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Argh students!
Mar. 31st, 2012 10:38 amSo one of my students in the 200 level history college class emailed me yesterday with a question about primary and secondary sources. (Which I did explain the first day of class in January). Anyway, this was the email exchange with names redacted. How stupid do people get? This is college - he is expected to actually think once in a while, much to his chagrin.
Student: Hi prof. _____, can you just explain the primary, secondary and other sources to me one more time, please and thank you.
Me: Primary sources are sources written in the period in question. It could be books, letters, law documents. So say you are studying a person who lived and wrote in the thirteenth century, for example, Pope Innocent III. The primary sources would include his letters and all his speeches. Primary sources are historical documents. So in the "Mysticism" reading for last week - primary sources were the writings by Catherine of Siena and Julian of Norwich and Margery Kempe themselves while the biographies of these women in the beginning of each section were secondary sources. THe Roman law segments we read earlier in the semester were primary sources too.
The secondary sources are sources written later, usually by modern historians. about the time period. Often, historians study primary sources to come up with conclusions and they write down the findings. Secondary sources could be scholarly articles or modern books about the subject. So for next Monday, you have to read a Moodle source called "Learning" which is a chapter from a book. That is a secondary source. The author relied on primary sources - the writings of the 15th century women - to come up with conclusions. The Karras book we read for class and our textbook are secondary sources.
So for your paper you need to find three primary sources and six secondary sources. Primary sources should include the writings of the person you are studying. Secondary sources should include three scholarly articles and three modern books about the person you are studying or the time period where your person lived.
Does this explanation make it clearer?
Student: Just curious the Sophocles trilogy would be primary or secondary?
Me: (while wanting to write back things I can't, I wish I could respond as Snape.) They are primary sources since they were written by Sophocles in Ancient Greece. Since they were written by the person you study in the historical age - they are primary source. A secondary source would be a modern article or book analyzing the play or the history or the life of Sophocles or the period when he lived.
Student: Ok thank you very much
Student: Hi prof. _____, can you just explain the primary, secondary and other sources to me one more time, please and thank you.
Me: Primary sources are sources written in the period in question. It could be books, letters, law documents. So say you are studying a person who lived and wrote in the thirteenth century, for example, Pope Innocent III. The primary sources would include his letters and all his speeches. Primary sources are historical documents. So in the "Mysticism" reading for last week - primary sources were the writings by Catherine of Siena and Julian of Norwich and Margery Kempe themselves while the biographies of these women in the beginning of each section were secondary sources. THe Roman law segments we read earlier in the semester were primary sources too.
The secondary sources are sources written later, usually by modern historians. about the time period. Often, historians study primary sources to come up with conclusions and they write down the findings. Secondary sources could be scholarly articles or modern books about the subject. So for next Monday, you have to read a Moodle source called "Learning" which is a chapter from a book. That is a secondary source. The author relied on primary sources - the writings of the 15th century women - to come up with conclusions. The Karras book we read for class and our textbook are secondary sources.
So for your paper you need to find three primary sources and six secondary sources. Primary sources should include the writings of the person you are studying. Secondary sources should include three scholarly articles and three modern books about the person you are studying or the time period where your person lived.
Does this explanation make it clearer?
Student: Just curious the Sophocles trilogy would be primary or secondary?
Me: (while wanting to write back things I can't, I wish I could respond as Snape.) They are primary sources since they were written by Sophocles in Ancient Greece. Since they were written by the person you study in the historical age - they are primary source. A secondary source would be a modern article or book analyzing the play or the history or the life of Sophocles or the period when he lived.
Student: Ok thank you very much