Summary
Highlights
Source analysis is demonstrating a genuine understanding of why a historical source was created. Historical sources were not originally made for students, and analyzing them involves background research on the author and the historical context. Online archives and Wikipedia can be helpful for this research.
To provide a complete analysis, six specific skills are needed: Information, Origin, Perspective, Context, Audience, and Motive. These can be remembered with the acronym IOP CAM. Individual videos are available for each skill for deeper understanding.
To demonstrate knowledge of the six skills, one must answer six questions: What information is stated? What was the origin (creator)? What was the perspective? What was the context (when and what was happening)? Who was the intended audience? For what motive was it made? Answer as many as possible.
A source analysis is typically a short paragraph. A simple analysis can be two sentences using the IOP CAM acronym. The first sentence covers Information, Origin, and Perspective. The second sentence covers Context, Audience, and Motive. More sentences can be used if needed.
The video provides an example using a famous Great Depression photograph. It walks through identifying the information, origin (Dorothea Lange), perspective (photojournalist), context (March 1936, Great Depression), audience (general public via newspapers), and motive (raise awareness of economic toll). This information is then compiled into a two-sentence analysis.