Critical Analysis & Evaluation
📋 What it is
Historians weigh SOURCES: a primary source comes from the time; a secondary source is written later about it. Who made it, when, and why matters.
🗣️ Coach says
This is the historian’s superpower. Before you trust a source, ask who wrote it, when, and why — a diary from 1776 and a textbook from today tell you different kinds of truth. Evidence beats opinion.
🧠 Memory hook
“Who, when, why?” Primary = from the time. Secondary = written later about it.
😂 Giggle
What did the primary source say to the secondary source?
"Don't believe everything you hear — I was actually there!"
😲 Whoa!
Two eyewitnesses to the SAME event often write very different accounts — which is exactly why historians read many sources, not just one.
✅ Quick check: A soldier’s letter written during a battle — is that a primary or secondary source?
Say your answer out loud first — then reveal.
A primary source — it was created at the time by someone who was there.
Sorting primary from secondary sources is the foundation of evaluating historical evidence.
🧪 Try it! (2 minutes)
Find one primary source and one secondary source about any event and say which is which.