No copy the website How to Read a Document in 3 Stages

Stage 1: The first set questions that need to be addressed are those for which you should be able to find concrete answers. The answers to these questions will give you the basic information you need to begin the process of interpretation.

1) Who wrote this document? (Understanding as much as we can about the author will help us answer more complicated questions. Try googling the original author and find out a little about him or her—especially their reputation as a reliable storyteller or historian).

2) What type of document is this? (Is it a letter, a poem, an exposé, a speech, an edict, etc? The form of a document is vital to its purpose).

3) What is the story line/summary? (Pay attention to what the document actually says. If it’s a story, provide a summary of the narrative. If it’s a speech or exposé, record the author’s main argument and supporting evidence. In both cases, take notes and underline important passages in the text).

4) Who is the intended audience? (Knowing the audience of a document will tell us about the document's language and the amount of knowledge the author is assuming. There can be more than one audience).

Stage 2: The second set of questions allows us to probe behind the essential facts. Your goal is to learn what the document means in its historical context. Be less accepting of the "facts" and more critical in the questions you pose.

1) Why was this document written? (Understanding the purpose of the document is critical to analyzing the strategies that the author employs within it. To find these strategies, we must first know what purpose the document was intended for—ie. to convince, to entertain, to motivate, etc).

2) Can I believe this document? (Every author has a point of view, therefore, we must treat all claims skeptically. What are the author's biases and/or prejudices?)

Stage 3: In stage three you will exercise your critical imagination, probing the material and developing your own assessment of its value. Stage three questions will not always have definite answers).

1) What can I learn about the society that produced this document? In this case, what does the document teach us about what the ancient Greek’s valued? (All documents unintentionally reveal things about their authors and about the era in which they lived. It is the things that are embedded in the very language, structure, and assumptions of the document that can tell us the most about the historical period or event that we are studying).