A critical commentary is a short essay that introduces a historical document. It provides basic information about what the document is, what cultural and historical context influenced its author in creating it, and why you—the historian—believe it was important, convincing, effective, or ineffective. Your commentary will be evaluated on your selection of direct evidence, creativity of interpretation, depth of historical context, and clarity of language.
USE THE FOLLOWING LINK AS YOUR PRIMARY SOURCE:

Helen Hunt Jackson on a Century of Dishonor (1881)

Requirements and Scoring
Papers will be scored on the following criteria
For more on how to write a thesis statement, check out this helpful explanation by Dr. Tania Maync: Formulating an Analytical Thesis Statement.pdfDownload Formulating an Analytical Thesis Statement.pdf
Consist of multiple readable paragraphs
Your commentary should give your reader a sense of the document’s style through the use of at least three direct quotations, properly quoted
Quotations should not be longer than 1-2 lines
Do NOT include:
Title page
Text that you’ve copied and pasted from elsewhere without properly quoting and citing your source
AI-generated text
Choose quotes that are:
brief, relevant to your point, and especially interesting or colorful. Use ellipses (…) or interrupt quotations to omit irrelevant parts of a quote, and paraphrase long or uninteresting quotes. Cite sources parenthetically, with as much information as is needed for someone else to track them down.
In his speech on New Freedom, President Wilson claimed that “the program of a government of freedom must in these days be positive, not negative merely” (Wilson, 1912).
Historians agree that Lincoln’s attitude toward colonization shifted over the course of the war (American Yawp, Ch 14).
IDENTIFICATION (25 points)
Provide a succinct and accurate summary of the document, including relevant details about its date and place of origin, authorship, genre, and argument or purpose.
CONTEXT (50 points)
Identify the broader historical context of the document and explain its relationship to the societal issues or events of its era. What is the historical “big picture” that your reader must grasp in order to properly understand the document? What was the author’s purpose in creating the document? Include convincing quotes, information from the textbook and lecture, or other course materials to demonstrate this.
Tip: each of these primary source documents correspond to a specific chapter in the textbook, which will provide helpful context. To find out which chapter your document pairs with, look in the URL/web address. For example, the URL for Henry George’s Progress and Poverty is http://www.americanyawp.com/reader/16-capital-and-labor/henry-george-progress-and-poverty-selections-1879/. Since the URL includes “16-capital-and-labor”, you know that it goes with Chapter 16.
ANALYSIS (50 points)
Clearly state your evaluation of the author’s argument or purpose in your thesis statement. What does the author mean? What were they trying to accomplish? Who is their intended audience? Why is this source historically significant? Do you agree with the author’s position? Are they leaving out important details? In the body of the paper, prove your thesis with convincing detail from the document and its historical context.
Remember, historical analysis is different than literary analysis! Tools from your English or Rhetoric classes like pathos/logos/ethos are not particularly useful here. In History, primary source analysis focuses more on what a source can tell us about the past, both on a micro scale (what was happening with these individuals?) and on a macro scale (does this source give us larger insights into history?).