History 579

Devine

Fall 2012

PRIMARY SOURCE ASSIGNMENT

Choose a foreign policy topic and dig around for some relevant primary sources that address aspects of the topic that most interest you. The sources can be speeches, memos, policy papers, newspaper articles, radio broadcasts, images (photos, cartoons, etc.)

Once you have selected your sources (probably best to keep their number under 5 unless there is a good reason to include more), you should answer the following questions:

Who is the author and why does it matter to know who the author is?

Who is the audience for the source? Are there multiple audiences? How can you tell from reading the source who the audience is?

What is the source telling (or supposed to be telling) the audience(s)?

Why was this source written (or created, drawn, etc.)?

What is the context in which the source was written/created? How does this context influence what appears in the source? What does the source tell you about the broader context in which it was produced?

What implicit assumptions does this source make? (That is, what does it assume without ever saying so? What does it take to be “common sense” and therefore not worth explaining to the audience?)

Does the source use any kind of “coded” language or imagery?

What does this source reveal to you that its original audience may not have gotten or noticed?