Primary Source
• Any artifact or first-hand account of an event.
Primary sources are witnesses to the event
• Examples???
Secondary Sources
• Any re-telling of a story by someone who
was NOT present at the event and only
knows about it by studying primary
sources.
• Examples??
Primary or Secondary?
• Photographs
Primary or Secondary?
• Essays/Reviews
Primary or Secondary?
• News Reports/Newspaper articles
Primary or Secondary?
• Diaries/Journals
Primary or Secondary?
• Textbooks/Encyclopedias
Primary or Secondary?
• Clothing
Primary or Secondary?
• Statistics/Data/Maps
Primary vs. Secondary?
 I was watching ESPN and one of the reporters said he had heard
good reviews about a new sports movie. The reporter is a ….
 My friends and I found and old wedding dress in the attic that my
dad said belonged to my great-grandmother. The dress is a …
 My mom has CDs of my grandparents telling stories from their
childhoods and we listen to them at Christmas. The CDs are …
 I like to read the articles written about Hollywood actors and music
artists in People Magazine. These articles are…
 I am writing an essay on George Washington for my US History
class. I used articles from Wikipedia and information from my
textbook. These sources are…
Cross-Reference
• Comparing Multiple Sources
• The more sources that agree on the same
story, the more likely the story is true
• Examples??
Credibility
• A source’s trustworthiness measured by:
– Having qualified authors with trustworthy
reputations
– Being created during acceptable circumstances
– Including only consistent accurate facts
– Agreeing with other trusted sources (crossreferences)
• Examples??
Bias
• When a personal point of view and life
experiences influence a person’s beliefs
and/or actions.
– can be either positive or negative
– The less bias a source has the more credible it is.
• Examples??
Credibility and bias
practice
Who do you trust?
Historical Question:
Who was present at the signing of the
Declaration of Independence?
Source #1:
Source #2:
Hollywood movie about the
American Revolution made in
2001.
Book written by a famous historian
who is an expert on the American
Revolution, published in 1999.
Who do you trust?
Historical Question:
What was slavery like in South Carolina?
Source #1:
Source #2:
1936 Interview with a former slave.
Interviewer is a black man collecting
oral histories for the Federal Writer’s
Project.
1936 Interview with a former slave.
Interviewer is a white woman
collecting oral histories for the Federal
Writer’s Project .
Who do you trust?
Historical Question:
What was slavery like in South Carolina?
Source #1:
Source #2:
1936 Interview with a former slave.
Interviewer is a black man collecting
oral histories for the Federal Writer’s
Project.
1936 Interview with a former slave.
Interviewer is a white woman
collecting oral histories for the Federal
Writer’s Project .
Who do you trust?
Historical Question:
What was the layout of the Nazi concentration
camp, Auschwitz?
Source #1:
Source #2:
Interview with an 80-year old
Holocaust survivor in 1985
Map of concentration camp
found in Nazi files.
Who do you trust?
Historical Question:
Whose policies and actions made him was the
better president, Bill Clinton or George W. Bush?
Source #1:
Source #2:
Head of the local county
democratic party, in charge of
online blogging
30 year experienced national
political analyst unattached to any
specific political party
Thesis Statement
• An opinion based on credible evidence. An
effective thesis:
Takes a position
Previews evidence (but is not just a list of facts)
Addresses all parts of the question
Uses descriptive vocabulary
Spotting a strong Thesis
Writing Prompt:
Discuss the social, political and economic
effects of World War II on the United States.
Thesis #1:
Thesis #2:
World War II was a costly war
that had a major impact on the
economy of the United States.
World War II not only saved the
US economy, but also altered the
role of the American government
and the American spirit forever.
Spotting a strong Thesis
Writing Prompt:
Describe 3 physical features of Latin America
and their importance to the region.
Thesis #1:
The Andes Mountains, the
Amazon River, and Yucatan
Peninsula are the three most
significant physical features in
Latin America as shown by
their impact on population
and the environment.
Thesis #2:
Three physical features found in
Latin America are the Andes
Mountains, the Amazon River,
and the Yucatan Peninsula.
Spotting a strong Thesis
Writing Prompt:
Early on in life, people develop an admiration for
heroes. In a well-developed essay, discuss a person
you admire and why you chose this person.
Thesis #1:
One person I admire is Babe Ruth,
who played baseball from 1914 until
1935.
Thesis #2:
One person I admire is Babe Ruth, the
greatest baseball player of all time
proven by his athletic skill, knowledge
of the game, and heroic personality.