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🏛️ History & Civics Grades 4–12
Primary Source Analysis Worksheet
A primary source is evidence from the time. Historians question it like a detective: who made it, why, for whom, and what does it really tell us?
Learn How it works
SOAPSTone
- Speaker: who created it? What do we know about them?
- Occasion: when and where? What was happening?
- Audience: who was it made for?
- Purpose: why was it made? What did the creator want?
- Subject: what is it about?
- Tone: what is the attitude: angry, hopeful, formal?
HIPP (for AP-style analysis)
Historical context · Intended audience · Purpose · Point of view. Then ask: how do these affect how reliable it is as evidence?
For photos and cartoons
Observe (list what you see, without guessing), Reflect (what might it mean?), Question (what do you still want to know?).
Examples See it done
Source: the opening of the Declaration of Independence (1776).
Speaker: the Second Continental Congress (drafted mainly by Thomas Jefferson). Occasion: July 1776, a year into fighting with Britain. Audience: King George III, the colonists, and foreign nations like France. Purpose: justify independence and win support. Subject: natural rights and the king's abuses. Tone: formal, principled, accusing.
Try it Analysis worksheet
Practice Check yourself
Answer, then tap Check. You get an explanation either way.