Here are some key questions I would ask and points I would make in analyzing this source: - Is this a primary or secondary source? This appears to be a primary source as it is an illustration from the time period being studied (1939-1945) - What are the main points? The main point seems to be encouraging women to take on jobs in support of the war effort by joining in "Victory jobs" - What context does it provide? It provides the context of World War 2 and the need for women to fill jobs while men were away fighting - Is there any bias? As a primary source from the time, there could be bias in favor of encouraging women to support the war effort in jobs

1. Australian Women after WW11
How can we write a reliable essay?

2. What is a source?

3. What is a source?
• Sources are pieces of information we can use to help us understand
certain periods of time.
• Like a detective, we, and fellow historians have to piece together a
puzzle of what happened in the past. The best way to do this is to find
information left for us from a number of different ‘sources’.
• Sources can range from;
– Journal entries
– Newspaper clippings
– Comics
– Illustrations,
– Speeches,
– Books,
– Articles
– Anything written, drawn or said about the period that is being studied.

4. Are there different kind
of sources?

5. Are there different kind of sources?
PRIMARY SOURCE
• A primary source is a specific source, which has been published DURING
the period that is being studied.
• Primary sources are a good reference as it directly reflects the thoughts,
opinions and ideology of the period. It gives a good insight on what was
going on at that time.
SECONDARY SOURCE
• A secondary source is a specific source, which has been published AFTER the
period that is being studied.
• Secondary sources are a good reference as it can put certain events and
people into context of the overall period.
• It is able to look at more than one idea/thought and create an overall
comparison.

6. What would we use
sources for?

7. What would we use sources for?
• In history, using sources are crucial to develop a
sound understanding of certain periods in time,
especially certain events and people.
• We can use sources to help us learn about
events and people, and we can also use sources
to help us illustrate a certain point we might be
explaining.
• HOWEVER you cannot use a source as your own
idea. You must always reference the source.

8. Why might it be
important to use
sources?

9. Why might it be important to use
sources?
• Overall, sources, primary and secondary, are
crucial in history to aid in our ability to learn
but also to help us evaluate history.
• When writing an essay, it is important to
have an added perspective (from a source),
which is always referred as reliable.
• In making our essays reliable, we are able to
express our points more clearly and
persuasively.

10. Primary sources
• Primary sources are very important to use when
studying any kind of history.
• To learn about events and people, we use sources
to understand the history and the ideology of the
period.
• Primary sources give us a direct insight into the
thoughts of individuals and also an overall picture
of events and people, if the source is from
somewhere such as a newspaper.

11. Secondary sources
• Secondary sources are also very important to use
when studying any kind of history.
• Secondary sources are generally written and
published by historians and academics who have
thoroughly researched (using primary and
secondary sources) an idea, event or person in
history and given us a detailed account.
• This helps us learn in depth about different ideas
surrounding the period we are studying.

12. Where might we find
sources?

13. Where might we find sources?
• Primary
– Old newspapers
– Journal articles
– Text books
– Sources from books
•
• Secondary
– The library – many, many books on many, many different
topics (non-fiction of course!!!)
– Current newspapers – see if you can find any present articles
that refer to something in the past
CAN YOU THINK OF ANYWHERE ELSE YOU MIGHT FIND SOURCES?

14. Can you tell which one is
a primary source and
which one is a secondary
source?

15. Is this a primary or secondary source?
Hughes, K Contemporary Australia; Feminism
Two Addison Wesley Longman Australia Pty
Ltd, Melbourne 1994, PG 322

16. Is this a primary or
secondary source?
*Don’t forget – Always
reference your source!
Join us in a Victory job,
Maurice Bramley, 1943

17. Is this a primary or secondary source?

18. How to tell the difference between a
primary source and a secondary
source
• Sometimes it’s difficult to tell the difference between
sources, especially when it might be a quote or a block of
writing.
• A lot of the time a primary source will be written in the
first person, for example “I think…”, like the third
example.
• A lot of the time a secondary source will be written in the
third person, for example “The war changed the lives of
many people….”.
• Most images or illustrations are a primary source. It is
quite rare to find a secondary source as a visual in history

19. So now we know what
primary sources and
secondary sources are
how can we use them…

20. What does this source tell us about
the opinions of women in the war?
• Firstly, is this a
primary or
secondary source?
• Does this depict a
positive or
negative attitude
towards women?
• What can we learn
about the opinions
surrounding
women in the war
during this period,
as depicted by this
The Bulletin, 1939-1945
illustration?

21. How can we understand and make
use of sources?
• When understanding sources it is important
to go through a number of questions;
– What are the main points?
– What is the context of the source?
– Look for any kind of bias in the source (especially
if it is a primary souce)
– What perspective is it? i.e who is saying/doing
what?
– Always ask “WHY” to all these questions

22. Take 5 minutes to analyse this source
Don’t forget to go through all the points on making sense of sources