<Primary Source home

How to use primary sources

Welcome to Module 3

As we have seen, primary source documents comprise the “raw data” of history. By using primary source documents, you are not reading a scholar’s interpretation of past events or conditions, you are interpreting the data for yourself.

In this module, we will show you how to make sense of a primary source document by asking a series of questions about the document itself, its creator, and the context and purpose of its creation.

We’ll take you through a 5-step process for thinking and writing about these questions.

questions to help makes sense of primary source documents

 

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