Guided Primary Source Analysis: Hello, Earth! Hello!

Guided Primary Source Analysis: Hello, Earth! Hello!

Click the newspaper above to zoom in and read the article. Make a chart that lists the name of each scientist or inventor mentioned in the article, whether the expert was quoted directly or indirectly, and the expert’s view of the possibility of communication with other planets. Find out more information about the publisher of this newspaper, then…

Guided Primary Source Analysis: Thanksgiving Shopping Insert

Guided Primary Source Analysis: Thanksgiving Shopping Insert

Zoom into this newspaper page online or download a larger image. Use the shopping insert to help craft a Thanksgiving menu. What would you serve based on the items offered for sale? Look closely at the illustrations surrounding the advertisements. Add speech bubbles to bring the scene depicted at the top of the page to life. Compare and contrast…

Guided Primary Source Analysis: 1900 Gold Medal Flour Ad

Guided Primary Source Analysis: 1900 Gold Medal Flour Ad

Review these advertising persuasion techniques. Describe the technique(s) you find present in this 1900 newspaper advertisement for Gold Medal flour that appeared in the New-York Daily Tribune. Review the headlines on this page and scan the articles (online | .pdf). Do you think the audience for the articles is the same audience that Gold Medal flour…

Guided Primary Source Analysis: El Paso Herald August 12, 1914

Guided Primary Source Analysis: El Paso Herald August 12, 1914

Zoom into this newspaper (online | .pdf). What is the most important topic on this page? What details support your conclusion? There is a question in the newspaper’s nameplate, or top, section. What is the question and what do you think is the answer to the question? What details support your answer? What information about El…

Guided Primary Source Analysis: Solving the Riddle of Mars?

Guided Primary Source Analysis: Solving the Riddle of Mars?

Click the newspaper image above to zoom into the page. What is the riddle of Mars? Does the article answer the headline question? What evidence does the article give that there is life on Mars? What evidence does the article provide that Professor Lowell believes these Martian extraterrestrials are superior to mankind as the subhead claims?…

Guided Primary Source Analysis: Washington D.C. Invites You to the Opening of Congress

Guided Primary Source Analysis: Washington D.C. Invites You to the Opening of Congress

According to this ad, how could you get your free trip to Washington D.C.? How would you get to the U.S. capital from your home town today? How far is it? How much would it cost? What can you still see now that you could see then? What places would be on your list of…

Guided Primary Source Analysis: Biggest Business in the World

Guided Primary Source Analysis: Biggest Business in the World

This campaign ad lists 10 pledges Senator Warren G. Harding promised to uphold. Which 3 do you think are most important for a politician to keep? Explain the reasoning for your choices. What pledges would you make if you were running for political office? Explain the reasoning for your choices. This campaign ad says the United…

Learning from the Source: Crimea, Ukraine, Russia

Learning from the Source: Crimea, Ukraine, Russia

Overview Students will collaborate to analyze, compare, and contrast newspaper coverage of events in Crimea and Ukraine in the mid-19th century and early 20th century with 2014 media coverage of events involving Crimea, Ukraine and Russia to illuminate the geopolitical history of the region and consider how examining the past shapes perspectives and understanding of…

Featured Source: The Gerry-mander

Featured Source: The Gerry-mander

Curator’s note In 1812, Jeffersonian Republicans forced through the Massachusetts legislature a bill rearranging district lines to assure them an advantage in the upcoming senatorial elections. Although Governor Elbridge Gerry had only reluctantly signed the law, a Federalist editor is said to have exclaimed upon seeing the new district lines, “Salamander! Call it a Gerrymander.”…