How to interpret historical sources

Ethiopian religious art
© History Skills

Interpreting a source requires you to think a bit more about what a source says or shows about a topic. This requires you to identify implicit (‘hidden’ or less obvious) meanings in historical sources. You will need to do this most often with visual sources that take time to interpret. However, some written sources will often not be explicit enough for you and they will require your interpretation of the information.

 

Since this requires you to explain what a source means, it will usually require you to use indirect quotes to summarise the intended meaning of a source.

What do you need to interpret?


Interpreting Written Sources

Learn how to successfully interpret written historical sources.

Interpreting Photographs

Learn how to successfully interpret historical photographs.

Interpreting Political Cartoons

Learn how to successfully interpret historical political cartoons.

Interpreting Propaganda Posters

Learn how to successfully interpret historical propaganda posters.

Additional resources