How to Analyze Written Sources
How do historians analyze texts? And how can you used these analysis skills for your own history research, for AP history exams, and for examining texts that you encounter in the real world? Read below to find out more!
Historians encounter many kinds of texts in their research about the past. These kinds of texts might be published books, government documents, newspapers, letters, or personal papers. Each type of source requires a particular kind of analysis—and each type of source also has its own particular kinds of pitfalls.
In general, though, historians ask themselves a series of questions about the texts that they encounter. These questions help place the text in its proper context and also help historians understand what the text is saying and what it is not.
Step 1: Authorship
The first question a historian asks when coming into contact with a document is who created it. Authorship can completely change how a historian views a document because the background of the author likely affects how we read it. If a document is from a period of great division, for instance, we might need to know which side of the conflict the author was on. If the document discusses economics, we might want to research which class the author came from. Other perspectives that the author might have—like gender, place of origin, education, occupation, political leanings—can also influence how we read a text.
We might begin, therefore, with the author: who is the author of the text? Is it possible to know more about the person or people who wrote the document? If it is not possible to know more about the particular person, is it possible to research a group to which they belong? For instance, if a historian encounters an unsigned memo from the US Department of State, they might not be able to assess who in particular wrote the document. Equally useful, though, would be to research what the priorities of the State Department were at that time: the memo likely fits into the organization’s wider goals.
Take some time to think about the author’s background. Which aspects seem to be important for this document? Which aspects less so?
Step 2: Source Type
The next step is to assess what kind of source this document is and how it was meant to be used at the time it was created. For instance, a newspaper article is usually intended to relate facts—not opinions—to a wide audience. A political pamphlet, however, might relay opinions and reasoned arguments for a particular cause. Some documents are also not meant to be seen by many people at all, such as classified government reports or personal papers. Historians then ask themselves: how does the type of source influence what the author might say? And how does the type of source influence how I might interpret it? Can it be taken at face value?
If the source was published, you can assess further aspects of it, like who published the text and why and how the audience responded to it at the time.
Step 3: Historical Context
The next step would be to think of the wider context in which this document was written. What was going on at this time that might be relevant to the document? What might have been on the mind of the document’s creators or audience? And is the source directly addressing any particular historical event that might need to be further researched?
For instance, in Abigail Adams’s letters to John Adams, historians might point out the wider context of the history of the US Revolutionary War and the early founding of the country. Historians would likely match specific letters to the events occurring around that time, be it a Revolutionary War battle or a political development. It might be especially important what was going on close to home—the immediate context of what was happening in Massachusetts might have particularly been on Abigail’s mind as she wrote letters from home.
Step 4: Content
After doing an initial assessment of where we might place this document, it is then time to read the document for content. What does it say? Does anything stand out as particularly strange or interesting? Historians often like to point out the unexpected, since these moments can often lead to new interpretations of the past. It might also be important to examine the word choice used in the document. Does anything stand out as important?
Sometimes it is also just as important to read a document for what it does not say as for what it does say. What does the document leave out that you might have expected to find within it? Is there anything happening at the time that the author does not reference? Or does the author seem to hint at something having happened without addressing it directly? These can also be useful observations—why might the author have avoided speaking about these subjects altogether? And do you think these omissions were accidental or intentional?
Finally, the text itself might show some perspectives or biases that did not show up in the initial research about the author’s biography. Does anything stand out as contrary to what you would have expected from this author? And why do you think there is a disconnect between this source and their biography?
Step 5: Corroboration
The next step is to think about how you might corroborate what the author is saying. For instance, if a private correspondence is discussing a major political or social event, it might be worth checking a newspaper article from the time. Is this letter describing the event similarly to published reports? If there is a difference, why do you think that is the case? Is one side lacking information, is one side intentionally misrepresenting the issue, or is it something else entirely?
You might think of other ways to cross check information that will be useful to your argument. You might find different types of sources or you might find similar sources written by different authors.
Step 6: Building an Argument
The final step is then to think about how this source fits in with the ones that you have already read. Where do they agree or disagree? Which ones fit together to help answer the questions that you want to answer about the past? And which sources seem to be outliers from where your argument is heading? Keeping your sources organized as you read them can help you know what you need to research next and can make it easier to start the writing process.
Learn More about Analyzing Texts
Circa students build their history skills incrementally, starting with analyzing a written source.