Level One
1. Who wrote this document?
2. Who is the intended audience?
3. What is the story being told?
Level Two
1. Why was this document written?
2. What type of document is this?
3. What are the basic assumptions made in this document?
Level Three
1. Can I believe this document?
2. What can I learn about the society that produced this document?
3. What does this document mean to me?
Image courtesy Cardinal Stritch University Library
Primary sources are contemporary, first-hand, published, or unpublished, accounts of an event.
How to Read a Primary Source (Bowdoin College) includes questions to ask when evaluating a primary source.
Image courtesy Cardinal Stritch University Library
Secondary Sources are retrospective analyses based on the author's own reading of existing primary or secondary sources. Scholarly work uses recent, peer-reviewed academic sources, such as journal (not magazine) articles, books, and book chapters.
