Note-Taking Guide

for Analyzing Civil War Documents

Use this to guide your reading of the documents that you read as part of this unit on the Civil War. To start, scan through the document looking for clues to each of the questions below, and highlight important information as you go.

The Document 
Title and source of the document. 
 
 
 
 

What type of document is it? 
 
 
 
 

Point of View
Who’s speaking in the document?  What can you tell about the speaker or creator from the document?
 
 
 
 
 
 

Information 
What specific information do you draw from the 
document about children in the Civil War? 
 
 
 

 

Your Interpretation
Based on the knowledge that you already have, how do you  interpret the information in the document,?  How does it add to or change your perspective?  Is it credible?  Why or why not?  What questions does it raise?
 
 
   
 
 
 
   

Using the Information
How does the information you found in the document help you to understand a child’s perspective of the Civil War? 
 

Adapted  from an American Memory Workshop template.

 

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