04 Aug Primary Source Analysis

Name:

Primary Source Analysis

Background Information

Document Type (e.g., newspaper, diary entry, legal document, poem, public speech, etc.):

Author/Creator:

Intended Audience (1-2 sentences): Who is the intended audience? Meaning, who was meant to read this source? Was it meant for a specific person, several people, or the public? How does the audience affect what the author(s) wrote?

Date Created/Written:

Title of Source (if applicable):

Making Sense of the Source

Author’s Background (2-3 sentences): For this particular source that you’re doing the worksheet on (95.2), Ezekiel Cheever is the creator. He is the one who actually recorded the women’s words, even though he himself is not one of the people who was speaking in court. That may be significant! Think about what that means for us today, trying to understand the witch trials.

See if you can find some information about this person. If you can’t find anything specific, you can make some educated guesses based on what you know of the time period and this event. Think about what clues the document provides, specifically regarding the author’s gender, class, age, race, ethnicity, occupation, religious beliefs, political beliefs, etc.

From whose perspective is the content told? Think about the author’s background and whether the author was involved in the event or was an observer. How does that influence the perspective and bias of the source?

Content of the Source (3-4 sentences): For this specific source, please briefly summarize the interrogations of these women. What does it seem was Hathorne’s main objective? How would you characterize his approach to the interrogation? How would you characterize the women’s responses? Do the two women respond similarly or differently? Why might that be significant?

Other things to consider: What about the silences, meaning what did the author choose NOT to discuss? What does the source not tell you? Does this source seem to have a particular bias?

Purpose (2-3 sentences): What was the source’s purpose? Why did the author(s) create this source?

Historical Context (2-3 sentences): What historical events, debates, etc. were happening at the time of this document’s creation? How do those events, debates, etc. influence what the author wrote? How do the words and tone of the source reflect the historical era in which the author created it?

Historical Significance (3-4 sentences): The most important question historians must answer is: So what? Why do we care? What is the historical significance? In 3-4 sentences, answer the following two (2) questions: How does this document contribute to your understanding of this historical era? What other information might help you better understand the significance of this document?

https://salem.lib.virginia.edu/n95.html