How to interpret and analyse sources

Purpose 

• the purpose should be written as a statement, similar to the following structure

• "to (action) + (target audience) + (reaction)"

Author 

• What is the author's origin/background?

• How does the author impact the reliability of the source?

• Does the author have a baised/objective view?

Context

• How does historical background/context affect the meaning of the source? 

• An example of this is the difference between Lenin's view of communism and Stalin's view of communism)

Message

• What message does the Cartoonist convey? What is their view? 

• An example of a sentence that shows an interpretation of the message is "The Cartoonist criticised that…"

Audience

• Who did the author target when writing/creating the source?

• Some examples of audiences are the parliament, the senate, an assembly or the public and these various audiences affect the message/purpose/etc of the source.

Nature

• What is the nature of the source?

• This refers to how the message is conveyed. Examples include a cartoon, a news report, a speech, a school textbook, a public address or as propaganda.