ANALYZING
PRIMARY
EVIDENCE SOURCES
AUTHOR
Who wrote it?
What was their position in
society?
Are they a reliable source?
What other beliefs might
the author hold?
AUTHOR'S PURPOSE
What was the author's
purpose?
Why was it created when
it was?
Why has it survived?
AUDIENCE
Who is it for?
Does the audience affect
the content?
CONTENT
What's the point?
What does it not say?
FORMAT
What is the format?
Does the source's format
or genre add meaning?
LIMITATIONS
How is the author's
knowledge limited?
What other sources could
fill in the gaps?
ARGUMENTATION
THESIS
HISTORICAL
THINKING SKILLS
EVIDENCE
EVIDENCE
EVIDENCE
CAUSE
EFFECT
EVENT
What were the reasons for this event? What factors
contributed to a specific pattern or trend? What
prompted this person or group to act this way?
RESULT
What resulted from this event, pattern, or action?
What were the short-term and long-term effects?
SIGNIFICANCE
What cause seemed to be the most significant? What
effect seemed to be the most significant?
EXPERIENCE
How do assessments from historians concerning
causation differ from those who experienced the
event, pattern, or action?
PATTERNS
OF CHANGE
What changed within a specific time period?
What remained the same during a specific time
period?
What can explain why some things have changed
while others have not?
How are continuity and change represented in
different types of sources?
What might be the reasons behind different
depictions of continuity and change?
CONTINUITY
OVER TIME
COMPARE &
CONTRAST
DEVELOPMENTS
How are separate developments
from the same time period similar
or different?
EFFECT
How and why did an event or
development affect different
groups in different ways?
VIEWPOINT
How does a viewpoint compare
with another when discussing the
same event or historical
development?
CONTEXTUALIZATION
WHEN?
When and where was a source created?
WHERE?
How does the context in which a source is
read or viewed inform how it is understood?
PROCESS?
EVENT?
How do larger processes or patterns
shape specific events?
How does a specific event related to a
larger process or pattern?
INFLUENCE?
RELIABILITY?
REGION?
What contemporaneous events
influenced the source or its creator?
How does the context influence
the reliability of the source?
What was happening at the specific
place or region where an event occured?
INTERPRETATION
SECONDARY SOURCES
MAIN IDEAS
What is the main idea or
argument of a historian?
DIFFERENT
CONCLUSIONS
Why might historians develop
different arguments about the
same set of event or
development?
EVIDENCE
What is one piece of information
that supports the argument of
this historian? What is one that
undermines the argument?
PERIODIZATION
What are the specific dates chosen to start and end a
period of history? Why were these dates chosen?
What are common characteristics of a historical period?
EVENT, IDEA, CONCEPT
TURNING
POINT
EVENT, IDEA, CONCEPT
Why do different sources sometimes start or end periods at
different times?
How would choosing a different beginning or ending change
the telling of history?