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 What is Primary Source?

A primary source is a document, speech, or other sort of evidence written, created or otherwise produced during a period of the time under study. Primary sources offer an inside view of a particular event.  Examples include autobiographies, diaries, e-mail, interviews, letters, minutes, news film footage, official records, photographs, raw research data, speeches, art films, music novels, poetry, buildings, clothing, furniture jewelry, and poetry.

 

Using primary sources will help develop knowledge, skills and analytical abilities. When dealing with primary sources, you engage yourself in asking questions, thinking critically, making intelligent inferences (hopefully), and developing reasonable explanations and interpretations of events and issues in the past and present.

 

You will be analyzing several source documents that are located on this site.

 

Complete the packet you received in school (you can also download the documents on this site) by anaylzing the documents and responding to the questions in complete sentences.  Please take some time to read review, and analyze the documents.  There might be some hard to find or hidden aspects of the documents that might not notice at a quick glance or if you qujickly read through it.

 

Once you've completed the primary source analysis, you will fill in the Venn Diagram camparing and contrasting how life as a child was different during the American Industrial Revolution versus how childhood for most American children is today.  The interconnecting parts will be similarities between the two time periods and the outer portion will be differences.  Include at least five facts for each section of the Venn Diagram.

 

This project is worth 50 points.

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