methods were used to create this image?
• What do you see first?
• What is left out of frame?
• How might this look different if it were taken today?

Works of art:

• Is this a finished piece or a mockup/sketch?
• What materials are used and were those typical of the time?
• Why did the artist create this piece?
• How does this compare to other pieces of the time?

Letters or emails:

• Is this personal correspondence or business?
• What is the relationship between the writer and receiver?
• What information can you learn from this that you cannot find anywhere else?
• What was the original purpose of the document?
• How might the creator's biases influenced what was reported in the document?
• Who was the intended audience?
• Does the information corroborate data from other sources (i.e. newspapers, photos, letters, etc)
• Who used this and what for?
• What can we learn from this that makes it worth preserving?
• Can you think of a similar item from today? How does this differ?
• << Previous: Primary Sources Online
• Next: Primary Sources at Pratt Institute Libraries >>
• Last Updated: Aug 27, 2024 3:25 PM
• URL: https://libguides.pratt.edu/primarysourceresearch

Primary Source Research

• Primary Source Databases: Subcollections Lists
• Search Strategies

Analyzing Primary Sources

Teaching resources.

• Citing Primary Sources
• Primary Sources by Subject
• Rowan University Archives & Special Collections

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

Each historian, including you, will approach a source with a different set of experiences and skills, and will therefore interpret the document differently. While there is no one right interpretation, interpretations should still be supported by evidence and analysis. If you do not do a careful and thorough analysis, 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 knowledge on class materials and other credible sources. You'll also need to analyze the document itself. The following questions may be helpful for your analysis of the document as an artifact and as a source of historical evidence.

Initial Analysis

• What is the physical nature of your source? This is particularly important 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, written on scrap-paper, scribbled in pencil?) What does this tell you?
• What is the source's purpose? What was the author's message or argument? What were they  trying to get across? Is the message explicit? Are there implicit messages as well?
• How does the author try to convey their message? What methods do they use?
• What do you know about the author? This might include, for example, race, ethnicity, sex, class, occupation, religion, age, region, or political beliefs? Does any of this matter? How?
• Who was or is 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/artifact tell you? How do language and word choice work? Are important metaphors or symbols used? What about the silences--what does the author choose NOT to talk about?

Evaluating the Source as Historical Evidence

You'll also want to evaluate how credible the source is and what it tells you about the given historical moment.

• Is it prescriptive--telling you what people thought should happen--or descriptive--telling you what people thought did happen?
• Does it describe ideology and/or behavior?
• Does it tell you about the beliefs/actions of the elite, or of "ordinary" people? From whose perspective?
• What historical questions can you answer using this source? What are the benefits of using this kind of source?
• What questions can this source NOT help you answer? What are the limitations of this type of source?
• If we have read other historians' interpretations of this source or sources like this one, how does your analysis fit with theirs? In your opinion, does this source support or challenge their argument?

Remember, you cannot address each and every one of these questions in your presentation or in your paper, and I wouldn't want you to. You need to be selective.

Credit: Thank you to Carleton College's History Department for permission to adapt their resource " How to Analyze a Primary Source ." (Minor additions or changes made to the original text). Original text created by Molly Ladd-Taylor, Annette Igra, Rachel Seidman, and others.

• Document Analysis Worksheets (National Archives) Worksheets for analyzing various types of primary sources. Apply 4 key principles: "1. Meet the document. 2. Observe its parts. 3. Try to make sense of it. 4. Use it as historical evidence."
• Making Sense of Evidence (History Matters) Strategies for analyzing various types of online primary sources (oral histories, films, maps, etc.).
• Teacher's Guide: Analyzing Primary Sources (PDF) (Library of Congress) Applies three key steps to analyzing primary sources (observe, reflect, question). Includes sample question prompts.
• << Previous: Search Strategies
• Next: Citing Primary Sources >>
• Last Updated: Aug 2, 2024 10:43 AM
• URL: https://libguides.rowan.edu/primarysourceresearch

• My Library Account
• Articles, Books & More
• Course Reserves
• Site Search
• Advanced Search
• Sac State Library
• Research Guides

Primary Sources

• Analyzing Primary Sources
• Introduction: What Are Primary Sources?
• Science Primary Sources
• Humanities Primary Sources
• Social Sciences Primary Sources
• Health Sciences Primary Sources
• CSUS Special Collections & University Archives, & Other Regional/Local Archives
• Analyzing Primary Sources (Humanities & Social Sciences)
• Digital/Online Primary Sources (Humanities)
• Citing Primary Resources

Primary Source Analysis & Evaluation

1. Identify

• Specific/important details
• Context or events taking place at the time.
• Why created?
• Related information (primary, secondary, tertiary).

2.   Determine

• Bias...what's present, what's missing?
• What did I learn?
• What questions arise? 
• Connection to your research.
• Synthesize and incorporate into your research. 
• Don't forget to cite!

Primary Source Analysis Worksheets

These worksheets from the National Archives are useful for sparking critical thinking and analysis. 

• Written Document Analysis Worksheet
• Photo Analysis Worksheet
• Cartoon Analysis Worksheet
• Poster Analysis Worksheet
• Map Analysis Worksheet
• Artifact Analysis Worksheet
• Motion Picture Analysis Worksheet
• Sound recording Analysis Worksheet

Look for Clues in Primary Sources

Primary sources can offer first-hand evidence to support your research and help to identify questions for further investigation. ​T hink like a detective looking for clues, when analyzing primary sources, and check out the links to primary source worksheets located on this page to help build your case. 

• Primary Source Research Worksheet Analyzing primary sources requires critical analysis and corroboration. While primary sources are the foundation for historical writing, there are potential pitfalls in using a document without having considered the following questions. Research Tip: When writing for publication, Historical scholars will frequently address many of these questions when using historical sources in their academic articles. Get in the habit early by addressing some of these questions in your research assignments.

Source Evaluation

• << Previous: Citing Primary Resources
• Last Updated: Aug 27, 2024 2:54 PM
• URL: https://csus.libguides.com/primarysources

Service update: Some parts of the Library’s website will be down for maintenance on August 11.

Secondary menu

• Log in to your Library account
• Hours and Maps
• Connect from Off Campus
• UC Berkeley Home

Search form

Primary source analysis exercises, instructions, flyer activity, photograph activity, poster activity, map activity, letter activity.

• More Exercises
• Advanced Exercises

You should always verify and evaluate the information you find. Just because something is a primary source doesn’t mean that it doesn’t have bias or that the facts shouldn't be verified. You can start by determining the purpose/bias of the author of the document. 

There are six activities to guide you through evaluating different types of primary sources including flyers, letters, maps, photographs, and posters.You may not be able to answer some of the questions.You are encouraged to search the Internet to learn more about the items to see if you can find answers or make an educated guess.

Click on the image for the item of interest and it will take you to the activity.

• Next: More Exercises >>
• Last Updated: Aug 26, 2024 10:03 AM
• URL: https://guides.lib.berkeley.edu/primarysourceanalysis

You are using an outdated browser. Please upgrade your browser to improve your experience. Thanks!

Lesson 1: Primary Sources Defined with Examples

Photograph of Senator Jacob K. Javits at the "March on Washington," August 28, 1963. Senator Jacob K. Javits Collection, Special Collections, SBU Libraries. Photograph credit: Bruce Jay Colan.

LESSON 1:  PRIMARY SOURCES DEFINED WITH EXAMPLES 1.1 What are Primary Sources? 1.2 What are Secondary and Tertiary Sources? 1.3 Genres, Types, and Formats of Primary Sources 1.4 Nature of Primary Sources

1.1 What are Primary Sources?

A primary source , according to the Society of American Archivists, is “material that contains firsthand accounts of events and that was created contemporaneous to those events or later recalled by an eyewitness.” For inclusivity, and to account for Indigenous and other cultural ways of knowing, it is important to think beyond materiality and recognize intangible and ephemeral modes of information transfer. A primary source therefore communicates an accounting of history conveyed by a witness or through multi-generational transmission.

Diversity of Primary Sources There is a diverse range of genres, content, and formats in which primary sources are represented.

For example, an 18th century memoir in original book format and an Instagram post uploaded a minute ago in digital format are both primary sources. 

Artifacts and specimens, or items found near primary sources such as tools, specimens and plant-based materials also fall within the scope of primary source evidence. 

More examples: textual or written works such as letters and manuscripts; books written at the time under study; interviews and concert performances; digital satellite maps; nontextual works (paintings, photographs); fossils; jewelry; and social media communications.

Example 1: Below is a section of a map hand-drawn by Stony Brook graduate Larry Auerbach in 1978. The entire map of the SBU campus is available to consult in Special Collections and University Archives at SBU. Some questions to consider when examining and researching this primary source might include:

• Why might have this map been drawn?
• What does it depict?
• How was it made?
• Who was the intended audience?
• What was the artist's point of view and tone? 

Auerbach, Larry. Section from The State University of New York at Stony Brook…: A Vision from the Clouds , 1978.  University Archives, SBU Libraries.

Example 2: Below is the cover of The Red Cross Cookery Book . It is thought to be published in Hong Kong and was printed by South China Morning Post in 1919. The book is available to consult in Special Collections and University Archives at SBU. Questions to consider when examining and researching this primary sources could include:

• Why was it made?
• What world and socio-economic events influenced its production?
• What does the illustration depict and convey?
• What type of information does it contain? 
• How many copies exist in libraries? What factors might account for this number?

League of Red Cross Societies. The Red Cross Cookery Book . [Hong Kong]: Printed by South China Morning Post, 1919.  Jacqueline M. Newman Chinese Cookbook Collections, Special Collections, SBU Libraries.

Considerations for Assessing Primary Sources The process of evaluating primary sources is multi-dimensional. It includes assessing physical characteristics (materiality), considering the creator's intent, determining the intended audience, and factoring in potential biases. 

It is also important to evaluate the "provenance" of primary sources. Provenance is a term frequently used in historical research and in archival repositories to refer to the origin or source of something. Custodial history and transmission of information can provide insights into the perspective of the creator and the circumstances under which a source may have been created.

1.2 What are Secondary and Tertiary Sources?

Secondary and tertiary sources can support your arguments, findings, and points of view about primary sources. 

Secondary sources are interpretative works or analyses produced through researching, consulting, and studying primary sources.  Examples include works written from a historical perspective later in time such as reviews, textbooks, biographies, and indexes.

Left to right:

1) Gelber, Sidney. Politics and Public Higher Education in New York State: Stony Brook-a Case History . New York, NY: Peter Lang, 2001.  2) Shorter, Edward, and Max Fink.  The Madness of Fear: A History of Catatonia . New York: Oxford University Press, 2018. 3) Teplitsky, Joshua. Prince of the Press: How One Collector Built History's Most Enduring and Remarkable Jewish Library . New Haven, CT: Yale University Press, 2019.

Tertiary sources are summaries of topics and subjects compiled from a variety of primary and secondary sources. Examples include Wikipedia and encyclopedia entries, timelines, chronologies, bibliographies, directories, and handbooks.

1.3 Genres, Types, and Formats of Primary Sources

Primary sources are diverse and exist in nearly all formats. They are found in many genres (e.g., fiction, interview), mediums (physical representation; how they are made) and formats (how they are accessible). 

Preservation of Primary Sources Over time, the condition of primary sources can become compromised due to age, environmental conditions, and technological obsolescence. For example, books can become brittle and dry, while equipment and formats used for sound recordings may eventually become out-of-date and unsustainable. 

To preserve sources, they may be migrated to newer formats which can increase access and reduce handling of the original materials.

Each example below is a primary source; the only difference is the way you access them. 

Example 1: an autobiography in hardcopy book format (analog: print or paper) and the digital version of the exact same work in e-book format (digital: pdf). 

Example 2: a vinyl album (analog) of a live Beatles' performance and the digital file of the same performance downloaded from iTunes.

Conservation or restoration processes can improve the physical condition of archival materials and books, and consequently extend longevity and improve access, as with papers from the Eversley Childs Collection (below).

EXAMPLES OF FORMS AND TYPES OF PRIMARY SOURCES 

To illustrate the diversity of primary sources, review the list below. 

Archives: this word has multiple meanings; it can refer to a physical place or virtual space where archival materials are maintained and stored, or a collection of materials produced by a person or organization. Examples of archival collections include:

• Film archive of programs recorded at the Poetry Center at SBU in the 1960s and 1970s  
• Papers of Environmental Defense Fund, the organization whose efforts in 1967 led to the nationwide ban on DDT and the birth of modern environmental law

Artifacts, Objects, and Biofacts: tangible items of cultural or historical significance and interest. Examples include tools, vases, and jewelry. Biofacts are natural organic materials such as bones, charcoal, and plant materials.

• Pin-back buttons with imagery and statements related to 20th century U.S. politics, events, and activism

• Skeleton of the 70 million year old dinosaur Majungasaurus crenatissimus from Madagascar, discovered by SBU paleontologists (a replica nicknamed "Stony Bones" on exhibit in the Administration Building)

Artworks : visually express ideas, feelings, and sentiments, and can document events in the form of photographs, drawings, paintings, and sculptures. Examples:

• Photographs of SBU displayed along the second floor mezzanine in the Melville Library
• Installation of the September 11 Memorial Arch situated between the Humanities and Psychology Buildings

Books: published works written during the time period of the content under study or described such as memoirs, autobiographies, and works published at the time of the event. Eyewitness testimonies can also be published in book format. Example:

• Cyclists' Paradise: A Guide for Cyclists with an Accurate Map Showing the Roads and Cycle Paths of Long Island: with Notes, Suggestions, Runs, Hotels and Time Tables Sufficient to Enable Any One to "Lay Out a Trip" Intelligently . Long Island City, NY: Issued by the Long Island Railroad Co, 1899. 

Beginning in the mid-19th century, the Long Island Rail Road produced countless numbers of travel and guidebooks touting Long Island as both an ideal resort destination and as a place to permanently reside. This map is part of an 18 page booklet that outlined a variety of routes for bicyclists to navigate the island. The roads in red were categorized as good, fair, and poor, however the small scale of the map and the blurred printing may have impacted bicyclists' attempts to "lay out a trip intelligently," as the title suggests. This book has been digitized by SBU Libraries and can viewed here . 

Correspondence: communication exchanges through letter writing in any medium from paper to e-mail to tweets. Example:

• Communications handwritten on postcards found within the Long Island Postcard Collection

Data: data sets; observations made during the conduct of experiments. Examples:

• Naturalist's Robert Cushman Murphy's field notes made during oceanic cruises in the 1930s
• Dr. Max Fink's handwritten notes and papers on psychiatric studies and experiments

Dissertations: a document often in the form of a research paper or analysis completed in fulfillment of an academic degree. Example:

• Electronic dissertations authored by SBU students between 2007 and 2012       

Ephemera: an item produced to communicate information and expected to have only short-term or temporary usefulness. Example:

• Concert poster announcing the artists and musicians performing at the 2019 Brookfest at Stony Brook University 

Government Publications: Laws, acts, hearings, and census data fall within this category. Example:

• Census data from the U.S. Government

Manuscripts: a handwritten work; an unpublished work or a book, or document created using any means.

• Illuminated manuscript leaf written and illustrated in the 15th century

Maps: graphical, visual works that show features of Earth including landscapes, topography, and geography at a specific time and from a point of view. Example:

• Burr, David. H. Map of Suffolk County from An Atlas of the State of New York: Containing a Map of the Documents Deposited in the Public Offices of the State and other Original and Authentic Information under the Superintendence and Direction of Simeon de Witt, Surveyor General, Pursuant to an Act of the Legislature; and also the Physical Geography of the State and of the Several Counties and Statistical Tables of the Same . New York: D. H. Burr, 1829. (Pictured: Town of Brookhaven, New York section)

Oral and Video Histories: interviews, discussions, and conversations recorded or documented to glean insights to a person's perspective and history.

• Conversation between James Simons and C.N. Yang: Stony Brook Masters Series

Patents: a license or government entity designating right or title for a set period, especially the sole right to exclude others from making, using, or selling an invention. Example:

• A sampling of patents filed by the State University of New York

Performances and recounting: dancing, singing, and storytelling

Recordings: Audio and video recordings of sights and sounds at the moment of capture. Speeches, performances, and lectures could fall within this category. Example:

• September 1962 audio recording of New York U.S. Senator Jacob K. Javits' announcements for his re-election campaign

Senator Jacob K. Javits campaign, 1962. Photograph from the Senator Jacob K. Javits Collection. Special Collections, SBU Libraries.

Serials: a work such as a newspaper or magazine that is published and issued at an established frequency, e.g., bi-weekly, monthly, annually. Example:

• Issues of the The Stony Brook Press, the student newspaper founded in 1979

Social Media: websites and applications that support networking and communicating timely information including blogs, vlogs, tweets, and posts to Facebook and Instagram. Example:

• SBU Special Collections’ Instagram post using an original photograph of the SB Union under construction in 1967

Visual Materials: broadly encompass a wide range of forms including films, photographs, artworks, and artifacts. Examples: 

• Interview conducted in April 2019 with SBU Alumni and Founders of the Roth Pond Regatta (30th anniversary)
• Photograph of the 1969 SBU Baseball Team

1.4 Nature of Primary Sources

Later in this tutorial, you will encounter guided questions to help you evaluate primary sources. To introduce you to the investigative process, here is a short list of questions to consider as you progress in your research.

• Who is the author or creator?
• What biases or assumptions may have influenced the author or creator?
• Did the source have influence on the audience?
• Has the source been edited or translated? Was the meaning altered?

TO COMPLETE LESSON 1:

1. Click here to access the QUIZ for Lesson 1   - it will open in a new window. 2. Answer all of the questions and submit your responses.  3. Return to this page and click below on "Next: Continue to Lesson 2."

  Next: Continue to Lesson 2... 

Home — Essay Samples — Education — Textual Analysis — The Importance of Primary Source Analysis

The Importance of Primary Source Analysis

• Categories: Swot Analysis Textual Analysis

About this sample

Words: 571 |

Published: Jun 13, 2024

Words: 571 | Page: 1 | 3 min read

Table of contents

Introduction, understanding primary source analysis, methodologies in primary source analysis, challenges in primary source analysis.

Cite this Essay

Let us write you an essay from scratch

• 450+ experts on 30 subjects ready to help
• Custom essay delivered in as few as 3 hours

Get high-quality help

Prof Ernest (PhD)

Verified writer

• Expert in: Business Education

+ 120 experts online

By clicking “Check Writers’ Offers”, you agree to our terms of service and privacy policy . We’ll occasionally send you promo and account related email

No need to pay just yet!

Related Essays

7 pages / 3286 words

1 pages / 545 words

1 pages / 468 words

1 pages / 533 words

Remember! This is just a sample.

You can get your custom paper by one of our expert writers.

121 writers online

Still can’t find what you need?

Browse our vast selection of original essay samples, each expertly formatted and styled

Related Essays on Textual Analysis

The changing experience of watching broadcast television. Based on Raymond Williams’ theory of “Programming: distribution and flow” Have you ever wondered why all the furniture of any house is oriented towards the same [...]

The process of analyzing and classifying the words based on the tags associated with the words is called sentiment analyzes. As the above statement clearly states that we will be using the lexicon-based approach, i.e. there [...]

Every nation has a common language that represents their culture, norms, identity and context. According to Chomsky (1957), “A set (finite or infinite) of sentences, each finite in length and constructed out of a finite set of [...]

How has the military been covered tahrir square dispatch ? A discourse analysis of Al- Ahram online. One of the remaining protesters ,a, Adel el - handy ,a, a 54yearold towers contractor ,a, said the soldiers had torn his [...]

World War I propaganda posters played a pivotal role in influencing public opinion and garnering support for the war effort. These posters were designed to evoke strong emotions, appeal to patriotism, and mobilize the masses [...]

In the past individuals believed that it was not important to teach young ladies. Presently we have started to understand that young ladies' instruction is fundamental. The advanced age is the period of enlivening of young [...]

Related Topics

By clicking “Send”, you agree to our Terms of service and Privacy statement . We will occasionally send you account related emails.

Where do you want us to send this sample?

By clicking “Continue”, you agree to our terms of service and privacy policy.

Be careful. This essay is not unique

This essay was donated by a student and is likely to have been used and submitted before

Download this Sample

Free samples may contain mistakes and not unique parts

Sorry, we could not paraphrase this essay. Our professional writers can rewrite it and get you a unique paper.

Please check your inbox.

We can write you a custom essay that will follow your exact instructions and meet the deadlines. Let's fix your grades together!

Get Your Personalized Essay in 3 Hours or Less!

We use cookies to personalyze your web-site experience. By continuing we’ll assume you board with our cookie policy .

• Instructions Followed To The Letter
• Deadlines Met At Every Stage
• Unique And Plagiarism Free

• Latest Posts
• Undergraduate Bloggers
• Graduate Bloggers
• Study Abroad Bloggers
• Guest Bloggers
• Browse Posts
• Browse Categories

Grant Golub

March 6th, 2022, primary source analysis – what to expect.

0 comments | 6 shares

Estimated reading time: 10 minutes

Working with primary sources is at the heart of the historical craft. Primary sources – artifacts, artwork, documents, diaries, manuscripts, oral histories, speeches, and transcripts are a few examples – are the records historians use as evidence to make arguments about the period of study they are working on. As opposed to secondary sources, or works that historians write about their subjects, primary sources contain information that was created at the time being examined or investigated. Therefore, understanding how to work with them is vital for history students at LSE or those aspiring to be professional historians.

When LSE history students work on their assignments, they use primary sources to build and further the arguments they are making. They are the main source of evidence and understanding to make their interpretative claims. But how should one go about analysing them?

To consider this important issue, let’s take a presidential speech as an example. When a student considers a source like this, the first thing they should ask themselves is “What is this speech saying?” What is the president talking about here? Are they trying to argue for a specific policy? Are they trying to build electoral support? Is it a campaign address? Are they making an announcement? Establish what the purpose is and what the specifics are.

Determining what’s going on in primary sources is crucial for crafting historical arguments and writing your assignments and essays.

Once that’s done, look at  how  the president is trying to accomplish their task. Are they using evocative imagery? Do they use anecdotes and stories? What about statistics or numbers? How are they building their case and what is their speaking style? These are important rhetorical strategies leaders employ to accomplish their political and policy goals.

From there, examine the context of the speech. For example, if it has to do with foreign policy, look at that country’s global position and relations with the wider world. If, for example, it’s an American presidential speech during the Cold War, what are U.S. relations like with the Soviet Union at the time? Which stage of the Cold War is taking place? What are that president’s major foreign and defence policies? How are they trying to accomplish their international objectives? These are important contextual questions to consider when trying to ascertain the wider importance of the source in question.

Determining what’s going on in primary sources is crucial for crafting historical arguments and writing your assignments and essays. Far from being a secondary skill, working with primary sources is crucial for developing your analytical skills and excelling in your degree. Focus on honing these abilities as you work your way through LSE and start building your career.

About the author.

My name is Grant Golub and I'm a PhD candidate in the Department of International History at LSE. My research focuses on US foreign relations and grand strategy, diplomatic history, and Anglo-American relations.

Leave a Reply Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Notify me of follow-up comments by email.

Notify me of new posts by email.

Related Posts

Conducting PhD Archival Research – Things to Know

June 9th, 2021.

Crafting the PhD Upgrade Chapter – Things to Think About

May 5th, 2021.

Important LSE Resources for PhD Students

August 4th, 2020.

Inside the PhD Chapter Writing Process

June 4th, 2021.

Bad Behavior has blocked 1549 access attempts in the last 7 days.

ENC 1101- Prof. Berkley

• Log In Required

Suggested Databases

• Argumentative Essay With Sources
• Image Analysis Essay
• About MLA This link opens in a new window
• MLA Template
• How Do I Cite?

Source Analysis Essay

Assignment description:.

The Source Analysis Essay will examine two  articles on the same subject with differing, or preferably, opposing viewpoints. Your essay will examine the rhetorical strategies used and and will determine which viewpoint is most effectively portrayed. The essay should be a minimum of 2 to 3 pages and include two sources.

Assignment Outcomes:

The Source Analysis Essay should demonstrate your ability to analyze rhetorical strategies and an understanding of MLA format and citation.

Write an essay in which you analyze these articles, putting them into conversation with each other with what you know about effective writing. Evaluate the way these authors go about their inquiry, and how effectively their texts achieve their purposes with their intended audiences. You should use quotations from these texts to back up your assertions about them. By the end of the essay, you should state definitively which text is more rhetorically effective and why.

What the Essay Should NOT Do:  

The Source Analysis Essay should not summarize the articles. Summary may be necessary in service to a point you are making, but essays that rely on summary will not be successful. Look at the component elements of the arguments presented and analyze their impact on the overall effectiveness.

Need a topic? Check out the Library  Topic Guides

• Issues & Controversies This link opens in a new window Issues & Controversies offers a wealth of current topics research information, including pro/con discussions of hot issues, newspaper editorials, numerical snapshots of key topics, photos and graphics, and selected historical source documents.
• CQ Researcher This link opens in a new window Learn about major issues from current and historical perspectives and the inner workings of the U.S. government from authoritative, accessible, and unbiased sources.
• Academic Search Complete This link opens in a new window Academic Search Complete provides full-text for more than 4,650 publications, including full-text for more than 3,600 peer-reviewed journals. PDF backfiles to 1975 or further are available for well over one hundred journals, and searchable cited references are provided for more than 1,000 titles.
• Statista This link opens in a new window Statista provides statistics, reports, forecasts and studies from market researchers, organizations, specialist publications, and government sources. Strong in business and current events.
• << Previous: Log In Required
• Next: Argumentative Essay With Sources >>
• Last Updated: Apr 18, 2024 10:58 AM
• URL: https://libguides.broward.edu/berkley

• Source Criticism

How to analyse historical sources

When using sources for evidence, you need to be able to demonstrate your knowledge of them by identifying their historical background.

To do this, you need to analyse your sources.

What is 'source analysis'?

Analysis is the ability to demonstrate an understanding of the elements that contributed to the creation of a historical source.

It answers the question: 'Why does this source exist in its current form?'

There are six analysis skills that you need to master:

How do you analyse a source?

In order to demonstrate a knowledge of the six analysis skills, you need to do two things:

• Carefully read the source to find information that is explicit and implicit
• Conduct background research  about the creator  of the source

After completing these two steps, you can begin to show your understanding about the six features of historical sources.

Based upon what you found in your reading and background research, answer the following questions for each of the six analysis skills.

Watch a video explanation on the History Skills YouTube channel:

Watch on YouTube

How do you write an analysis paragraph?

Once you have been able to answer all of the question above, you are ready to demonstrate your complete source analysis.

An analysis paragraph should demonstrate your awareness of all six analysis skills in a short paragraph.

This letter was written by John Smith to record the events of the battle for his family at home . It is from the perspective of an Australian soldier who had just experienced the Gallipoli landing on the 25th April, 1915 , and specifically mentions “running like hell” for survival.

What do you do with your analysis?

Your source analysis becomes a vital step in your ability to evaluate your sources in your assessment pieces .

This is most important in written essays , source investigations and short response exams .

You will use different parts of your analysis to help justify a source's usefulness and reliability .

Test your learning

No personal information is collected as part of this quiz. Only the selected responses to the questions are recorded.

Additional resources

What do you need help with, download ready-to-use digital learning resources.

Copyright © History Skills 2014-2024.

Contact  via email

Department of History

Primary source essay.

This 3000-word source-based essay focuses on one primary source to shed light on material evaluation in the Enlightenment. To achieve this, the essay will also draw on other primary and secondary sources.

The essay will be marked using the usual history-specific marking criteria for written work . That said, a primary-source essay is a particular type of essay that calls for specific tasks that are not relevant to all other essays.

Like any other essay, this one needs to be an argument--it needs to state a thesis and make a case for that thesis. Unlike other essays, the argument of this essay will centre on a primary source. More details on the task are below.

The thesis. This needs to be related to the theme of the module, namely material evaluation in the Enlightenment. Beyond that, you are free to choose a topic as a function of your own knowledge and interests. It may help to consider some of the theses we have encountered in the secondary readings, such as Emma Spary's thesis that botanical expertise replaced scholarly expertise as the main way of evaluating coffee in France around 1700; or William Ashworth's thesis that the hydrometer was part of the political struggle between producers and the state in eighteenth-century Britain. Your thesis will probably be less ambitious than these, given the constraints of the assignment. But you may find these theses (by Spary, Ashworth, and the other historians we have read) a useful model to follow. The note under 'Contextualise' below may also be useful.

The primary source. This may be any primary source related to material evaluation in the Enlightenment. The one limitation is that it cannot be one of the primary sources we have discussed in detail in seminars, such as Robert Boyle's 1675 article on gold assaying in the Phil. Trans ., or Henry Drax's instructions on the management of a Barbadian sugar plantation. More precisely, you cannot choose the passages from these sources that we discussed in detail in class. For example, you may choose the sections on beer in Leadbetter's Royal Gauger , but not the sections on the distillery. The source may be a written document, but it may also be an object, diagram, painting, or any other historical artefact that sheds light on the past.

Finding a primary source . One way to find the source is through a relevant secondary source. If you are interested in connoisseurship in the fine arts, for example, you might look through the Warwick library catalogue for books on this topic related to the eighteenth century. You might then find, for example, Carol Gibson-Wood's book Jonathan Richardson: Art Theorist of the English Enlightenment , which in turn discusses many relevant primary sources. Another approach is to start with the primary sources themselves by searching through collections of relevant sources. Examples are:

The online archive of the Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society of London

Early English Books Online , a database of early modern English texts

The online archive of the English East India Company

Eighteenth-century encyclopaedias, such as Chambers' Cyclopaedia , the fourth edition of which has been digitised

The catalogues of public museums, such as the Oxford Museum for the History of Science and the British Museum

Virtual exhibitions, such as the Intoxicating Spaces exhibition or the Sugar and the Visual Imagination exhibition

Analysing the primary source. Analysing primary sources is more an art than a science, and there are no hard-and-fast rules about how to do it. However, for the purpose of this essay you should do at least the following:

Interpret. Decipher the source so that it can be understood by a non-specialist audience. This may mean explaining technical terms, rephrasing complicated sentences, identifying rhetorical devices or figures of speech, or (for long texts) summarising the argument or narrative.

Explain. Get behind the source to understand its conditions of production. Who was the author? Who was the intended audience? Why, when, how, and where was the source made? Which genre does it belong to (encyclopaedia article, scientific article, merchant correspondence...) and how does it fit into the history of that genre?

Contextualise. Relate the source to wider historical developments of the kind that we have covered in the module, such as the the growth of the fiscal-military state, the growth of a consumer culture, and the outbreak of the French Revolution.

The essay could be structured around these three tasks, with one section on each - but it does not need to be. The important thing is to do these three things as part of your research, and to integrate them into your argument.

Other sources. Although the essay should be centred on one primary source, it does not need to be limited to that source. Indeed, you will need to draw on other primary and secondary sources to make sense of the primary source that you focus on. The expectation is that you will draw on five (or more) secondary sources and one (or more) additional primary sources. The secondary sources can be made of books, book chapters, journal articles, or chapters in edited collections.

Meeting with tutor. All students are strongly encouraged to meet the tutor (during office hours ) to discuss their choice of primary source. This meeting can take place any time in term 2 before the essay deadline, but should be around the time you decide upon that source.