APUSH What is Context Context is one of the source features that you will need to be able to identify and analyze when reading primary source documents Context refers to the relevant background information when analyzing a document ID: 225445
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Slide1
Understanding Context
APUSHSlide2
What is “Context?”
Context is one of the source features that you will need to be able to identify and analyze when reading primary source documents
Context refers to the relevant background information when analyzing a documentSlide3
Context Key Questions
There are three key questions one must ask to understand the context of a document:
When and where was the source produced?
What contemporaneous events might have affected the author’s viewpoint and/or message?
How does the context affect the reliability of the source?Slide4
Key Question: When and Where
Understanding the when and where of a document can make a huge difference
Think about history. If you were to read an article on Women’s Rights written in 2015, would it contain the same or even similar information as a document on Women’s Rights written in 1830? How about 1920? Or 1950?
How might the date a document was written affect what is in it, and therefore affect how we think about the document?Slide5
Key Question: What events might have affected the author’s point of view?
This is where knowing history is extremely important: what was happening at the time a document was written?
Take, for example, the play “The Crucible.” What is it about?
The Salem Witch Trials
When was it written?
1953
What major event was happening in the United States when the Crucible was written?
The House
UnAmerican
Activities Committee (HUAC) was interviewing potential communists and “blackballing” them from the entertainment industry if they refused to name other communists
Does this context give The Crucible an extra layer of meaning?Slide6
Key Question: How does Context affect reliability?
Context can change the reliability of source.
For example: would you trust a source on heart surgery written in 1523, before modern
medicine
Thinking about History: The Cold War
The following video was created at the height of the cold war. We are going to watch it for context.Slide7
Duck and Cover! Key Questions
https://
www.youtube.com/watch?v=IKqXu-5jw60
How do you feel watching this video in 2015?
How do you think kids felt watching this video in 1951?
When and where was this video produced?
What was happening in the world when this video was created?
Do you find this video reliable? Why or why not?Slide8
Context and John Locke
Now You’ll be reading an excerpt from John Locke’s ‘Second Treatise on Civil Government.” You will answer the following questions:
When and where was this document written?
What was happening in the world at the time that might influence John Locke’s writing?
Does the above context affect the source’s reliability? Why
or why not?