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HistoryProfessor.Org

Insights from Zachary Schrag, author of The Princeton Guide to Historical Research

  • Home
  • About
  • Argument
    • A Thesis Statement Template
    • Dialectical Thesis Statements
    • Elements of a Thesis Statement
    • How to adapt methods from works about different places and times
  • Code
    • A Zotero translator for Greater Greater Washington
    • A Zotero translator for Perspectives on History
    • Highlight linking verbs in a Word document
    • Insert First Sentences and TOC
    • Insert Reading Time Stamps
    • List the first sentence of each paragraph in a Microsoft Word document
    • PDF Expert Markdown format to tab-delimited text
  • Exams
    • How to Take an Exam
    • How to Take an Oral Comprehensive Exam
    • The Comprehensive Exam
  • Format
    • Pre-Submission Checklist
    • Style Guidelines
  • Miscellaneous
    • Boilerplate for George Mason University courses
    • Grading Standards
    • How to Write an Outline (2013-2014 version)
    • Scrivener for Historians
    • Some unofficial advice from a longtime National History Day judge
    • Syllabus Archive
    • The Wealth of Nature: The Stage Version
    • Washington, D.C.: Spelling, Punctuation, and Capitalization
    • When Thomas Takes His Pen
  • Organization
    • How to Write an Essay
    • How to Write an Outline
    • The Anatomy of a 30-Page Paper
    • The Anatomy of a Ten-Page Paper
    • Topic Sentences
    • Use headings to outline as you write
    • The Anatomy of a Paragraph
  • Reading
    • A History Professor’s Guide to Audible.com
    • A History Professor’s Guide to Audible.com, 2019 edition
    • A Layperson’s Reading List in American History
    • A Layperson’s Reading List in American History, 2018
    • History audiobooks, 2022 edition
    • History audiobooks, 2023 edition
    • History audiobooks, 2024 edition
    • History audiobooks, 2025 edition
    • How I take notes on PDFs with an iPad
    • How to Read a History Book
    • How to Use Examples to Evaluate Scholarship
    • How to Write a Reading Response
    • How to Write a Review
    • Reverse Engineering for Historians
  • Research
    • Critical Reading
    • Examples of Critical Reading
    • How to Narrow a Research Topic
    • How to Read a Primary Source
    • How to Research a History Paper
    • How to Share a Primary Source
    • How to Write a Prospectus
    • Image Analysis
  • External Links

Critical Reading Moves

My page on Examples of Critical Reading lists several techniques used by historians to read primary sources critically. I have posted a one-page list of those techniques, which I have found useful in the classroom.

[Update, 1 April 2013: I have changed the handout to read “unstated agenda,” not just agenda.]

This entry was posted in pedagogy, website updates on March 25, 2013 by admin.

Post navigation

← Why Is My Prof Annoyed With Me? Expectations for Classroom Presence Look for the unstated agenda →
Princeton Guide to Historical Research cover

For much more instruction on historical research, read The Princeton Guide to Historical Research.

Pages

  • About
  • Argument
    • A Thesis Statement Template
    • Dialectical Thesis Statements
    • Elements of a Thesis Statement
    • How to adapt methods from works about different places and times
  • Code
    • A Zotero translator for Greater Greater Washington
    • A Zotero translator for Perspectives on History
    • Highlight linking verbs in a Word document
    • Insert First Sentences and TOC
    • Insert Reading Time Stamps
    • List the first sentence of each paragraph in a Microsoft Word document
    • PDF Expert Markdown format to tab-delimited text
  • Exams
    • How to Take an Exam
    • How to Take an Oral Comprehensive Exam
    • The Comprehensive Exam
  • External Links
  • Format
    • Pre-Submission Checklist
    • Style Guidelines
  • Miscellaneous
    • Boilerplate for George Mason University courses
    • Grading Standards
    • How to Write an Outline (2013-2014 version)
    • Scrivener for Historians
    • Some unofficial advice from a longtime National History Day judge
    • Syllabus Archive
    • The Wealth of Nature: The Stage Version
    • Washington, D.C.: Spelling, Punctuation, and Capitalization
    • When Thomas Takes His Pen
  • Organization
    • How to Write an Essay
    • How to Write an Outline
    • The Anatomy of a 30-Page Paper
    • The Anatomy of a Paragraph
    • The Anatomy of a Ten-Page Paper
    • Topic Sentences
    • Use headings to outline as you write
  • Reading
    • A History Professor’s Guide to Audible.com
    • A History Professor’s Guide to Audible.com, 2019 edition
    • A Layperson’s Reading List in American History
    • A Layperson’s Reading List in American History, 2018
    • History audiobooks, 2022 edition
    • History audiobooks, 2023 edition
    • History audiobooks, 2024 edition
    • History audiobooks, 2025 edition
    • How I take notes on PDFs with an iPad
    • How to Read a History Book
    • How to Use Examples to Evaluate Scholarship
    • How to Write a Reading Response
    • How to Write a Review
    • Reverse Engineering for Historians
  • Research
    • Critical Reading
    • Examples of Critical Reading
    • How to Narrow a Research Topic
    • How to Read a Primary Source
    • How to Research a History Paper
    • How to Share a Primary Source
    • How to Write a Prospectus
    • Image Analysis

Credit and Copyright.

This site is maintained by Zachary M. Schrag, Professor of History at George Mason University. While its advice is designed primarily for undergraduate and graduate students of United States history, I hope it will prove useful to all those who wish to study history and related disciplines. This material was formerly posted at www.schrag.info and was moved to this domain in the summer of 2010. The views expressed here are my own and may not reflect those of George Mason University.

Please use this site for the most recent versions. Except where noted otherwise, all original material on this site is copyright © 2002-2021 Zachary M. Schrag. It may be used for non-commercial personal and educational purposes provided it is attributed to Zachary M. Schrag.

If you are an educator who finds this site useful for classroom teaching, I would appreciate your sending me a note at zach (at) zacharyschrag.com telling me how you are using it and how it might be improved. Please do not use this address for the public business of George Mason University.

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