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History · Grades 9–12

Questioning a primary source

Study guide for Grades 9 to 12: 4 key ideas, including sourcing, context and corroboration; 2 worked examples and 3 practice questions. Practise sourcing, context, corroboration and perspective with a short fictional diary entry from the 1919 Winnipeg General Strike.

One-page printable summary: Questioning a primary source · Revision sheet.

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Learn the idea

Sourcing

Ask who made the source, when, where and why.

Context

Connect the source to what was happening at the time. The Winnipeg General Strike lasted from May to June 1919; workers sought better wages and the right to bargain collectively.

Corroboration

Check the source against other evidence, such as newspapers, photographs or official records from the same time.

Perspective and limits

A single source shows one viewpoint. Note what it cannot tell you.

Worked examples

Fictional diary entry, Winnipeg, May 1919: “The streetcars have stopped and the bakeries are closed. Father says the strikers want fair pay and the right to bargain together; Mr. Howe next door says they are troublemakers. I do not know who is right, but the city is very quiet.” Who created this source, and when?

The entry is written in the first person, in Winnipeg, during the strike.

A young person living in Winnipeg in 1919 (a fictional diarist)

For studying the 1919 strike, is the diary entry a primary or a secondary source?

It was created at the time by someone who experienced the events.

A primary source

Check your understanding

  1. Which of these is an observation reported in the diary, rather than an opinion?

    1. The strikers are troublemakers.
    2. The streetcars have stopped.
    3. The strike is a good idea.
    4. Mr. Howe is always right.

  2. What is one limitation of the diary as evidence?

    1. It is a secondary source.
    2. It was written long after the strike.
    3. It shows one person’s view in one place, so it cannot tell us how everyone experienced the strike.
    4. It contains no information about the strike.

  3. Which source would best corroborate the diary’s description of closed businesses?

    1. A novel written in 2010
    2. A diary from Halifax in 1880
    3. A Winnipeg newspaper published during the strike
    4. A map of Winnipeg from 2022

Answers and marking notes

Answers and marking notes
  1. The streetcars have stopped.

    Stopped streetcars can be observed and checked; the others are judgments.

  2. It shows one person’s view in one place, so it cannot tell us how everyone experienced the strike.

    A single diary is a narrow window on a large event.

  3. A Winnipeg newspaper published during the strike

    A contemporary local newspaper reported on the same place and time.

How this page was made: written for StudyBrix with AI assistance from our own templates. Answers and worked examples are checked by automated tests, and grade bands are approximate, not an official curriculum alignment. See the editorial policy for corrections. Editorial policy