OPCVL Learning Objective: Understand how to assess the value and limitations of a source with reference to its origin, purpose and content.

OPCVLLearning 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

PURPOSEWhy 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 one-

sided?•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 SellConvince Detail Outline RallyCommunicate Describe Entice

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 CampaignLetter 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 AdvertisementHistorical Perspective Campaign LetterMemoir 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 ___________________.

ExampleThe 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 -• 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

• 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 - • 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