In this 2-page draft Analytical Essay on Primary Sources you will analyze one primary source.
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HIS233weektwoanalyticaldraftpaper.docxWeek Two Assignment - Draft Analytical Essay on Primary Sources
As you may know, a primary source (sometimes called an original source) is an artifact, a document, an image, a recording, or other source of information that was created at the time under study and was more or less contemporaneous with the events, people or places it described or represented. Primary sources can be textual (a memoir, a legal code, etc.), visual (a photograph, a painting, architecture, etc.), auditory (sound recording), audio-visual (movie or video with sound, etc.), or some other contemporaneous record.
SELECTION
In this 2-page draft Analytical Essay on Primary Sources you will analyze one primary source from a series of primary sources. The topics of your Analytical essay is: Empires of Western Africa (Week 4). For your final Analytical Essay on Primary Sources you will deepen and extend your analysis of this single primary source.
YOUR PRIMARY SOURCE TOPIC IS: Empires of Western Africa
- Empires of Western Africa
Top of Form
Topic 1 Required Reading
Kevin Reilly, The Human Journey, Chapter 6
Website: The Empires of the Western Sudan - http://www.metmuseum.org/toah/hd/wsem/hd_wsem.htm (read The Empires of the Western Sudan page and all the primary essays listed on the right-hand side of the page: 1) The Empires of the Western Sudan: Ghana Empire; 2) The Empires of the Western Sudan: Mali Empire; 3) The Empires of the Western Sudan: Songhai Empire; 4) Trade and the Spread of Islam in Africa; 5) The Trans-Saharan Gold Trade (Seventh–Fourteenth Centuries)
Primary Sources:
Website: Kingdom of Ghana (1067 CE) - https://www.bu.edu/africa/outreach/k_o_ghana/
Website: Leo Africanus describes Timbuktu - https://sourcebooks.fordham.edu/med/leo_afri.asp
Website: Kingdom of Mail (Al-Umari, ca. 1330 CE) - http://www.bu.edu/africa/outreach/k_o_mali/
Website: Proverbs from Ghana - http://www.bu.edu/africa/outreach/gp/
You begin this assignment by reading or viewing the one primary source you chose and analyze its meaning by making notes on your answers to the questions below:
1. What kind of primary source is it?
2. Who is the author or creator (if known)?
3. Can you tell why was it written or created?
4. What is the primary source's tone? What words and phrases (and/or scenes and visual perspectives) convey it?
5. What are the author's or creator's values and assumptions are? Is there visible bias? Explain your answers.
6. What information does it relate? Did the author or creator have first-hand knowledge of the subject or did s/he report what others saw and heard?
7. What issues does it address?
8. What is your overall assessment of the primary source and its usefulness/significance for the historical study of your topic?
You can only use sources from the course (required readings from the textbook and websites) for the Analytical Essay on Primary Sources. No sources from outside the course are allowed. Make sure that the ideas and words in your essay are your own. All paraphrases and quotations must have full citations. Be sure to read this PDF on
ESSAY COMPOSITION
Once you have analyzed the primary source by answering the questions, compose your essay using the information and insights from your analysis that you recorded in your notes. Your task in this essay is to summarize and interpret the primary source. Your task is not to argue with or endorse its ideas. Try to maintain an impartial tone. To complete the assignment successfully you need to read the source carefully and analyze its contents. We will practice these analytical skills in the discussion boards and here are some steps to follow as you put your ideas into writing this essay.
