Decide how far to trust a source: author, purpose, audience, and a second source
Grade 8 Social Studies Worksheet - Building Confidence
Circle the best answer.
Read this first
Use this
Who made it: Mason Locke Weems, a traveling minister and bookseller. For whom: American readers, especially young people. Why: to sell books and to make Washington a role model. Excerpt (seventeenth edition, Philadelphia, 1816, p. 14): "The following anecdote [short story] is a case in point. It is too valuable to be lost, and too true to be doubted; for it was communicated to me by the same excellent lady to whom I am indebted for the last." Summary in our words, not a quotation: Weems tells how George, at about six, cut his father's cherry tree with a hatchet and owned up to it. How far can I trust it? For: Weems says a lady who knew the family told him the story. Against: Weems never names her, and no other source tells the story. Card B (today): "Cherry Tree Myth". Who made it: historians at George Washington's Mount Vernon. For whom: readers today. Why: to explain where the story came from. Summary in our words, not a quotation: Weems invented the story. It first appeared in the fifth edition of his book, in 1806. Almost no evidence survives about Washington and his father. How far can I trust it? For: The historians checked what records survive. Against: They write more than 200 years after the events.
Who made card A, Jun asks?
- Weems, a minister and bookseller
- George Washington himself
- Washington's own father
- The historians at Mount Vernon today
When did the cherry tree story first appear in print, Kira asks?
Use the picture in question 1.
- 2025
- 1816
- 1799
- 1806
What do the Mount Vernon historians say about the story, Luz asks?
Use the picture in question 1.
- Washington wrote it down
- Washington's father told it
- The tree was found in 1806
- Weems invented it
Why did Weems write the book, by card A, Milo asks?
Use the picture in question 1.
- To sell books and give a role model
- To report a court case
- To write a long letter to his own father
- To check records for a museum
Why might a writer who wants to sell books add an exciting story, Pia asks?
Use the picture in question 1.
- It shows the story is true
- It can help the book sell
- It makes the book shorter
- Readers want fewer stories
Ren reads the word reliable. What does a reliable source mean?
Use the picture in question 1.
- One with good reason to trust it
- One that is very old
- One with a famous name on it
- One that is easy to read
Tala reads the word anecdote in card A. What is an anecdote?
Use the picture in question 1.
- A map of a farm
- A list of dates
- A law passed by Congress
- A short story about a person
What is the reason against trusting card A, Ari asks?
Use the picture in question 1.
- Historians wrote it today
- No name, and no second source
- The story is too old to read
- Weems says it is too true to doubt
Weems writes that the story is too true to be doubted. Does that make it reliable, Bo asks?
Use the picture in question 1.
- No; saying so is not evidence
- No; nothing in 1806 was printed
- Yes; the book sold well
- Yes; Weems says it is true
What is a reason for trusting card B, Esme asks?
Use the picture in question 1.
- The historians checked the records
- Weems was their own teacher in school
- They saw the tree cut
- They wrote in 1806