PRIMARY SOURCES WORKSHOP:
Overview
Participants will be organized into pairs or triads, and each pair or triad will be assigned a problem of historical interpretation concerning an event identified as a cause of the American Revolution. The problem instruction sheet will include different types of sources. Each member of the pair or triad will choose one category of sources and analyze the selected materials for what they reveal about the circumstances or the event in question. Each will write a brief analytical essay (limit 4 pages) advancing an interpretation of his/her findings concerning how the selected materials illuminate the event. Essays must be double-spaced, with one-inch margins all around, and must be documented with appropriate Chicago Manual of Style formatting (see linked style sheet). Each should include an annotated bibliography of at least ten journal articles on the topic located through FirstSearch or America: History and Life. Each essay must also include a brief historiographical paragraph summarizing current historiographical debate about the causes of the American Revolution and setting your study within the context of that debate. This is sometimes called the "need statement" and provides a rationale for undertaking the study by showing how your interpretation will contribute to an ongoing historiographical conversation about the topic. Essays due as noted in the class schedule.
Once each person has drawn conclusions about assigned materials, further work will proceed in several stages:
| Each pair or triad will exchange essays online for reading and critique, with special attention given to the interpretation of primary sources and the conclusions drawn concerning the event under investigation. |
| After exchanging comments and completing any revisions suggested either by the partner(s) or the instructor, each participant will post the final version of their essay for all other participants to read and comment upon. Participants should read others' essays both to provide a second round of critique for the papers and to consider whether further revision of their own essays are warranted based on findings concerning other events. |
| After making any further revisions necessary to their own essays and interpretation, each pair will collaborate on a presentation which assembles the insights gained into an interesting, coherent account of the issue and its significance for the topic of study. |
Pairs are free to organize the presentation any way you choose, but it must include the following: 1) presentation and comparison of findings; 2) discussion of the specific features and problems of each set of sources represented in your group; 3) expanded inquiry into how the group's investigation confirmed or challenged what members had always believed about this event's significance; 4) critical analysis of at least 3 websites devoted to your topic. Each presentation should raise interpretive and historiographical issues for full class discussion. Presentations will be made on the weekend of February 22-23.
Brief List of Scholarly Journals in History
Primary Source Workshop on the Pilgrims
Primary Source Workshop on the Causes of the American Revolution