Source analysis

Year 11 ATAR History

Source analysis
Relies on Historical Knowledge and Understanding AND Historical
Skills.
You will need to have a strong understanding of the course content,
but you will also need to hone your analysis skills.

Source analysis
Why do we do them?
Historical evidence gives us insight into the past, but the various
forms of evidence can never provide a complete or reliable insight;
there are gaps!
Historical evidence often provides one point of view.
Many were created for a specific purpose such as to mislead,
manipulate or deceive; all forms of propaganda aim to persuade
people to adopt particular beliefs or opinions.

Compare and contrast the messages of Source 1 and Source 2.

Compare: Show how things are similar and different.

Contrast: Show how things are different.
Messages: What is the document saying to the audience? What is
it attempting to communicate?

Evaluate the usefulness, in terms of strengths and weaknesses, of

Sources 1 and 2 as representations of the impact of capitalism on
the USA in the pre-war period.

Evaluate: Make an appraisal of the argument, proposition or concept

citing both the advantages and limitations and concluding with a personal
judgment.
Usefulness: Evaluate the sources for an inquiry or in a document study.
These may include: content covered, primary/secondary nature of the
sources, origin, purpose, limitations, gaps/omissions reliability, relevance,
bias, context.
Strengths: Reliability/accurate reflections.
Weaknesses: Unreliability/inaccurate reflections.

Explain the historical context of Source 3.

Explain: Describe clearly and/or give reasons for: context, issue,

idea, causes, consequences, action.
Historical context: What is occurring at this time? Summarise the
event/events surrounding the document.

Identify and account for the authors perspectives in Sources 3 and 4

regarding the growth of pre-war capitalism.

Identify: Recognising the significance of one or more people,

events and/or ideas contained in a document.
Perspectives: A point of view from which historical events, problems
and issues can be constructed or analysed. See

Evaluate the extent to which the four (4) sources give an accurate
insight into pre-war capitalism as a force of change in the USA.

Evaluate: Make an appraisal of the argument, proposition or

concept citing both the advantages and limitations and concluding
with a personal judgment.

Cartoons
Commonly printed next to editorial column in a newspaper. Theyre created to convey a

message, opinion or perspective about an event, situation or individual.

Construct messages by manipulating pictorial symbols and metaphors; dialogue and
captions are sometimes added.
Usually present a biased opinion in the message, but not always; usually cartoons reflect
the views and prejudices of their editors, or the target audience.
A political cartoon is a time capsule showing an opinion or viewpoint on an important
current issue at the time.
When answering questions about the message of a cartoon, briefly include an explanation
of the symbols. For example: Whitlam, as symbolised by the knocked-out boxer; The Tsars
power, as symbolised by the throne, crown and sceptre.

Photographs
The photographer often has a particular purpose in mind for the
picture; it shows what the photographer wants.
They are often formally posed whats the problem with this?
When studying photographs, identify what is being conveyed by the
images such as: the crowd is cheering and clapping, thereby
showing; the Aborigines are at the fringe of the group of soldiers,
indicating that they are

Tables and graphs

Statistical tables and graphs show changes over a period
Various forms of historical evidence may suggest there was
change, but it is accurately compiled tables and graphs from
reliable sources, such as census data that indicate the rate and
extent of the change.
Look for the categories that show the most changes between the
given years, then provide reasons for the increase/decrease

Identifying the perspective and usefulness

of
a
source
Useful/usefulness is asking you to evaluate the sources in a document study. This
evaluation may include:

Content covered
Primary/secondary nature of the sources
Origin
Purpose
Limitations
Gaps/omissions
Reliability
Relevance
Bias
Context

Identifying the perspective and usefulness

of a source
Perspective is a point of view from which historical events, problems and issues can be

constructed or analysed. Remember:

A range of perspectives can exist within a time period
Some perspectives are emphasised and accepted whilst others are omitted
Some perspectives can present a limited view that has been shaped by motive and purpose
Perspectives of the past change and evolve over time, resulting in conflicting and alternative
explanations and representations
Ask the question: whose point of view? If you can correctly recognise the perspective of a
writer, speaker or cartoonist, this should greatly assist you to identify and explain the
attitudes and biases of a source.

PEC

Use PEC to help you answer your source analysis questions:

P: for proposition sentence.
E: for sentences with evidence.
C: for conclusion with an evaluation.