by Holly Huffstutler

Created on: April 19, 2009

Ever hear the expression "Go to the source?" Of course you have. The people who tell you this are urging you to take your questions about an event or person right to that event or person. In essence that is what a "primary source" is.

But in terms of writing, when a professor or editor requires a writer to cite primary sources they are asking for first hand accounts, historical documents, or some other kind of original text as opposed to secondary sources that quote or otherwise reference these original works.

Primary sources are more useful and trustworthy than secondary sources because a writer doesn't have to wade through someone else's interpretation to get to what the meaning of that document or account actually is.

It can be frustrating to want to dissect a story and not have all the information you need to make a clear diagnosis.

I had a history professor who assigned two papers that made us analyze a primary source. Using the Library of Congress's American Memory web site, I was able to find a promotional pamphlet for the Chicago World's Fair of 1893 and an article from a suffrage newsletter. Both gave more insight into the motivations and mindset of the time and place than an entry in an encyclopedia on the Columbian Exposition of 1893 or the suffrage movement. But on the other side of the coin, in a different class, I was charged with interpreting an article that detailed a common theme among 10 different short stories. Since I didn't search out the full texts of any of those articles, I only had the secondary source of the article's author to go on. I was not crafting a complete analysis of my own, but recapping his.

Consider that you are assigned a term paper on the representations of the medical profession in Ken Kesey's "One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest." Cliff's Notes will give a synopsis and popular interpretation of the themes of the book, but all you will have to go on is someone else's interpretation.

Basing the interpretation you present in your paper on the movie "One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest" is equally problematic, because you may be presented with the full plot that's written in the book but now you have a film director's interpretation in the way. That director's personal thoughts on the characters and style of the book is then projected onto the original story and your unique interpretation is clouded by someone else's.

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