Souly Based on the Book: Prisoner of the Infidels: The Memoir of an Ottoman Muslim in Seventeenth-Century
Europe, By Osman of Timisoara.
NO OUTSIDE SOURCES.
Primary Source Analysis Assignment
Deadline: March 10
Length: 3-4 pages, double-spaced, Times New Roman 12-point font, 1-inch margins
EXPECTATIONS
All successful essays must:
Offer a clear, coherent (ideally also nuanced and sophisticated) thesis
Be structured to develop and support your central thesis
Meaningfully analyze evidence from the primary source
Demonstrate comprehension of, relevant historical writing skills, including clarity and coherence in the idea
development: organization; editing; and clear, direct prose.
Questions to consider while writing your essay:
Who produced this source and what are their credentials and potential historical motives?
Who comprises the target audience?
When was it written? What is its historical context?
What kind of text is it? Why was it written?
What is the text trying to communicate?
What’s the source’s argument and/or what view is presented?
What evidence is used to make the argument/prove the validity of the viewpoint?
Is the evidence adequate to sustain/prove the argument/viewpoint?
In what ways might the source be useful to writing global history?
What limits or problems are associated with the source?