Analysing sources

• Geschiedenis
• Middelbare school
• vwo
• Leerjaar 2

Good morning

Planning for this workshop

What are sources?

Source analysis in four steps

Objectives for this workshop

At the end of this workshop you...

...you will be able to apply a step-by-step source analysis.

...you will be able to judge whether a source is reliable.

What are sources?

Definition of historical sources

= Something that tells us about history

Historical sources (give examples)

Kinds of historical sources

Writen sources

Unwriten sources

This lesson

Written or unwritten?

1. Written
2. Unwritten

Written or unwritten?

1. Written
2. Unwritten

The use of sources

There's no history without sources -> no understanding of the past. 

Sources give an idea of how life was in the past. If sources are corrupted they can give us a incomplete or false image of the past. 

If you were going to do research on fighting in Medieval times, what source could you use?

1. Medieval clothing
2. A cannon from the 16th century
3. A dairy of a soldier from 1400
4. A dairy of a bisshop from 1300

If you were going to do research on Roman architecture, what source is the best for that research?

1. A movie about Roman conquest
2. A letter from a emperor to his architect
3. The ruine of a Roman building
4. A painting of a Roman city from Roman times

Planning for this workshop

What are sources?

Source analysis in four steps

Source analysis in four steps

1. Who made this source?

You can ask yourself the questions:

1. What was this persons background and belief?
2. Was the person witness of the event?

2. What kind of source is it?

You can ask yourself the questions:

1. Is it a written or unwritten source?
2. Was it published or not?

3. When was this source made?

You can ask yourself the questions:

1. In what year was the source made?
2. When did the events in the source happen?
3. How much time is between the events and the source?

4. Where was this source made?

You can ask yourself the questions:

1. Where did the events take place?
2. Where was the source made?
3. How much distance is between the events and the source?

Four steps of source analysis

1. Who made this source?
2. What kind of source is it?
3. When was this source made?
4. Where was this source made?