Primary and Secondary Sources

Primary Sources

  • original source material
  • examples:
    • myths
    • original novel
    • historical document
    • movie
    • what qualifies as a primary source depends on the context and field of study
      • e.g. primary source for World War II is a historical document, while a documentary about it is a Secondary Source because it’s the director’s interpretations and not really what happened
        • a movie is NOT a credible source for the study of history
  • NOT more inherently reliable than secondary sources
    • primary sources can be affected by emotion, memory loss, fear of speaking out, etc.
      • e.g. someone in Nazi Germany wouldn’t write “I don’t like Hitler” even if they do

Secondary Sources

  • interpretation and commentary of original source material
  • examples:
    • the aforementioned hypothetical WWI documentary
    • contemporary retellings
      • e.g. Percy Jackson VS original Greek mythology, Over The Moon VS the Chinese texts in which Chang’e is mentioned