Study guide: Dates, Copies, and Explanations
Use chronology and provenance to compare records and constrain causal claims.
Ideas to explain in your own words
- Separate dated evidence from a guess about when a change happened.
- Separate an original observation, later copy, and editorial addition.
- Compare the events behind two dates before deciding records conflict.
- Distinguish timing from evidence that isolates a cause.
Watch your reasoning
- The diary supplies one person’s reported crossing on that date. The planning note and timber invoice do not independently establish an official opening or every resident’s experience.
- B explicitly credits A; C used B only. The initial source describes opening a gate, not the first-ever opening of the bridge.
- A records a handover, B an individual entry. They do not state conflicting dates for one identical event.
- The count is entries, and two changes occurred together. The records do not isolate a sign effect or count unique people.
A worked review example
Build a timeline from records: The sequence is March 2 → April 10 → May 6. The last record supports “a writer reported crossing it by May 6,” not “the town officially opened it on May 6.” Track Where a Record Came From: “The notebook reports a May 6 gate opening at 8 am. B repeats it and C depends on B, so this is one observation chain. C’s claim of a first-ever bridge opening needs evidence not supplied by A or B.” Investigate an Apparent Date Disagreement: “June 2 is a reported key handover; June 4 is the caretaker’s reported first entry; June 10 is a planned public opening, announced June 3. The first two events can both occur, and the planned date does not prove public attendance.” Test an Explanation Built from Sequence: “Entries rose 45−30=15. The sign is a possible contributor, but the extra opening afternoon is another. Comparing consistently measured weeks when opening time stayed fixed could help evaluate the sign, though other changes would still need checking.”
Make a practice plan
- Try the supplied lesson problems without looking at the answers.
- Compare your method with the worked examples and explain any correction.
- Use the new review cases, then complete the transfer task on paper or in your own document.