Document Analysis Paper – William Graham Sumner, “On Social Darwinism.”
For the first document analysis assignment you will analyze and interpret William Graham Sumner’s, “On Social Darwinism,” in Foner, Voices of Freedom, pp.31-35.
Sumner’s statement is one of the more famous statements related to the ideas about Social Darwinism in the nineteenth century.
Your goal is to formulate an interpretation of this source in order to understand how and why some Americans believed in the values of Social Darwinism. Specifically, what do you think is motivating Sumner to present his views in this manner? What are his thoughts on social inequality? Does he think that it is the responsibility of public government to address issues related to inequality? Why or why not?
The paper must include the following:
A title.
A thesis statement and an argument. Do not simply summarize or describe the document. Provide an analysis of its meaning and significance. In other words, form an interpretation of the document.
Evidence from the text to support your thesis statement, the evidence must come from the text itself.
Citations, in-text or footnotes or endnotes
A bibliogprahy containing references to texts that you used specifically in your paper, and also texts that you consulted but did not necessarily use or refer to in your paper.
In addition, your paper must have the following format:
single-sided, 1000-1500 words (roughly, 4-6 pages).
10 or 12-point readable font
double-spaced
1” margins
Page numbers must appear on every page except for the first
Include your name, course and section number, and date on the first page (or title page).
Include your name in the header of each page.
STAPLE all of your pages together.
The paper will be graded according to the following rubric:
Conceptual (interpretation, comprehension, understanding)
Thesis Statement (arguable, manageable, concise, specific)
Development (argument, evidence, logic, persuasiveness)
Structure (paragraph organization, transitions)
Language (clarity, vocabulary, spelling, grammar)
Citations (appropriate, correct style, accurate)
Bibliography (correct style, accurate)
Format (page length, single-sided, double-spaced, 1” margins, page numbers, 10-12 pt. font) 10%
When you analyze a primary source, you are undertaking the most important job of the historian. There is no better way to understand events in the past than by examining the sources–whether journals, newspaper articles, letters, court case records, novels, artworks, music or autobiographies–that people from that period left behind.
Each historian, including you, will approach a source with a different set of experiences and skills, and will therefore interpret the document differently.
Remember that there is no one right interpretation. However, if you do not do a careful and thorough job, you might arrive at a wrong interpretation.
In order to analyze a primary source you need information about two things: the document itself, and the era from which it comes. You can base your information about the time period on the readings you do in class and on lectures. On your own you need to think about the document itself. The following questions may be helpful to you as you begin to analyze the sources:
1. Look at the physical nature of your source. This is particularly important and powerful if you are dealing with an original source (i.e., an actual old letter, rather than a transcribed and published version of the same letter). What can you learn from the form of the source? (Was it written on fancy paper in elegant handwriting, or on scrap-paper, scribbled in pencil?) What does this tell you?
2. Think about the purpose of the source. What was the author’s message or argument? What was he/she trying to get across? Is the message explicit, or are there implicit messages as well?
3. How does the author try to get the message across? What methods does he/she use?
4. What do you know about the author? Race, sex, class, occupation, religion, age, region, political beliefs? Does any of this matter? How?
5. Who constituted the intended audience? Was this source meant for one person’s eyes, or for the public? How does that affect the source?6. What can a careful reading of the text tell you? How does the language work? What are the important metaphors or symbols? What can the author’s choice of words tell you? What about the silences–what does the author NOT talk about, unintentionally or not?
Now you can evaluate the source as historical evidence.
1. Is it prescriptive–telling you what people thought should happen–or descriptive–telling you what people thought did happen?
2. Does it describe ideology and/or behavior?
3. Does it tell you about the beliefs/actions of the elite, or of “ordinary” people? From whose perspective?
4. What historical questions can you answer using this source? What are the benefits of using this kind of source?
5. What questions can this source NOT help you answer? What are the limitations of this type of source?
Remember, you cannot address each and every one of these questions in your presentation or in your paper, and I wouldn’t want you to. You need to be selective.
For this paper you will need to include a bibliography or works cited page following the last page your written essay. A variety of different formats are used in different disciplines.
For this paper please use the following format which comes from the Chicago Manual of Style (the style used in disciplines such as history and philosophy).
In general, a bibliography lists each of the works that you, the writer of the essay, in the process of researching and writing your paper. The purpose of the bibliography is to allow readers to consult the same texts in a convenient and expeditious manner.