How to analyze a primary source.

A primary source is a piece of evidence from the time itself, and reading it well means asking who made it and why. Those questions reveal as much as the words do. Study Butler teaches your kid to interrogate a source instead of taking it at face value.

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Here is what that looks like.

Study Butler will not print the answer. It points at the next step and lets your kid take it.

An example. The butler answers the question with a question.

i read the document but i don't know what to say about it.

start with the person behind it. who wrote this, and what did they want the reader to think.

a soldier, i think he wanted people to support the war.

good. so how should that change the way you trust what he says.

Where students get stuck.

The same few mistakes come up again and again. Here is where the butler slows things down.

01Reading the words but ignoring the author

Who wrote a source, and why, shapes everything in it. Study Butler always starts with the author and their purpose, because that is what separates analysis from reading.

02Missing the point of view or bias

Every source has a perspective, and naming it is part of the analysis. The butler asks what the author wanted the reader to believe, which surfaces the bias.

03Forgetting the historical context

A document means different things depending on when and where it was made. Study Butler has your kid place the source in its moment before judging it.

Bring the problem they're stuck on.

Type it, say it, or snap a photo. Study Butler walks your kid to the answer one question at a time, so they learn it instead of copying it.

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Questions parents ask.

What questions should you ask about a primary source?

Who created it, when, for what audience, and with what purpose. Those four questions frame the analysis. Study Butler walks your kid through each one rather than supplying a verdict.

What is the difference between a primary and a secondary source?

A primary source comes from the time being studied, while a secondary source is a later interpretation of it. The butler helps your kid sort which is which and why it matters.

Keep going.

More on history, taught the same way. Or see every history topic.

History What caused World War 1 Walk through it History Causes of the American Revolution Walk through it Reading & Writing How to cite textual evidence Walk through it