Primary Source Selection
For each paper you’ll choose a primary source from those connected to our online textbook, The American Yawp. You can find those sources in two places. First, on each textbook chapter page, there’s a section called “Primary Sources” right after the conclusion of the chapter. Click here: http://www.americanyawp.com/reader/the-new-world/journal-of-christopher-columbus/
Please note that the Reader pages include a selection of media from the time. You want to make sure you are selecting a document to analyze rather than a piece of media. This assignment is designed for analysis of text documents, not images.
Analysis Paper Details
Once you’ve chosen a source, your paper will follow a very simple four-paragraph model.
First, you’ll want to introduce the general topic and the source you will be writing about. This short intro paragraph should include your paper’s thesis, or main argument. For these papers, the thesis will be the point that you will come to in the final paragraph about what we can learn about the past from this document.
Next, write a paragraph that summarizes the source. Try to keep this brief, maybe ½ of a page.
Next, write a paragraph in which you explain how the source fits into the historical context of the time it was written. Here you want to explain what was going on at the time that is related to the subject of the sources.
Primary Source Analysis Papers Assignment
The fourth and final paragraph should connect it to a passage from our American Yawp textbook material. By “connect,” I mean use the source’s evidence to refute, support, or otherwise contend with a specific passage of your choice from the textbook.
This is the most important and difficult part of these papers.
When analyzing the source, try to focus on the question of what we can learn about the period in question from the source. What does analyzing the source teach us about the past? The answer to one of these questions will be your thesis.
Whenever possible (and especially in the second and fourth paragraphs described above) use quoted material from the source itself to back up the assertions you make. Use quotes as evidence to prove your points. But don’t forget to explain to the reader how the quote proves the point you are making.
You shouldn’t do any outside research for this paper. Don’t spend any time wandering the web or browsing the library databases to complete the assignment. All you’ll really need is a primary source and the textbook. Both of which you’ll find at americanyawp.com.
When using information from either the textbook or the primary source, you need to provide proper citation. For this assignment, you can use any of the three major styles (MLA, APA, or Chicago).
You’ll want to use in-text citation whenever you use information from either the primary source or the textbook.
Also, be sure to include a works cited list at the end of the paper with full bibliographic citations for your sources including a URL that goes directly to the source.