Got Citizenship?
Post-colonial Africa
OCTOBER 24, 2013
Common Core Standards
READING STANDARDS FOR LITERACY IN
HISTORY/SOCIAL STUDIES 6–12
CRAFT & STRUCTURE:
#6 - COMPARE THE POINT OF VIEW OF TWO OR MORE
AUTHORS FOR HOW THEY TREAT THE SAME OR SIMILAR
TOPICS, INCLUDING WHICH DETAILS THEY INCLUDE AND
EMPHASIZE IN THEIR RESPECTIVE ACCOUNTS
Analyzing Sources
 How do you introduce point of view or bias in
your classroom?
1.
2.
Formal introduction and sentence starters…the
AP way
Informal application in a world history lesson
 Apartheid museum lessons

http://www.apartheidmuseum.org/
What do we need to know about
historical documents?
• They are SUBJECTIVE
• You must know that Docs are NOT Facts!
–
Diaries, letters, brochures, pamphlets, books and even charts and
graphs are all statements of opinion made by a person with a specific
perspective and a specific goal in mind.
• Docs are written by real people who have biases
based on their life experiences and political
viewpoints
• Some writers might have “an axe to grind” – an
agenda
Statement: Charles Jackson is
the best high school basketball
player in the nation.
Let’s look at the sources…
Source 1
• Charles’s girlfriend, quoted in Charles’s school
newspaper
Source 2
• Mr. Action Jackson, Charles’s father, private
conversation with a work colleague
Source 3
• Coach Jack Spratt, Charles’s basketball coach,
letter of recommendation written on behalf of
Charles to Bedrock University
Source 4
• Associated Press Poll of 100 Sports writers, published
in Sporting News
Source 5
• Mr. Phil Jackson, nine-time NBA Championship
coach, personal diary entry
Source 6
• President George W. Bush, White House ceremony
honoring Charles’s high school team as Texas State
Champions
Source 7
• Nike spokesperson, press statement announcing
Charles’s $100 million endorsement deal
Examples of phrases you can use when
discussing POV in a DBQ essay
 “It is not surprising that Source X would make this
statement because…”
 “This document is fairly reliable because…”
 “The author of this document may be biased
because…”
 “Because document 5 is a diary entry, the author is
most likely not seeking to gain publicity or influence
opinions.”
You must not only tell the POV but
need to show WHY the author has a
particular POV.
4 main methods to show POV/bias/perspective:
1. Attribution and put doc # in ( ).
Examples:
The reformer Luther explained … (doc 2).
Erasmus, northern humanist and theologian…(doc 1).
2. Authorial POV: Students show how the occupation, gender, class, religion,
nationality, political position, ethnicity, etc. influence the author’s POV
Examples:
Because Battista Guarino is an Italian humanist educator, it is natural for him
to believe that each of the parts of a Renaissance education are “activities
proper to mankind”.
“As heir to the Belgian throne, it is not surprising that Prince Leopold
supported imperialism since he wanted to increase the power and prestige of
the country he would one day rule (doc 1).”
3. Reliability and accuracy of source:
need to explain
why a writer is probably a truthful and accurate witness or not.
Examples:
We can trust Francesco Guicciardini because he is an Italian Statesman and historian.
Statesmen and historians typically tell the truth and these are his reflections written to
show what he thinks rather than to change the education system.
“Merlin is a governor general of a colony so his pro-imperialist point of view is not
surprising since his job was dependent upon the success of French imperialism (doc11).”
4. Tone or Intent of the author:
writers often use satire,
sarcasm, irony, political commentary, humor and other examples of tone to make
a point. You will need to explain how the tone changes the trustworthiness of a
document.
Example: When Montaigne uses the word “absurd” to describe the educational system
he is emphasizing his frustration and irritation with the Renaissance schools. It is likely,
therefore, that his frustration has caused him to exaggerate the extent of the problems of
a Renaissance education.
UNACCEPTABLE point-of-view analysis..
 “Louis Bernard was a French colonial official who, in his memoir,
stated that he felt France got over its humiliation by conquering
Algeria (doc 12).”
 This is simply attribution and a summarizing of what the document
said. There is no explanation as to why Bernard held these views!
 “Bernard was writing a memoir so it is objective (doc 12).”

This statement makes no effort to explain how or why a memoir would
be an objective source!
 “Since Benjamin Disraeli is a politician, he must be biased (doc 2).”

There is no attempt to explain why Disraeli may hold a biased
viewpoint!
Informal point-of-view analysis
H T T P : / / W W W . A P A R T H E I D M U S E U M . OR G /