H2X-Lesson 13A

							    Finer points to pay attention to!
EXTRA DOCUMENTS: What other types of documents would have helped
you to better understand the documents?

HISTORICAL BACKGROUND: What else do you know about the topic that
would be relevant to discuss in relation to this topic?

POINT OF VIEW. It is not enough to simply repeat the identifying
information. You must explain WHY this particular person produced this
particular document at this particular time in this particular place. MUST do
for ALL documents if you can!

DOCUMENT ANALYSIS: Be careful not to cite information from the
document without explaining how this information supports your thesis. Be
careful to not just say “this person liked Buddhism and this one didn’t”.
Don’t just give a “plot summary”—this document says this, and that
document says “that” – the “WHAT”. Be sure to move to the analysis- the
“SO WHAT”.
Read through all of the documents and make note of
   the following things:
Source, Opinion, Author, Purpose, Sequence
S - Where does the document come from?
O - Is there a possible opinion or bias?
A - Who wrote the document? (Hint: occupation,
    gender, religion, social class, etc.)
P - What is the purpose of the document? (Hint: is it a
    speech, diary entry, government document?)
S - Notice the dates. How might the sequence of
    events or the dates be significant?
      Sample Thesis Statement 1
The Mongols consisted of many small clans and
  tribes. Under Chinggis Khan, they became
  unified and were able to conquer a large
  territory within a short period of time. The
  Mongols had the ability to do this because of
  their intelligence for military strategies, their
  willpower to fight, their extreme loyalty to
  their leaders and their brilliant methods of
  diplomacy and cohercion of their enemies.
     Sample Thesis Statement 2
The Mongols accomplished the conquest of such
  a large territory through several clever
  strategies. They often tricked their opposition
  and were known to last several days without
  food and drink.
     Sample Thesis Statement 3
The Mongolians were the among the most
  clever soldiers the world has ever seen. They
  managed to conquer huge amounts of
  territory in a very short period of time.
      Sample Body Paragraph 1
The Mongols were a tough and courageous
  people. However, part of their strategy was
  to deceive the enemy into thinking that they
  intended to retreat and then they would turn
  around and on horseback and deliver a deadly
  round of arrows. When they felt they were
  sufficiently weakened, they would once again
  advance and kill of the remainder of their
  opponents.
       Sample Body Paragraph 2
The Mongolian strategy was to trick their
  enemy. They would lure their enemy out into
  the open and make it seem as if they were
  retreating and quickly turn on them,
  decimating them with their excellent cavalry
  and archery skills (1). Or, they would strike
  terror in their hearts by killing and destroying
  everything in their path (2). If enemies were
  cooperative, they may spare their lives.