ShmoopTube

Where Monty Python meets your 10th grade teacher.

Search Thousands of Shmoop Videos


Different Kinds of Evidence Videos 5 videos

Analyzing Primary Sources: What is a Primary Source?
1533 Views

In this video, learn exactly what a primary source is and isn't.

Analyzing Primary Sources: Reading Documents
692 Views

In this video learn how to read all of those pesky primary source documents your teacher keeps making you read.

SAT Reading 4.1 Passage Comparison
170 Views

SAT Reading Passage Comparison: Drill 4, Problem 1

See All

Analyzing Primary Sources: Reading Documents 692 Views


Share It!


Description:

In this video learn how to read all of those pesky primary source documents your teacher keeps making you read.


Transcript

00:00

Thank you analyzing primary sources reading documents why do written

00:10

tex make good primary sources when we think of primary

00:15

resources we almost always think of written text first right

00:18

Someone says like oh you know what's a primary document

00:21

he's think oh a diary or a letter someone wrote

00:25

the reason that we think of them first because there's

00:27

a ton of them and that is one of the

00:28

reasons why they make great primary sources because there are

00:32

a lot of them available you're easy to find you

00:34

can search for key words exactly We have access to

00:37

weigh more letters written in the sixteenth century than we

00:40

do say audio files recorded on someone's mp three player

00:44

in the sixteenth century Another reason they're great is because

00:49

they provide a ton of detail Usually when people are

00:51

writing you know they can explain themselves there's not as

00:55

much murkiness you know as opposed to maybe an image

00:58

where no one has said you see this little icon

01:00

here that's what this means when someone's writing they're more

01:03

likely to explain themselves They're also as you mentioned just

01:06

accessible whether something you're reading something on hard copy or

01:10

on the internet the words are still the same But

01:13

if you do get to see a scanned copy of

01:15

something written in a different culture a different time period

01:18

you also get to learn a lot about that language

01:21

How was it written What did their cursive look like

01:23

then How if things changed and evolved there's a ton

01:27

more a ton more reasons But you know britain techs

01:30

are awesome and kind of really easy to digest in

01:32

terms of primary sources What are the limitations of written

01:36

texas primary resource Can't really verify many primary sources but

01:43

the number one reason why why written texts are hard

01:46

to use primary sources is because of this issue of

01:47

bias Whoever's writing them had an opinion So yes that

01:51

person who wrote the diary during the civil war might

01:54

be telling us very cool details and being very explicit

01:58

about things that actually happened to civil war that we

02:00

otherwise we have no idea They also just might be

02:03

making it up way All make stuff our diaries on

02:06

dh Then of course there's the issue that you know

02:08

in united states most people can read and have access

02:11

To the internet and can see these written documents But

02:14

you know not everyone everywhere can read so you know

02:17

having written primary sources doesn't allow people who can't read

02:20

period or who just can't read the language it was

02:22

written and you know if i'm studying you know something

02:25

written that was britain and like aramaic i have no

02:28

idea what it says If i'm looking at a painting

02:31

that was done by someone during that same time here

02:33

in the same culture i might get more out of

02:36

it because i can you know read the images Sure

02:38

i remember with with most pro baseball hall of fame

02:43

guys they actually videotape there signing of the baseballs So

02:48

you have a verification for that That signature on the

02:51

baseball really is whoever it is saying exactly and like

02:55

you know paul the apostle couldn't do that when he

02:57

was wearing exactly why do we consider written texts first

03:04

when looking for primary sources What bonus insight do you

03:08

get from written sources What are the limitations of written

03:11

sources How does literacy and language affect our ability to 00:03:15.675 --> [endTime] use written sources

Related Videos

What is Shmoop Mythology?
2224 Views

The gods and heroes battle it out with monsters in the best of mythology.

Echo and Narcissus
4243 Views

Today we aren't looking for the most virtuous person, or most likeable, but rather the most disturbing. Will it be Echo, the nymph who is doomed to...

Icarus
5397 Views

Don't fly too close to the sun, Shmoopers.

Perseus
10263 Views

This dude decapitated a creature with snakes for hair and married a beautiful maiden that he saved from a sea monster. Let's see how many of you ca...

Hephaestus (Vulcan)
5843 Views

Would you like to be immortal? We expected as much. But how about ifyou were ugly and your mother tossed you out of your home, giving you a limp fo...