Document+Analysis

= =

What are the kinds of things students should be looking for?
Students should look for characteristics of the document; subject, occasion, audience, purpose, speaker, and tone.

__Subject:__ What is the main topic of the document?

__Occasion:__ When was the document produced? For what event or occasion?

__Audience:__ Who was the document intended for? Public? Private?

__Purpose:__ Why was the document produced? What is the motivation? What effect is the document intended to have?

__Speaker:__ Who was the speaker? An Official? Anonymous?

__Tone:__ Voice? Any emotion?

Note: Unusual vocabulary

Documents in Digital Libraries are often grouped for you by characteristic such as an event, audience, or speaker.

For example, our collection has research guides for Native Americans, Women, and Public Documents. []

Assessing Historical Context


 * Historical Background
 * Determining the Big Picture
 * Point of View
 * Document One: "If you park your car there, you'll get in trouble," says your six-year old sister.
 * Document Two: "If you park your car there, you'll get in trouble," says the police officer
 * Is one wrong and the other right?