How Primary Sources help you build an argument

How Primary Sources help you build an argument

This week you will be learning primary sources can tell us about the enslavement of African descended people in the United States. Lectures, video, clips, speeches and so much more can count as a primary source. (Links to an external site.)

This week you have three pieces that count as a primary sources:

Lecture 7, “When Yemoja and Frankenstein,” meet is an extended JMZ moment. Filmed for the University of Chicago Medical school, this is a reflection on the history of slavery and its current relationship to the Black Lives movement.

Lecture #8 is a brief clip by Dr. Daina Ramey Berry speaking about direct instances of racism and how educating people in the present motivates her to write and teach about the lives of the enslaved.

The reading, “What does the 4th of July mean to the African American,” is a speech by Frederick Douglass that was delivered at a celebration of American Independence. It was originally titled, “What to the Slave is Fourth of July?”

You are also being asked to read the secondary source by Dr. Nell Irvin Painter, “Soul Murder: Towards a fully loaded cost accounting of slavery.”

The Assignment:

Your assignment is to do a Cornell Note on Douglass’s speech. All the same rules apply, however there is a slight twist in the summary section. In your summary section, write about how the arguments presented by Douglass interact with at least one of the other materials for this week. In essence you are now using the summary section to put sources into dialog with each other WITHIN the assignment itself. Previously, you were given extra credit for doing this advanced move. There will not be extra credit for in this assignment as you have been building up to how to do the perfect Cornell note.

To repeat, do a Cornell Note on Douglass’s speech as you would do normally. Rather than putting it in dialogue with other class materials and getting EXTRA credit, the summary section asks you to summarize Douglass in relation to another source from the week.

To do it correctly and get full points: the argument and notes section should follow the TA’s instructions over the various weeks. AND in a summary of 300-500 words, discuss Douglass in relationship to one other source for THIS week.

Please consult the videos prepared by the TA’s on History skills and plan to attend their office hours to ask additional questions.

And remember, provide a citation when you are quoting directly from one of the sources. You should not have to consult any other materials for this assignment.

Good luck!

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