Get source analysis template

6 C's of Primary Source Analysis Content: Conclusions. Citation. Connections. Communication. Historical vs. Rhetorical Context. Perspective vs. bias. Facts vs. Interpretations.

Garraghan (1950) identified six points of inquiries to evaluate the authenticity of a primary source: 1) Date – When was it produced? 2) Localization – Where did it originate? 3) Authorship – Who wrote it? 4) Analysis – What pre-existing material served as the basis for its production?

Examining the meaning, content, bias, purpose, and point of view presented in a primary source will help students to further develop their critical thinking skills as well as foster learner-led inquiry.

There are many kinds of primary sources including texts (letters, diaries, government reports, newspaper accounts, novels, autobiographies), images (photographs, paintings, advertisements, posters), artifacts (buildings, clothing, sculpture, coins) and audio/visual (songs, oral history interviews, films).

The 6 C's of Primary Source Analysis: Content - What is the main idea? ... Citation - When was this created? Context - What is going on in the world, the country, the region, or the locality when this was created? Connections - Link the primary source to other things that you already know or have learned about.

The 6 c's are Content, Citation, Context, Connections, Communication and Conclusions. In this template the method has been modified to the 7 c's as the final stage added (Corroboration) is without doubt the most important skill students must use continuously in the history classroom.

Applies three key steps to analyzing primary sources (observe, reflect, question).

In response, we developed an approach we call the "five C's of historical thinking." The concepts of change over time, causality, context, complexity, and contingency, we believe, together describe the shared foundations of our discipline.