OPCVL
Learning Objective: Understand how to assess the value and limitations
of a source with reference to its origin, purpose and content
OPCVL
• What’s the point?
• All sources must be approached with caution
• When reading a source one must consider who
wrote it, why they wrote it, what is included, what
is left out, and how helpful this source will be to a
historian’s investigation
• (N.B. What a historian is trying to learn is crucial to
how we must understand a source’s values and
limitations.)
ORIGINS
• Author
• Date of original publication
• Date of any additional additions
• Location of publication
• How might the time, place, and author of this
work affect the work produced?
• For example: Mao Zedong or Ho Chi Minh will have
different interpretations of their respective civil
conflicts than the American government officials who
supported interference with them
PURPOSE
Why did the author write/draw/compose this
work?
* Who is the intended audience?
* Does this author have something to hide?
* Is he/she trying to convince anyone of
something?
* For example: Is this a textbook that is written
to inform a high school student or a press
conference given to reassure the American
public?
Content
• What is the message of the source?
• How is the message conveyed through pictures and images?
• What is the tone?
• Is the language objective or does it sound exaggerated or onesided?
• What information or examples does the author use to
support their point?
A Definition of Primary and Secondary Sources
• a. Primary – letter, journal, interview, speeches, photos, paintings, etc.
Primary sources are created by someone who is the “first person”; these
documents can also be called “original source documents.” The author or
creator is presenting original materials as a result of discovery or to share
new information or opinions. Primary documents have not been filtered
through interpretation or evaluation by others. In order to get a complete
picture of an event or era, it is necessary to consult multiple—and often
contradictory—sources.
• b. Secondary – materials that are written with the benefit of hindsight and
materials that filter primary sources through interpretation or evaluation.
Books commenting on a historical incident in history are secondary
sources. Political cartoons can be tricky because they can be considered
either primary or secondary.
A Note on Primary and Secondary Sources
•For the purposes of evaluation, a source has
no more or less intrinsic value to historians
just because it is primary or secondary.
•Always focus on the specific origins and
purpose of the source – not whether it is
primary or secondary. You do not need to
give this distinction in your answer.
VALUE
• How is this source useful to your investigation?
• What is the author’s purpose and how can that
perception aid your investigation?
• Has this work been particularly well researched?
• Is this a secondary source? If so, does that allow
the author distance to create an objective
argument?
• Is this a primary source? If so, does that allow
the author to provide a viewpoint that no one
else can? (since they experienced it for
themselves?)
LIMITATIONS
• What about this source hinders your
investigation?
• Does this author only present part of the story?
• If this is a secondary source, does the author
deliver only part of the story? (i.e. Are there any
important details/perspectives missing?)
• If this is a primary source, what viewpoint does
the author present? What is missing from
his/her side of the story?
Limitations Explained
• The task here is not to point out weaknesses of the
source, but rather to say: at what point does this
source cease to be of value to us as historians?
Limitations Explained
• With a primary source document, having an
incomplete picture of the whole is a given because the
source was created by one person (or a small group of
people), naturally they will not have given every detail
of the context. Do not say that the author left out
information unless you have concrete proof (from
another source) that they chose to leave information
out.
Limitations Explained
• Also, it is obvious that the author did not have prior
knowledge of events that came after the creation of the
document. Do not state that the document “does not explain
X” (if X happened later).
A Note on Bias
• Being biased does not limit the value of a source! If
you are going to comment on the bias of a document, you
must go into detail. Who is it biased towards? Who is it
biased against? What part of a story does it leave out?
Sometimes a biased piece of work shows much about the
history you are studying.
How to write about: ORIGIN
• In one or two sentences state the
origins of the source.
• What type of document is it?
• When and where was it produced?
• Who produced it?
How to write about: PURPOSE
• In one or two sentences state the purpose of the source.
The purpose of the source…
• Who was the intended audience?
• For what purposes was it written?
• Key Words to possibly use here:
Persuade
Inform
Debate
Convince
Detail
Outline
Communicate Describe
Entice
Sell
Rally
How to write about: VALUE
• In one or two well-written paragraph(s) explain the
value of the document for historians. Provide and
explain specific evidence from the document to
support your answers. A minimum of two values must
be proven with reference to origin, purpose, and
content.
• With reference to the origin and purpose, what is the
value of the document for historians studying this
event?
How to write about: Value (continued)
Example:
• This document is valuable because it was written
______________________ and the author was
____________________. This shows that
____________________.
• Key Words to possibly use here:
Bias
Propaganda Public Writing
Historical Perspective
Advertisement
Campaign
Letter
Memoir
Private Writing
Written at the time of the events
How to write about: Limitations
• In one or two well-written paragraph(s) explain the
limitations of the document. Remember to make specific
references to the document in your response. A minimum
of two limitations must be proven, with reference to origin,
purpose, and content.
• With reference to the origin, purpose, and content what are
the limitations of the document for historians studying this
event?
How to write about: Limitations (continued)
Example:
• Because this document was written by _______________ in
________________, it has a limitation of ___________________.
• Key Words to possibly use here:
Bias
Propaganda
Advertisement
Historical Perspective
Campaign
Letter
Memoir
Private Writing
Public Writing
Written at the time of the events
Template
This origin of this source is a _____________
that was written by ____________in
____________in___________. Its purpose
was to _______________ so _____________.
A value of this is that it __________________.
However, a limitation of the source is that it
___________________.
Example
The origin of the source is a letter that was written
by Thomas Jefferson in 1787 in Virginia. Its purpose
was to convince George Washington to veto the
National Treasury so there would be no central
bank. A value of this document is that it shows how
the anti-Federalists were feeling about Alexander
Hamilton's idea for a National Treasury. However, a
limitation of the source is that it only shows Thomas
Jefferson's perspective and not the view of the
other side.
Recall
Churchill’s Iron Curtain Speech
• “From Stettin in the Baltic to Trieste in the Adriatic, an
iron curtain has descended across the continent.
Behind that line lie all the capitals of the ancient states
of Central and Eastern Europe.”
-Winston Churchill - March 5, 1946
• http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=S2PUIQpAEAQ&feature=related
Example –
Churchill’s Iron Curtain Speech
• Origin -
• Speech so it is a primary
source - straight from the
speakers mouth
• Given by Churchill (former
Prime Minister of Great
Britain)
• March 5, 1946
• Purpose -
• Value • Clear expectation of what Great
Britain wants and their view
during the Cold War
• Hearing from someone very
important to Great Britain
• Real implications - primary
source
• Limitations -
• Tell Americans that they
need the US alliance didn't want to be all alone
• To spread the ideas of the
"iron curtain" - making
America know about this
threat
• Is this what the British
Government really wants?
• We don't have the Soviet side of
the argument
• What are his private thoughts
about this topic?
http://mikem1142.blogspot.com/2011/04/practice-in-class-opvl.html