Primary Source
Primary sources are the life-blood of the historian and history. Throughout this course, we have been investigating a number of primary sources produced by diverse figures throughout the previous 500 years of world history. These primary sources have been chosen by me for this course. Of course, the primary sources I have chosen are only a tiny sampling of what exists. I would like you to now search for and closely analyze a primary source of your choice. First, take a look at this website which has numerous links to primary sources from the periods we have studied (https://sourcebooks.fordham.edu/mod/modsbook.asp ). Find any document/video/article/etc that sticks out to you. DON’T JUST PICK THE FIRST THING YOU SEE! Take some time and investigate what is available. Once you find a primary source, I would like you to produce a short three paragraph analysis of the source. If your essay is 4 or 5 paragraphs, that is fine. At least, this essay should be 2 pages as a double-spaced Word Document. This analysis is broad in formation; you do not need to follow the prompts as seen below. Paragraph 1: Describe the primary source you have chosen: When was it produced? What does it deal with? Why is it a useful, or important primary document? Paragraph 2: Analyze the primary source: Who produced this document? What was the purpose of this primary source? What can this document/source tell us about the specific era of world history? How so? Paragraph 3: Discuss the primary source from your own personal viewpoint: Is the primary source uplifting, or disturbing to you? Why did you choose it? What does it say to you? Again, the above question prompts are not required to be answered. If you would like to go in another direction, that is fine. I would say you want to deal with the topics laid out for each paragraph, but how you do so is up to you (Describe source, analyze source, Discuss you personal perception).