Neal Stout, Getting the Most out of Your U.S. History Course, 1996
Is there a special way to read history?
Lay out a block of time to read history
Familiarize yourself with the kind of reading you will be doing
Lean to spot the thesis (A thesis is a proposition whose validity the author demonstrates by presenting evidence.)
Use a Dictionary
Mary Lynn Rampolla, A Pocket Guide to Writing in History, 2001
Reading Critically
Become an active reader: You need not only to understand the content of what you are reading but also to analyze its significance, evaluate its usefulness, and synthesize all of your reading into one coherent picture of the topic you are studying.
Evaluating Primary Sources:
Who is the author?
Why did he or she write the source?
Who was the intended audience?
What unspoken assumptions does the text contain?
Are there detectable biases in the source?
When was the source composed?
What is the historical context in which the source was written and read?
Are there other contemporary sources to compare against this one?
Evaluating Secondary Sources:
Who is the author?
Why did he or she write the text?
Who is the intended audience?
Does the text contain any unspoken assumptions or detectable biases?
When was the source published?
Does the author provide sufficient and logical support for his or her thesis?
Could the same facts be interpreted in another way to support a different thesis?
How does the source compare with others I have consulted?
Jules R. Benjamin, A Student's Guide to History, 2001
How to read a History Assignment:
Look over the entire book
Read the preface or introduction
Read the table of contents
Pre-read sections of the book rapidly before reading the full work
By then you are familiar with topic of the book; background of the author; when it was written; how it is organized; its theme and conclusions.
Joyce Appleby: "The Power of History," 1998
"History is powerful because we live with its residues, its remnants, its remainders and reminders."
100 Year of Historiography:
1. Events: Elections, Battles
2. Structures: social, demographic
3. Agents: historical actors experiencing structural change and events - men, women, workers
4. "Texts"; acts of interpretation, remembrance, reconstruction.