Read a Source’s Viewpoint
Connect a source’s role and purpose to the details it records.
Supplied materials
- All records are original fiction from a pretend museum exhibit. Record A, volunteer tally, August 2: “I handed out 18 guide sheets from noon to 1 pm.” Its purpose is tracking sheets handed out. Record B, visitor letter, August 2: “I enjoyed the model boat and did not take a guide sheet.” Its purpose is describing one visit to a friend.
Learn the idea
A creator’s role and purpose affect what a source records. A volunteer tally can count handed-out sheets during a stated hour. A visitor letter can describe that writer’s experience. Neither source automatically answers how many people attended all day. Ask what the creator was doing, what they could observe, and why they wrote.
Purpose is a clue about coverage, not a shortcut for calling a source true or false. A tally may be incomplete, and a letter may be sincere yet narrow. Here the letter reminds us that a visitor can decline a sheet. That makes sheet totals different from total attendance, even if the tally accurately records its own task.
- Label each record with creator role, date, and purpose.
- Identify the exact quantity A counts and its time interval.
- Explain one experience B records.
- Describe why 18 sheets cannot simply become 18 total museum visitors.
See the method in action
“A counts sheets distributed in one hour. B describes one visitor who took no sheet. Eighteen sheets may reflect some visitors, but not everyone necessarily takes one, and no all-day count is supplied.”
Check your reasoning
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See the answer and explanation
Eighteen guide sheets were reported handed out from noon to 1 pm.
The tally specifies sheets, not unique people, and only noon to 1 pm. The visitor letter directly describes declining a sheet.
Take it further
Changed tally: “18 sheets printed,” rather than handed out. Model reasoning: “It now records production of sheets. Printed sheets could remain unused, so even the narrower claim of 18 distributed sheets is no longer supported.”
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