The paper asks you to contextualize a primary source (one that appears on the syllabus) using a scholarly secondary source. Let′s break this sentence down.
Historical contextualization means placing an event or account within the larger world that informed it, or, as the U of Minnesota Library website states (Links to an external site.)Links to an external site., ″…paying attention to the people who produced it, the time in which they worked, what was going on during that time, and how what was going on may have influenced the production of the source.″ Here is another short article on contextualization from Marianopolis College (Links to an external site.)Links to an external site..
What are primary and secondary sources? Most simply stated, primary sources are accounts, letters, works of art, or even objects that are produced in the historical period that your are discussing. Secondary sources interpret and analyze one or several primary sources to make larger, broader conclusions after the fact. Here is a good guide on the differences between primary and secondary sources (Links to an external site.)Links to an external site.. (Links to an external site.) Please note: textbooks or general overviews (including wikipedia!!!), which synthesize a variety of secondary and primary sources, are considered tertiary sources are are not applicable for this writing exercise.
Finally, what is a scholarly source? Simply put, you can reasonably trust that a scholarly source is legit. It is written by experts, usually those who have completed years of study (including a PhD) and research, and is meant to engage with other experts. It cites the sources upon which it is based. Finally, and crucially, it has been ″peer reviewed,″ which means that experts in the field the paper deals with have looked the source over and determined that it is legit (rather than, say, based on a conspiracy theory or just made up). This means that, on the whole, you can trust the information in scholarly source (though it′s always important to be skeptical and ask questions!) and that said sources provide correct, useful information. Here is a great breakdown on the differences between scholarly and popular sources. (Links to an external site.)Links to an external site. (Links to an external site.)
I cannot stress this enough: it is very, very hard to find scholarly secondary sources through google. Do not use google, or any other widely available search engine, as your first mode of research.
The prompt for this paper requires that you find scholarly articles, which are shorter (around 20-30 pages) in-depth discussions and analysis of a narrow, particular historical topic. These articles often appear in journals written and read by scholars and experts (the American Historical Review, for instance, or the Journal of African History). There are thousands of journals, and you often have to buy a subsсrіption to gain access to the articles.
Primary Source:
Falconbridge, excerpt from An Account of the Slave Trade on the coast of Africa (1788), in Africa & the West (2001), 54-64