Write source analysis in history
Anyone who has history in upper school cannot avoid writing a source analysis. You have to pay attention to various points. Here are some tips on how to proceed.
How to Compose a Source Analysis in History
in the story-classes one often analyzes historical sources in order to better understand connections in history. Often they also serve as evidence. These sources are broken down, sorted, examined and ultimately evaluated in various ways. Letters, seals, newspapers and files often serve as historical sources. Use these tips to write a source analysis.
- First comes the formal analysis. To do this, first determine the type of text, often it is only an excerpt. Don't forget to mention this too. It could be an excerpt from a letter, poetry, newspaper, or file. After that, you need to write about the person who wrote it. Please provide some biographical information that can be found in the text. Then go into the time and place and historical background of the text. In the last point of the formal analysis, mention the addressee to whom the text is addressed.
- Second is the analysis of the content, which is the most important part of the source analysis. For this purpose, formulate the key messages and structure the source. To do this, divide the text into different sections and find a heading for each section. Next, find keywords (choice of words) and key ideas and try to interpret them. The analysis of the style characteristics should not be missing in the content analysis. Find the stylistic devices and interpret them. Note: The sentence structure also says a lot. Then, at the end of the content analysis, check that the author's statements are correct. Respond to his statements and discuss them.
- Third and last, there is critical reflection, your own opinion, and the evaluation of the analysis results. To do this, summarize the results and write something about the author's interest: What is his intention with the text? What message does he want to convey to the addressee with his text? Then evaluate the informative value of the source by working out to what extent the source is historically relevant. Your source analysis is now complete.
- Note: When writing a source analysis, it is always important to understand the difference between an analysis and a interpretation to know. So here's a little help. The analysis is limited to the facts mentioned and makes determinations based on certain characteristics, so it is objective. And when interpreting, you concentrate on the lines and think about what the author is trying to say. One also says: read between the lines. On the other hand, it is subjective.
Analyze the historical source - this is how you do it
Anyone who deals with historical texts and traditions should learn to ...
Of course there are different schemes for composing a historical source in history. This is one of them. Good luck with your writing!
