Analyzing Primary Sources

Step 1: What is the Question Issue?

1) What is the question issue about?
2) What does the question want from me?

Step 2: Analyse Provenance

1) What do you know about the Provenance?
2) What do you know about the context (background situation) when
the source was created?

Step 3: Analyse Content: What do you know
from the source?

1) What are the key phrases?
2) What are the key ideas?

To summarise the source, it is saying that …

Step 4: Infer Message

• What is the author hinting at?
• What is the author suggesting?

The source is suggesting that …

Metacognition

Metacognition:

❑Was it difficult to do step 4 - Infer?
❑Did summarizing the source make it easier or more difficult for you to infer? Why?

Infer Purpose

1) Who is the target audience?
2) What outcome does the author want to achieve?

The source is talking to … (Target Audience)
The source wants to …. (what outcomes does it want to achieve?)