Skill 2 · ages 11-14
Who, when, why?
No source speaks for itself. With five questions you read a source like a historian: who made it, when, for whom, why, and what does it leave out?
DraftNot yet reviewed by a historian or history teacher.Why
Everyone who writes or makes something looks from their own place in the world. A king sees a war differently from a farmer, a winner differently from a loser.
These questions do not make a source worthless. They help you understand what it can and cannot tell.
Understand it
Who made this? A monk, a soldier, an official, a journalist? And when: during the event, shortly after or centuries later? The greater the distance, the more memory can shift.
For whom and why? A report for the ruler, a sermon for believers, a letter to mother, a poster for everyone. A source may want to inform, persuade, justify or commemorate.
What does the source leave out? Who does not get to speak? Often women, children, the poor, the enslaved or the colonised. What is missing is information too.
Always ask: who, when, for whom, why, and what does the source leave out?
See it on a source
The famous sentence begins in Latin: "Horum omnium fortissimi sunt Belgae", of all these peoples the Belgae are the bravest. Caesar explains this by their living far from Roman civilisation and often fighting the Germani.
Who wrote this, and when?Show
Caesar himself, the Roman general who attacked the Belgae, shortly after his campaigns.
For whom and why?Show
For readers in Rome. The braver the enemy, the greater his victory and his fame.
What does the source leave out?Show
The Belgae themselves. They left no written sources; we know their side only through archaeology.
Pitfalls
Not like this: The source has a purpose, so it is worthless.
Like this: Every source has a purpose. If you know that purpose, you know how to read it.
Not like this: Looking only at the content and forgetting the maker.
Like this: Start with the maker and the time: that colours everything that follows.
Do it
Choose a level. Five right in a row and you can do this.
At the table
If you write an account of an argument you were part of, what might you leave out?