Macro source study
- 1. MACRO Source AnalysisMotive: purpose and perspective of the author/creator. Why was the source created? By whom? For what reason? Does this effect the point-of-view contained in the source? What is the point-of-view (perspective) contained in the source?Parties:Audience: the intended or ultimate reader. Who is the intended audience? How is the source represented or is it in its original condition? Have there been choices made by intermediaries, including historians, to represent it to the audience in a certain way? How is the audience expected to respond to the source? Are there multiple audiences? Parties:Origin: what, when and where. What type of source are we dealing with (literary, artefact, visual, structural)? What are the unique considerations appropriate to this type of source? What time relationship exists between the source and the information it provides? What is the history of the source? Where did it originate? How was it preserved? How did it come to our attention?Source: is the source reliable and useful; and for what purpose?Context: non-textual factors surrounding the source. How do historians categorize this source? Is there a political, social and cultural context into which we are expected to place the source? Is there any information external to the source that might help to draw conclusions from it? :Record: info contained in the source– literal, implicit and inferred. What is the literal meaning? What information is implied, assumed or inferred? What are those assumptions? Is the information a literary representation and, if so, does it use rhetorical techniques such as metaphorand innuendo? Is the information contested by other sources? Is the information internally consistent (or are there contradictions within the text)? Are there reasons to question the veracity of the information?