Page 1 of 18

HISTORY SOURCE-BASED
SKILLS BOOKLET
Grade 10 - 12
‘IF OUR STUDY OF HISTORY DOESN’T MAKE US BETTER
PEOPLE TODAY, WE’RE DOING IT WRONG’ – Mwalimu T. F.
Mkhize

‘THE BEST AND WORST THING ABOUT HISTORY IS THAT

IT REPEATS ITSELF’ – Lord W.F.D. Maurice

History Skills Booklet PLEASE TURN OVER

 Page 2 of 18

~ Contents ~
How to analyse a source page 3 - 4
Alternative method to analyse a source page 5
How to assess the value and limitations of primary
and secondary sources page 6 -8
How to know whether a source is biased or neutral page 9
How to decide whether a source is reliable or not page 10 - 11
How to analyse photographs as historical evidence page 12
How to analyse iconic photographs page 13
How to analyse political posters page 14
How to analyse political cartoons page 15 – 16
How to identify propaganda page 17
How to assess the value of statistical evidence page 18
List of references page 18

History Skills Booklet PLEASE TURN OVER

 Page 3 of 18

1. How to analyse a source:

Nearly all the source-based assessments that you do in History are based on sources.
The first step is to extract information from the sources. With every source, written or
visual, begin by asking the following questions:

1. What is the origin of the source?

✔ When was it produced?

✔ Who was it produced by?
✔ Where was it produced?

2. Is this a useful source?

✔ NOTE: ALL SOURCES ARE USEFUL as long as they provide information on

the topic that the historian is investigating.
✔ A useful source is NOT necessarily reliable.

3. Is this a biased source?

✔ Bias means ‘one sidedness’.

✔ It occurs when a source gives one view of an event (identify writer’s intention).
✔ Look out for emotive (not factual) words.

4. What is the intention of the source?

✔ This refers to WHY the source was produced.

✔ WHAT does the author hope to achieve?

5. What are the limitations of the source?

✔ What is missing?
✔ What does the source NOT provide?
✔ Eg: An eyewitness/photographer can only see a LIMITED view of an event, a
graph only gives numbers and no insight into feelings and by its nature a
political cartoon is biased.
✔ Primary sources are MORE limited than secondary.

History Skills Booklet PLEASE TURN OVER

 Page 4 of 18

✔ Note that a source cannot be ALL encompassing. Use the intention of the
source, as well as the question given to focus on appropriate limitations of the
source.

6. Is this a valid source? OR Is the message of the source valid?

✔ A valid source should contain no contradictions.

✔ A valid source should show no evidence of tampering/forgery.
✔ It should be reliable (trustworthy), useful and not limited.
✔ A valid source can also be one that can be corroborated with other trusted
sources.

Extra Tips:
- Read the caption and origin of the source which will appear in bold above the
actual source.
- Read the question carefully. Often you will be asked to extract information from
the source to answer the question in source-based tests/examinations.
- If they say ‘quote’ you must extract information from the source and place in
quotation marks.

History Skills Booklet PLEASE TURN OVER

 Page 5 of 18

Alternative METHOD to analyse a source - Historical Thinking Tool

Historical Thinking Tool Evidence in Source

TEXT

● What is visible/readable?
(what is the source about)

● What type of source is it? (eg:

cartoon/poster/textual/extract)
CONTEXT

● What was going on during the

time period? What background
information do you have that
helps explain the information
found in the source?
● When was it written?
SUBTEXT

● What is between the lines?

Ask questions about the

following:

Author

● Who created the source?

● And what do we know about
that person?

Audience

● For whom was the source

created?

Reason

● Why was this source produced

when it was?

History Skills Booklet PLEASE TURN OVER

 Page 6 of 18

2. How to assess the value and limitations of primary

and secondary sources:

⮚ Primary Sources:

1. What is the value of primary sources?

✔ They tell us the actual words used at the time (eg: in a speech or an
official document).
✔ They often provide first hand accounts that tell about ordinary people’s
lives (eg: diary/letter)
✔ Archaeological and oral evidence provide information about very early
societies which are not recorded in books.
✔ They give us information about attitudes and views at the time (eg:
from a cartoon or a letter).
✔ They can provide new perspectives which might otherwise have been
ignored or silenced. (eg: interview transcript)

2. What are the limitations (shortfalls) of a primary source?

✔ They can be altered, deliberately changed, or broken.

✔ A lot of primary evidence has been lost, so we may get an inaccurate
or incomplete record of what life was like.
✔ Accounts in oral history may be one-sided, or parts of them may have
been forgotten over time, so they may be inaccurate.
✔ Primary evidence reflects only an immediate response made at the
time. You can’t generalise from a few examples.
✔ Primary sources seldom give an overview or an objective perspective.

History Skills Booklet PLEASE TURN OVER

 Page 7 of 18

⮚ Secondary Sources:

1. What is the value of secondary sources?

✔ Can give interesting and thorough content and analyses as they often
draw on large amounts of evidence.
✔ They can use various sources to explain broad trends, give summaries,
make comparisons, and give overviews.
✔ They can be objective and give balanced accounts.
✔ They have the benefit of hindsight.
✔ The account may be more objective as the writer is not involved in the
events being analysed.
✔ Writer has had the benefit of consulting a range of primary sources on
the event.

2. What are the limitations of secondary sources?

✔ Can be one-sided.
✔ They reflect the point of view of the writer.
✔ They seldom show the emotional impact of the events on people’s
lives.

✔ Data can still be skewed to make a specific point.

History Skills Booklet PLEASE TURN OVER

 Page 8 of 18

⮚ What is the difference between a primary source and a

secondary source?

Primary Source Secondary Source

✔ Created at the time the event is ✔ Created after the event

taking place. happened.
✔ More often than not they are ✔ Often the product of a number of
limited and biased. sources.
✔ BUT do give an ordinary person’s ✔ Often contains more facts than
insight into events. opinion and might focus on
✔ Just because it is primary DOES famous people rather than the
NOT make it reliable. experience of ordinary people in
✔ Eg: Speech, diary, letter, oral history.
description, official document, ✔ Eg: School textbook.
photograph, cartoon, newspaper
article or an object.

History Skills Booklet PLEASE TURN OVER

 Page 9 of 18

3. How to know whether a source shows bias or is

objective:
When approaching sources it is important to understand that sources are not ‘the
entire truth’ and they are not neutral. Nearly ALL sources are biased to some extent.
This means that they favour a particular side and will try and persuade the reader to
agree with their point of view.

Biased Source Neutral Source

✔ The words contain emotion. ✔ The words are neutral and show
Eg: ‘the brave freedom fighters’ no emotion.
or the ‘desperate soldiers’. Eg: ‘The Americans sent troops
✔ The facts selected are from ONE to Vietnam’.
side of the argument only. Other ✔ The account is factually
facts are ignored/left out, facts balanced. There is information
are exaggerated or repeated. from different sides of the
✔ The person who produced the argument.
source wants to put across a ✔ The source is objective. This
particular point of view. means there are a range of
✔ The person who made the source perspectives.
wants the reader to side with the ✔ The person who made the source
perspective he/she is sets out different arguments and
presenting. wants the reader to make up
✔ The person who made the source his/her own mind.
has reason to be one sided. ✔ The person who made the source
He/she is subjectively involved. is an objective commentator.

Extra Tips:
✔ When explaining that a source or person is biased, you write ‘the
author/writer/speaker is biased’ or ‘the source is biased’.
✔ DO NOT say ‘the source is bias’.

History Skills Booklet PLEASE TURN OVER

 Page 10 of 18

4. How to decide whether a source is reliable or not:

A reliable source shows no bias; should take into account as many perspectives as
possible (but give some information into how people felt) and provide objective
(mostly facts and fewer opinions) & comprehensive information on an historical
event.

A source may be unreliable if it:

✔ shows clear bias/one-sidedness

✔ contains factual errors
✔ is exaggerated
✔ is inconsistent with other sources
✔ was deliberately produced to influence people’s thinking
✔ contradicts itself
✔ has been tampered with or forged

What to include in a reliability question if you are asked to evaluate the reliability or
a source or how reliable it is:

OPLB/OILB - ‘BOIL’

1. the origin of the source

● date
● author
● caption

2. the intention/purpose of the source

✔ why was it created?

✔ what was the writer/artist/author hoping to achieve?
✔ Remember the writer/author is trying to influence your thinking.

3. the limitation of the source = usually:

4. the bias within the source

✔ you MUST indicate whether you think the source is biased or not. If you
claim that it is:

History Skills Booklet PLEASE TURN OVER

 Page 11 of 18

✔ you MUST answer with a quote showing evidence of bias contained

within the source

5. You MUST end your answer with “The source is therefore reliable” or “The
source is therefore unreliable” or “The source is therefore unreliable when
used on its own.”

Please note that reliability and usefulness are NOT used interchangeably. They both
hold a unique historical value. This is, therefore, a method only applied to reliability
and not a question on usefulness.

History Skills Booklet PLEASE TURN OVER

 Page 12 of 18

5. How to analyse photographs as historical evidence:

Photographs are useful historical sources as they provide a great deal of information
about the past. They are primary sources that are produced by eyewitnesses to
historical events or turning points in history.

How to analyse a photograph:

✔ Analyse the source (refer to p 2/3 of this booklet)

✔ What is the photographer’s intention? What/who is the focus of the
photograph? Are they old/young/male/female etc?
✔ What is the purpose of the photograph? e.g. Is it for a family album, a
newspaper article or a Department of Home Affairs record?
✔ Facial features are further evidence to support the photographer’s intention as
they provide information on the mood that existed at the time this photograph
was taken.
✔ Is the photo staged or is this a natural situation? Have the people been
arranged? Does it reflect anything about their relationships?
✔ Is there any sign that the photograph has been changed/edited/altered in any
way? How so, and why?

However, photographs are limited historical sources for the following reasons:
✔ They only show the photographers’ view of the event.
✔ They only show a snap-shot in time – we do not know what happened before
or after the photograph was taken.
✔ Photographs can be doctored or altered/edited.
✔ They may not be typical of what is presenting.
✔ It could be staged.
✔ You cannot reach conclusions about a period in history from one photograph.

History Skills Booklet PLEASE TURN OVER

 Page 13 of 18

6. How to analyse ICONIC photographs as historical

evidence:
Some photographs associated with historic events have, over time, become
famous and in turn have come to symbolise an entire historical era as they
highlight various issues associated with that era. We use the term ‘iconic’ for
these photographs.

How to analyse an ICONIC photograph:

1. What is the main focus of the photograph?

2. What is the photographer’s intention in taking the photograph?

3. Why has this photograph become iconic of the Vietnam War?

✔ You MUST focus on the historical context when answering this.

✔ Time and place.

4. What is/was the local impact of the iconic photograph?

5. What is/was the international impact of the photograph?

History Skills Booklet PLEASE TURN OVER

 Page 14 of 18

7. How to analyse political posters:

✔ Posters are often used as a powerful tool to educate, inform and persuade.
✔ For instance, the civil protests in South Africa were mass-based.
o Spreading information about resistance and increasing people’s
awareness were therefore important. Posters were used for this
purpose in South Africa.
✔ Posters are useful political tools as they are visually powerful and make a
direct appeal.
✔ They are easy to understand, increase awareness and stimulate action.
✔ People do not have to be literate to understand them, so they can reach the
masses.
✔ Posters may grab the viewer’s attention. To do this they use certain
techniques.
✔ You need to know how to identify and apply these techniques.

⮚ How to study a political poster:

1. What is the origin of the poser?
2. To whom is the poster appealing? Who is the target audience?
3. What symbolism has been used in this poster? Focus on detail.
4. What is the intention of the poster?
5. How do the illustrations support the intention? How are the symbols,
pictures arranged? What is going on in the poster?
6. What is the overall message of the poster?

Extra tips:
1. In a test/exam you will often be asked what the message of the poster is and
is it put across effectively?
2. Use the above questions to help guide your answer.

History Skills Booklet PLEASE TURN OVER

 Page 15 of 18

8. How to analyse cartoons:

✔ Cartoons are primary sources in which the cartoonist (artist) gives his
interpretation (point of view) of a particular topic or event.
✔ The cartoonist’s intention is to convey a serious message by satirizing
(making fun of) a political figure.
✔ As a result, cartoons are limited as they are biased in nature and require
context (understanding the event and people involved) to understand them.
✔ However, cartoons are useful to historians as they provide insight into how
some people at the time felt about a particular event or political figure.
✔ The way a cartoonist portrays the people in the cartoon will indicate
whether he/she likes or dislikes the people.
✔ Cartoons are both literal and figurative in nature.
✔ In order to be instantly recognizable a cartoonist will draw a political figure
literally (realistically).
✔ However, to create the humour in the cartoon he may exaggerate a
personal or distinctive feature of the figure. Eg: PW Botha was famous for
his wagging index finger which is often exaggerated in cartoons.
✔ In order to convey his/her intention a cartoon may make use of various
symbols. Eg: Old man representing the past, baby representing the future.
✔ The facial features drawn on the political figures may also provide the
reader with evidence to further support the cartoonist’s opinion of the
political figure and the message he/she is attempting to convey in the
cartoon.

⮚ How to analyse cartoons:

1. Who is the figure in the cartoon?
2. How has he/she been portrayed? Are they realistic?
3. What is the attitude of the cartoonist? Are the figures shown in a positive,
negative or neutral way?
4. What is the intention of the cartoonist?
5. What symbols are used to get the message across?
6. What symbolism does the date and caption add?
7. Does the cartoon have a particular message?

History Skills Booklet PLEASE TURN OVER

 Page 16 of 18

8. Place the cartoon in historical context. What do you know about this time
that may support or contradict the views of the cartoon?
9. What does your knowledge of the cartoon tell you about the author? Is
there bias?

⮚ Limitations of cartoons:
✔ They are exaggerated.
✔ They are from the point of view of the cartoonist.
✔ They contain bias. They are biased towards or biased against a
certain individual or group.
✔ They often only highlight one aspect of a period in history and are
limited as a result.

Extra tips:
1. Use the above as a guideline as you will not be able to answer all the aspects for
every cartoon you come across.

History Skills Booklet PLEASE TURN OVER

 Page 17 of 18

9. How to identify propaganda:

⮚ What is Propaganda?

✔ Publically or selected information used to make people believe something and

to gain support for a cause.
✔ It involves the spreading of ideas through techniques of persuasion.
✔ It does not always have to be negative or underhand but it manipulates
people’s opinions or ideas on a particular topic.
✔ Persuasive techniques will usually, but not always, be linked to sources
connected with political figures or political organisations.
✔ They will often be found in speeches, but they could also be in letters to the
press, interviews or newspaper articles.

⮚ Top 10 propaganda techniques:

1. Use of emotive words.

2. Repetition of the same words or phrases.
3. Identifying a clear enemy – comparisons made between ‘us’ and ‘them’.
This might involve ‘name calling’.
4. Playing on the audience’s fear.
5. Appealing to the audience’s sense of guilt.
6. Making use of rhetorical questions (require no answer from the
audience as the answer has been provided).
7. Appealing to patriotism or the need to ‘do the right thing’ – either for
religious or moral reasons because they feel it is their duty to serve and
protect their country.
8. Passing off one-sided information as the truth.
9. Appearing to be an authority or expert on the topic by making use of
‘pseudo-scientific facts.’
10. Making use of stereotypes or generalisations.

History Skills Booklet PLEASE TURN OVER

 Page 18 of 18

10. How to assess the value of statistical evidence:

Statistics are numerical measures of trends.

⮚ Value of statistical evidence:

✔ It gives an overview of trends or comparisons in a succinct way.

✔ It is objective and based on measurable evidence.
✔ When in graphic form it gives a useful visual picture of the
trends.

⮚ Limitations of statistical evidence:

✔ It has to be based on a broad spread of the data otherwise it can

be misleading or inaccurate.
✔ In many places data is not available.
✔ The evidence gathered may be from too narrow or small a range
to give a realistic view.
✔ The evidence may be selective (that is especially selected to
show a specific trend).

List of references:
1. Bottaro J., Visser P. & Worden N. 2013.In Search of History. South Africa:
Oxford University Press.

2. Rogers A., Ellis P. & Olivier P. 2017. Ace it! Study Guide. South Africa:
Shuter & Shooter.

3. Du Rand S., Bonsor N. 2016. Revision of Skills.

History Skills Booklet PLEASE TURN OVER