Australian Women after WW11

How can we write a reliable essay?

What is a source?

What is a source?• Sources are pieces of information we can use to help us understand

certain periods of time.

• Like a detective, we, and fellow historians have to piece together a puzzle of what happened in the past. The best way to do this is to find information left for us from a number of different ‘sources’.

• Sources can range from; – Journal entries– Newspaper clippings– Comics– Illustrations,– Speeches,– Books,– Articles– Anything written, drawn or said about the period that is being studied.

Are there different kind of sources?

Are there different kind of sources?

PRIMARY SOURCE• A primary source is a specific source, which has been published

DURING the period that is being studied. • Primary sources are a good reference as it directly reflects the

thoughts, opinions and ideology of the period. It gives a good insight on what was going on at that time.

SECONDARY SOURCE• A secondary source is a specific source, which has been published AFTER the

period that is being studied. • Secondary sources are a good reference as it can put certain events and

people into context of the overall period. • It is able to look at more than one idea/thought and create an overall

comparison.

What would we use sources for?

What would we use sources for?

• In history, using sources are crucial to develop a sound understanding of certain periods in time, especially certain events and people.

• We can use sources to help us learn about events and people, and we can also use sources to help us illustrate a certain point we might be explaining.

• HOWEVER you cannot use a source as your own idea. You must always reference the source.

Why might it be important to use

sources?

Why might it be important to use sources?

• Overall, sources, primary and secondary, are crucial in history to aid in our ability to learn but also to help us evaluate history.

• When writing an essay, it is important to have an added perspective (from a source), which is always referred as reliable.

• In making our essays reliable, we are able to express our points more clearly and persuasively.

Primary sources

• Primary sources are very important to use when studying any kind of history.

• To learn about events and people, we use sources to understand the history and the ideology of the period.

• Primary sources give us a direct insight into the thoughts of individuals and also an overall picture of events and people, if the source is from somewhere such as a newspaper.

Secondary sources

• Secondary sources are also very important to use when studying any kind of history.

• Secondary sources are generally written and published by historians and academics who have thoroughly researched (using primary and secondary sources) an idea, event or person in history and given us a detailed account.

• This helps us learn in depth about different ideas surrounding the period we are studying.

Where might we find sources?

Where might we find sources?

• Primary– Old newspapers– Journal articles– Text books– Sources from books

• • Secondary

– The library – many, many books on many, many different topics (non-fiction of course!!!)

– Current newspapers – see if you can find any present articles that refer to something in the past

CAN YOU THINK OF ANYWHERE ELSE YOU MIGHT FIND SOURCES?

Can you tell which one is a primary source and

which one is a secondary source?

Is this a primary or secondary source?

Hughes, K Contemporary Australia; Feminism Two Addison Wesley Longman Australia Pty Ltd, Melbourne 1994, PG 322

Is this a primary or secondary source?

*Don’t forget – Always reference your source!

Join us in a Victory job, Maurice Bramley, 1943

Is this a primary or secondary source?

How to tell the difference between a primary source and a secondary source

• Sometimes it’s difficult to tell the difference between sources, especially when it might be a quote or a block of writing.

• A lot of the time a primary source will be written in the first person, for example “I think…”, like the third example.

• A lot of the time a secondary source will be written in the third person, for example “The war changed the lives of many people….”.

• Most images or illustrations are a primary source. It is quite rare to find a secondary source as a visual in history

So now we know what primary sources and

secondary sources are how can we use them…

What does this source tell us about the opinions of women in the war?

• Firstly, is this a primary or secondary source?

• Does this depict a positive or negative attitude towards women?

• What can we learn about the opinions surrounding women in the war during this period, as depicted by this illustration?The Bulletin, 1939-1945

How can we understand and make use of sources?

• When understanding sources it is important to go through a number of questions;– What are the main points?– What is the context of the source?– Look for any kind of bias in the source (especially

if it is a primary souce)– What perspective is it? i.e who is saying/doing

what?– Always ask “WHY” to all these questions

Take 5 minutes to analyse this source

Don’t forget to go through all the points on making sense of sources