Source Analyses
Using ADAM PRU
Source 1:- Tutankhamun
… It was because Tutankhamun was a short-lived, unimportant ruler that his tomb had been concealed behind others and forgotten about. It was because he was a nobody that his remains and their golden trappings survived so well. We don't need endless investigations and theories - not long ago, highly publicised TV documentaries were revealing the 'truth' that Tutankhamun died in a hunting accident; before that, murder was the theory of the day - to 'explain' Tutankhamun's death…
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Jonathan Jones - A British art critic who completed an undergraduate degree in History.
An editorial taken from The Guardian on 21/10/14 (print and online British newspaper).
Source Analysis
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Jonathan Jones created this source of the 21st October, 2014 with the intended audience being a slightly older generation who lived during the time in which Tutankhamun was discovered. This audience, however, are most likely not historians as the level of depth in explanation and language was not used correctly in order to prove and portray the author's statement that "Tutankhamun was a short-lived, unimportant ruler".
This source by Jonathan Jones was created in order to present the idea in which the Egyptian King, Tutankhamun, was not a very important figure in history as the author suggests that there is no real need for ongoing investigations and theories regarding the life and death of the boy ruler, King Tutankhamun. The author's perspective also portrayed a feeling of little to no interest in the life or death in particular, of the boy king. He expresses this by explaining that Tutankhamun was an 'unimportant ruler' and that his tomb was concealed and hidden behind others for this very reason. This uninterested point of view was influenced by the fact that the author was not particularly inquisitive in the study of history as he only completed an undergraduate degree in History.
Personally, I do not believe that this particular source is reliable for an historian studying the young King, Tutankhamun as very little detail regarding this case is presented and the information is portrayed has many elements of bias and subjectivity include within. An example of this is, "It was because he (Tutankhamun) was a nobody." The author, Jonathan Jones completed an undergraduate degree in History which allows us to question whether or not he is a reliable source of information regarding Tutankhamun for this very reason. In conclusion, I do not believe that this particular source on Tutankhamen is reliable, especially for historians studying this historical individual as an extremely subjective perspective is used. This is evident as Jonathan Jones explains, "(Tutankhamun) was a nobody that his remains and their golden trappings survived so well."
This source by Jonathan Jones in not by any means a useful source, especially for the use of studying Tutankhamun as an historical personality as this source provide no actual evidence and the life and mysterious death of King Tutankhamun. This source poses that question of subjectivity and bias which is clearly portrayed throughout this source. In terms of studying Tutankhamun as an historical personnel, this source does not provide any information on Tutankhamun himself which would be useful in regards to studying him as the source is mostly comprised of subjectivity rather than facts and evidence to prove or disprove the author's motive.
Source 2:- Fidel Castro
… let me share with you a story from my childhood that’s is telling of how he (Castro) will be remembered at least by my family. When I was a young boy in Havana, my father was reading a published version of a four-hour speech Fidel gave called "History Will Absolve Me." He was reading it in secret, as it was banned reading material that would have seen him serve jail time if he had been caught. The book was controversial because it was Fidel's speech about the importance of human rights, due process and fairness of the law in a civilized society. He spoke eloquently during the speech, which he gave while facing charges for a terrorist attack during the Cuban Revolution.
My father had to explain to me that Fidel never wanted anyone to know that he once said those things about individual freedom and equality. How ironic, that the man who once recognized that individual liberties are an enormous part of a productive society, took away each one of them from his people, and died thing that he did the right thing. History will not absolve Fidel, and neither will we.
An editorial taken from FOX News
Written by: Dr Danny Alvarez serves as Fox News Channel's senior managing health editor.
Source Analysis
"To what extent does the perspectives from this source impact upon its reliability and usefulness as a source when studying Fidel Castro?"
To a certain extent, the perspective used throughout this source definitely impacts upon its reliability and usefulness as a source. When it comes to the study of Fidel Castro as an historical personality, the perspective of the source alters its reliability as subjectivity and bias impacts upon the evidence and objectiveness of a source, as the author is only portraying their perspective and not the absolute or entire truth. This is evident throughout this source as the author explains how "it is ironic that a man who once recognized that individual liberties are an enormous part of a productive society." Dr Danny Alvarez goes on to explain that Fidel Castro took these liberties away from his people. This is an example of subjectivity throughout this source as the author is strongly conveying his own emotion and subjectivity which 'clouds' the real evidence and objectiveness of this source. As a result of this, I do not believe that this source is particularly reliable of useful in the study of Fidel Castro as a significant figure in history, however this source do provide us with the perspectives other have in regards to whether or not Fidel Castro was a good or sinister personality during his time. Therefore, the different perspective of this this source definitely impact upon the reliability and usefulness of this source whilst studying the historical personality, Fidel Castro.
Source 3:- Buffalo Uses
Simplified Source Analysis
Author - South Dakota State Historical Society
Date - Not Specified. The lack of the date doesn't allow us to understand whether or not new discoveries have been made since the date that the source was made.
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Audience - This particular source was created with the intention of focusing the source towards a younger, elementary and high school level students as this diagram does not present very high-order thinking information, whereas, this source is just stating the uses for the different parts of buffalo, however, presenting this information in a very simplistic manner.
Motive - The author had the motive to create this source in order for a younger audience to understand the different way in which the buffalo can be used. This texts purpose is to illustrate informative yet simplistic ideas.
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Perspective - The perspective of this source informative and does not show any evidence in which the author was bias or subjective.
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Reliability - I believe this source is quite reliable as it was created by the South Dakota Historical Society, and therefore, was made with the purpose of being an informative piece rather than a subjective or bias point of view. However, historical societies are generally made of average people
Usefulness - This source is quite useful in illustrating the different elements of a buffalo and how each part can be used, however, because this source provides a very simplistic information, it is not useful to university or higher school students as the information provided does not go into much detail or analysis.