History

a. Author: Who is the author? What is their background? How might their background influence their perspective?

b. Audience: Who is the audience for the piece? How does the type of audience impact the ways in which the product takes shape?

c. Purpose: Why was the piece produced? Is the piece effective in achieving its purpose? What factors help it and what factors hinder it?

d. Tone and Language: What is the tone of the source? How is the tone and the language related to its overall purpose? What can the tone tell us about the author or his/her relationship to the audience?

e. Significance: This is the most important element of your analysis. Why is this source important? Why should scholars use this source when making historical analyses? What can this source tell us that other types of sources might not be able to do?