Document Analysis

Overview

DESCRIPTION:

When studying the past, historians consult both “secondary” sources – that is, books, articles, and other studies carried out by other scholars on the historical topic or theme they’re pursing – and, most critically, “primary” sources – or documents which were authored or otherwise created during the historical period under consideration. These “primary” documents serve as evidence for past societies and cultures, in terms of what they were like, what they believed, what they liked or disliked, and even how their citizens behaved.

This assignment is designed to help you develop, practice, and strengthen the skills in historical interpretation you’ll need to successfully complete your analytical essay. Using six specific primary source documents assigned to Meeting 3: “Building Walls: Western Europe vs. Eastern Europe”, you will produce your own collection of primary source document analyses, along with a synthetic central argument (that is, a broad observation and interpretation of the past based upon a collection of historical documents).

- The document I attached titled "Document Analysis - Assignment Template" is what you are going to use to make your finished product.

- The document I attached titled "Example of What Your Work Should Look Like" is an example of another students work, in which your finished product should turn out like.

ASSIGNED SOURCES

1. Winston Churchill, "The Iron Curtain" (1946)

2. Nikita Khrushchev, “Report to the Twentieth Party Congress” (1956)

3. Paul-Henri Spaak, "Why Nato?" (1959)

4. Government of the German Democratic Republic, “What You Should Know About the Wall” (1962)

5. Milovan Djilas, "The New Class" (1957)

6. Heda Margolius Kovály, "Under a Cruel Star" (1986)

*****This is a google drive link to a folder to all the sources that you NEED to include in your answer: https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/1ykFu7lahWv...

*****You CANNOT use any other outside resources besides the sources themselves to get your answer

REQUIREMENTS

Your document analysis assignment should use, or be modeled after, the "Document Analysis - Assignment Template" which I have attached below, and should include each of the following required elements:

• Source Descriptions
  • In 3-4 sentences: A brief summary of each source (that’s six short summaries in total).
  • In 3-4 sentences: A sense of why each document is historically significant (that's six short significances in total).

• Synthetic Central Argument
  • In 4-6 sentences: A thesis statement, or central argument, that suggests how the documents work as a body of historical evidence. In other words, how do these documents explain the origins, realities, and consequences for the Cold War in Europe? (Ex: “Examined together, these documents reveal...”).
    • NOTE: It should be pointed out, here, that I want you to think synthetically – that is, by taking a step back and telling me a story of change over time, without specific reference to any one primary source – rather than individually (or “Source X says, while Source Y says …”).

EVALUATION CRITERIA

You will be evaluated on (1) the accuracy of your summaries, (2) the thoughtfulness of your analysis of the importance of each document, and (3) your ability to make some preliminary arguments about how the documents work together as a body of historical evidence.

*************DO NOT USE any type of AI, ChatGpt, etc. NOTHING! This must be 100% in your own words. Make sure that it is 0% detectable on ALL AI detectors because the teacher will check and so will I. The teacher knows all these works like the back of her hand, so she will know if you are making something up or leaving something out. Some of the AI detectors I will use to detect for AI are, but not limited to, GPTzero, Grammarly, Quilbot, Copyleaks, zerogpt, etc. So please make sure there is absolutely no AI use.****************