Analyze your secondary
source
In three pages (Times New Roman, 12-point font with regular margins, double-spaced) and drawing on the
book by John Arnold, History: A Very Short Introduction (New York: Oxford University Press, 2000) analyze
one of the two secondary source examples we examined (Braudel or Chauncey). This analysis should consist
of two parts:
1)First, analyze the source as a piece of historical scholarship. What is the primary focus or purpose of the
article? What is/are the central argument(s) or main idea(s) of the text? On what sort of evidence (ie., sources)
are these arguments based? How convincing did you find this piece of scholarship? What is significant about
the author’s argument or contribution—that is, what does it teach us about history?
2)Second, analyze the source from a historiographical perspective, drawing on the concepts and ideas
presented in the Arnold text. What “kind” of historian is this (ie., social, cultural, political, intellectual) and what
makes you think so? How does the Arnold text help you to understand this author and his message?
Answer as many of the above questions as you can within the 3-page limit, making sure to give equal attention
to the historical and the historiographical parts of the analysis. Your analysis must engage heavily with the text
of the chosen article/chapter and with the book by Arnold—make sure to cite all the quotes and paraphrases
you use to support your arguments. Citations for the secondary source analysis assignment must be in
footnote or endnote form in the Chicago Style citation format.
Sample Solution