Historical evidence chosen piece

Historical evidence chosen piece

This is an assignment that focuses on the identification of a historical evidence chosen piece. The paper also discusses the some of the context in the evidence.

The identification of a historical evidence chosen piece

Primary Source Analysis (1600 words)
Select ONLY ONE primary source from PDF titled ‘Primary sources to choose from’.

You are to write about your chosen primary source as a piece of historical evidence, and should think carefully about questions of creation, questions of evidence and bias, and questions of historical context, purpose, and impact.

Your primary source analysis should have an introduction, a body, and a conclusion. The body should be in five sections (see below), and it must address the following questions. Some sections will be longer than others and will need to be broken up into short, point-driven paragraphs:
1.      Creation: What type of source is it?  Who created it? Who was the intended audience?
2.      Context: What was going on during creation of this document? Why was the source created at that specific time? How does the information in your secondary sources help you to interpret the evidence in your primary source?
3.      Purpose: Why was the source created or, in other words, what was the purpose of the source? If it uses historical references, why does it do so, and to what ends are they used? What was/were the ambitions of the person/people who created the source?

The identification of a historical evidence chosen piece

4.      Evidence: What is the author’s point of view? What is the tone of the source? Are there any obvious biases, and if so, how might these shape the way that historians approach the source? (This section is key to a strong primary source analysis!)

5.      Impact: Did the source have any impact on the people or the issue/s it addressed? Is it of historical value today? If so, how does it help us understand the past?
For most of these questions, and especially in the evidence paragraph, you have to refer to the primary source: quote it, analyse it, comment on it, and use the source to support your point/s with evidence.

Lastly, ensure that your analysis of the primary source is suitably, you must engage with a minimum of seven (7) relevant published academic secondary sources. In general, websites are NOT appropriate secondary sources for university essays unless you can document their academic credentials. Instead, you should rely on books, chapters in books, and journal articles that you find at the Library or through the Library’s website.
You must adopt formal essay style and conventions, and you need to include footnotes and a bibliography.