ORIGIN – PURPOSE
&
Primary and Secondary Sources
Document Analysis
ORIGIN
• When and where was the source
produced?
• Author/creator?
• Primary or secondary source?
ORIGINS
• 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: George Washington writing about Valley Forge will
have a different interpretation than General Cornwallis.
Primary Sources
• Closest to the event
• Any examples?
• Original documents, creative works, and
artifacts
• Ex: Eyewitness accounts, diaries, records
Secondary Sources
• Based on primary sources-one step
removed from event
• An researcher’s (historian’s) interpretation
of the primary sources
• Examples?
• Magazine or newspaper articles, history
essays or books, biographies
PURPOSE
• Why was source produced?
• What is the immediate historical context for it?
• Who is the intended audience?
• What does it “say” at surface level?
• What does it say below the surface?
PURPOSE
Why did the author write/draw/compose this
work?
* Consider the 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 british public?
What is?
1-The Origin?
2-The Purpose?
Example-Don’t write this down
• A historian is analyzing a private entry in President Truman’s
diary concerning the possible use of atomic weapons in Japan.
The following is a general OP review. More specific analysis are
shown details in the document.
• Origin: President of the US, a private, primary source.
Context = World War II and the aftermath of Germany’s surrender
and the looming invasion of Japan.
• Purpose: personal journal meant for later reflection and recall.
Private, not public. Interpretation of what it says (literally) and
what it may reflect would be based on specific document.