Name: [INSERT NAME HERE]
Primary Source Assignment (Part 2)
Due Friday, April 5 (11:59pm)
DIRECTIONS: This is an individual assignment designed to introduce you to primary source analysis. This worksheet is the SECOND of a TWO-PART assignment. Before you complete the below worksheet, you must complete Part 1 of the primary source assignment. To access Part 1 of the primary source assignment, go to Canvas, click on “Assignments,” and then click on “Primary Source Assignment (Part 1).” Only proceed with this worksheet when you are finished with Part 1. Part 1 of the assignment is worth 30 points, and Part 2 of the assignment is worth 120 points (for a total of 150 points).
In order to complete Part 2 of the assignment, choose ONE of the following sources that I have assigned from the American Perspectives reader:
1) “How the Other Half Lives (1890), pp. 158-164
2) “Testimony of Benjamin Singleton (1880),” pp. 61-66
3) “The History of the Standard Oil Company: The Oil War of 1872,” pp. 33-48
4) “Albert Beveridge Defends U.S. Imperialism (1900),” pp. 247-250
5) “Excerpts from The Jungle (1906),” pp. 185-190
Then, using what you learned in Part 1 of the assignment, read the primary source you chose and answer the following questions thoroughly. Please use this sheet and TYPE your answers. To submit this assignment, you should submit as a Word document (.doc or .docx) on Canvas by 11:59pm on Friday, April 5. The 48-hour grace period applies, so as long as the assignment is submitted by 11:59pm on Sunday, April7, no lateness points will be deducted.
1. In a long paragraph (at least 10 sentences), summarize the source.
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2. In a paragraph (at least 5 sentences), identify: (1) the author(s) of the document, (2) the intended audience for this primary source (for whom do you think it was written?), and (3) what you think the purpose of the document might have been (why was it written?).
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3. In a paragraph (at least 5 sentences), identify at least THREE “clues to the past” that the primary source provides. In other words, what are three insights about the time period in which this document was written that you can draw from the primary source? Be specific.
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4. As Eric Foner points out in the video for Part 1 of this assignment, no primary source is “totally objective,” and every primary source represents a particular point of view. Imagine that you are a historian writing a book about the time period that your chosen primary source covers. In a paragraph (at least 5 sentences), identify at least TWO strengths and at least ONE weakness of relying on your chosen primary source.
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