Zoom into this 1888 presidential election document online or in a .pdf document. Look closely at the graphical elements of the complete document and compare and contrast the presentation of information in the Harrison and Cleveland maps. Which is more pleasing visually and why? How does the visual presentation affect the tone of each map? Describe…
In a Teaching with the Library of Congress blog post, Deborah Thomas, program manager for the National Digital Newspaper Program at the Library of Congress, discusses Helping Students Read Between the Lines: Identifying Bias and Attitude in Newspapers for the Presidential Election of 1912. With three major candidates, rather than the traditional two, the 1912…
Zoom into the picture above (.pdf file) and analyze the photo using the primary source analysis tool. First, just use the picture to complete your image analysis, then review the bibliographic record to add to your analysis. Share your analysis with a partner, group or the class. This image lists some letters and numbers at the bottom of the picture. Enter…
What is the mood of this image? What symbols and other details in the engraving contribute to the overall mood it evokes? Now review the bibliographic record for this image. Describe what you learned and explain how that affects your “reading” of this source. Do a bit of research to learn more about the person…
This Emily Dickinson poem was set to music by composer Ernst Bacon. Take a closer look at this sheet music and read the lyrics. What feeling does this poem give you? What specific word choices influence how you feel? What kind of music do you think would go with these words (happy, upbeat, sad, mournful, lively, slow,…
Enduring understanding Time, place, and culture influence our perspectives on people and issues. Essential question How have perceptions of women in America and their roles in society evolved over time? Lesson prep Review and read all primary sources. Prepare primary sources for online or paper analysis. Have packs of sticky notes (three different colors) available….
Zoom into a more detailed image of this illustration. Study carefully the expressions–both facial and body–of each woman in this illustration. Use one adjective and one verb to describe each woman based on your analysis of their expressions. The full title of this illustration is “Studies in expression. When women are jurors.” This 1902 illustration…
Zoom into this 1997 map online or this .pdf document. What do you learn just from looking at the title and the information presented outside of the country labels (ignore the orange leaves for now)? Look at the country labels (orange leaves). Which countries have the most female landowners? Use the information provided in this map to…
What does the image above make you think about? What sense of this man, Jesse Owens, do you get from this picture? Next, review the bibliographic record for this photograph. What more did you learn? Now read this short life history of Jesse Owens created in 1939. What do you learn about him from this source?…
Do some research on the Primary Source Nexus to find out who Wilson was. If you don’t know what a Pharaoh is, do some research outside of the Primary Source Nexus to find out. Why do you think this political cartoon might have compared Wilson to a Pharaoh? Look up the definition of a tariff….
Read this In Custodia Legis blog post on State of the Union addresses from the Library of Congress. List the main points covered in the post. Then look at the text cloud made from the text of President Barack Obama’s final State of the Union address given on January 12, 2016. What key words and…
Zoom into this 1997 Geology of the Solar System map to read the text. List the challenges geologists face in mapping the solar system. Choose one planet (Venus, Mercury, Earth, Mars) and summarize what you learned about it from the map. Compare your findings with a peer who chose a different planet. Compare and contrast what you…