Unexplained Mysteries & Legends Project Part 2: ANALYZING SOURCES OF INFORMATION
You should COMPLETE ONE OF THESE PAGES FOR EACH OF YOUR 5 SOURCES:
1. Identify the Source:
Title of article –
Title of source (website) –
Author (if given) –
Retrieval Date –
URL –
2. Fact vs. Opinion
a. Overall, does this article seem to be mostly factual or mostly opinion?
b. Identify or give an example of the factual content. Identify or give an example of opinion statements, if possible.
3. Identifying Main Ideas and Supporting Ideas of the article
a. Summarize the main ideas of the source/article.
b. Identify any important ideas that disagree with other sources.
4. Recognizing bias, point of view, and the author’s intent
a. What is the position of the author? What is his/her bias or view of your topic? Explain why. Bias means unacknowledged shaping of the information to match the author’s position. Information may be omitted, understated, or overemphasized.
b. Why do you think the author wrote this article? (What was his purpose? To inform? To persuade you to buy or do something? To warn you? etc.)
5. Identifying relevant background information about the source.
a.What do you know about the author’s credentials? (His/her background, education, experience, etc.) Are they good or not?
b.Would you trust this author’s opinion? Why or why not?
c.If you do not know the author, what else do you know about the source? Is it a credible, good source?
d.If you can’t find the author’s name, does that tell you anything about the value of this source?
6. Judging content credibility of this source.
a.Does the article use logical reasoning and explanations? Explain.
b.Does the article offer adequate support for its assertions (main points) to prove them? In other words, has the author convinced you or would you need more information to believe that what he says is true?
c.Did you read anything in other sources that contradicts the information given in this source? If so, what is different?
d.What kind of source/medium is this? (Online article, TV show, newspaper article, book etc.) Does the medium affect the way the information is presented? How? (For example, movies tend to be more dramatic than print.)
