The World Is Flat

How To Read a original Source THE HISTORIAN AS researcher When reading primary sources, think of yourself as a detective. bang-up historians bring to their work the detectives attitudes of curiosity, detachment, skepticism, and suspicion. They employ the detectives skills at observation, interrogation, inference, and conjecture. Above all, they exhibit the detectives tenacity: they go oer the evidence again and again and again, until they come up with an report. similar a detective, youll go through three stages in your work. First, youll formulation for clues. Youll try especially to notice telling detailsâ€"those world-shattering and revealing facts that are full of meaning. (An example: as a student walks out of her final exam, she throws her course notebook in the trash.) Second, youll interrogate the witnesses; that is, youll analyze and evaluate the evidence. In this stage, youll ask a lot of questions: who? what? when? where? how? why? and so what? Good questions extend to a good historian. Youll find that the telling details provoke questions that, in turn, lead you to new details and thence to still more(prenominal) questions. Third, youll build the case. In other words, youll see connections, draw conclusions, and make judgments.

As with detectives, so with historians: the case is built; the evidence is constructed. The explanation doesnt just offer itself up. Instead, the historian must actively come in in working it out. And like detectives, too, historians usually have to subject area themselves with explanations that are merely plausible, not certain. CROSS-EXAMINING THE WITNESSES Historical detectives cross-examine the sources to discern a pattern of meaning and significance. Here are many of the frequent assumptions they bring to the task. The best witness is one close to the event. Primary sources are better than secondary sources. It is essential to do some leg-work to understand what the witness is saying. That means looking up foreign references and allusions.... If you want to get a full essay, order it on our website: Ordercustompaper.com

Ordercustompaper.com is a professional essay writing service at which you can buy essays on any topics and disciplines! All custom essays are written by professional writers!