How can I improve my writing in history?
NATURE
Source
Newspapers
Photograph
Posters
Statistics
Personal
accounts
Diary entry
Cartoon
Biography
Reliable
Written to inform.
It is an actual image from the time
of what is happening; can give
accurate details.
Reflect view of time, often of the
government.
Very accurate and produced by the
government. Qualitative (number)
data.
Views of somebodies experience of
an event/ time.
Give day to day eye witness accounts.
Can reflect a popular view of time of
a person or an event in a ‘joke’ way.
Well researched and therefore
accurate.
Using sources
Questions to ask of sources
Unreliable
Made to entertain and dependant
on time could sometimes be
censored.
May only show one place or one
particular time. Could be selective
and taken for a purpose.
May be one-sided and generally for
propaganda purposes.
In some circumstances could be
censored by the government.
Nature
May be coloured by hindsight– it
has been written after the event.
Only give one view and if to be
published can have an ulterior
motive.
Can be exaggerated or distorted
view of the event.
Often strongly in favour of or
against the subject in the biography.
Purpose
- What is the source useful for showing you/telling you about?
Why has this source been made?
- In what ways is the source limited?
Who is the intended audience?
- What is the purpose of the source? Why was the source produced?
What is the source?
- Who produced the source?
- When was the source produced?
Origin
- Does the author/artist offer a particular interpretation (view/opinion)?
Who wrote the source?
When was it written?
- Why does this person think that?
- Do you trust this person/source?
- What is the source trying to make you think/feel about something?
- Does anything about the source surprise you?
ORIGIN
Who produced
the Source?
When?
Where?
Under what
circumstances
Is there the name of an individual or organisation?
What are you told about who produced the Source?
Is the person in a position to be particularly knowledgeable?
Was the Source produced by someone who was there at the time, or was
it produced later?
What are the advantages and disadvantages of eye witness accounts?
Remember eyewitnesses can get things wrong or get a limited view.
Try to avoid generalised statements such as ‘Eyewitness accounts are
always more reliable than those written later because they are primary’.
Someone writing later could have more opportunity to check out the facts
(hindsight).
Was the Source produced in a context in which the person could give their
own views?
Was the person forced to follow the government view?
For example many WWI and WWII Sources were produced under strict
government censorship. They are still useful as an example of a censored
view of the time.
PURPOSE
Type
Adverts
Diary
Possible Purpose
Usually intended to persuade
people to buy something.
Written to document
somebodies life and events
that take place. Normally
written to be private.
- How similar/different are the sources?
Writing about sources
- This source suggests that…
- The evidence for this is…
Cartoons
Newspapers
Photographs
Posters
Speeches
To turn you against a person
or event by ridicule and
exaggeration, or to persuade
you to support an idea or
campaign.
Usually written to inform
people about a certain event,
but are also written for
entertainment purposes.
To give a particular view of
an event.
Usually for propaganda
purposes – to get you to
support a certain view or
turn you against the other
side.
The speaker wants people to
do something.
- I do/do not/partly trust this source because…
- This source is useful for…
- This source is limited in how useful it is because…
- This source was produced for…
- This source is trying to make people think that…
- This source is trying to show people that…
- The message that this source is trying to get across is…