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?
- Washington's own father
- Weems, a minister and bookseller
- The historians at Mount Vernon today
- George Washington himself
When did the cherry tree story first appear in print, Kira asks?
Use the picture in question 1.
- 1816
- 1806
- 2025
- 1799
What do the Mount Vernon historians say about the story, Luz asks?
Use the picture in question 1.
- Weems invented it
- Washington's father told it
- The tree was found in 1806
- Washington wrote it down
Why did Weems write the book, by card A, Milo asks?
Use the picture in question 1.
- To report a court case
- To sell books and give a role model
- To check records for a museum
- To write a long letter to his own father
Who was Weems's book written for, Noah asks?
Use the picture in question 1.
- Judges in a court
- Readers, especially young people
- Visitors to a history museum today
- Washington's family alone
Ren reads the word reliable. What does a reliable source mean?
Use the picture in question 1.
- One with a famous name on it
- One that is easy to read
- One that is very old
- One with good reason to trust it
Tala reads the word anecdote in card A. What is an anecdote?
Use the picture in question 1.
- A map of a farm
- A short story about a person
- A law passed by Congress
- A list of dates
Zee reads the word myth on card B. In history, what is a myth?
Use the picture in question 1.
- A popular story that is not true
- A story from an eyewitness
- A true story told often
- A story checked in many records
What is the reason against trusting card A, Ari asks?
Use the picture in question 1.
- Historians wrote it today
- The story is too old to read
- No name, and no second source
- 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.
- Yes; Weems says it is true
- Yes; the book sold well
- No; nothing in 1806 was printed
- No; saying so is not evidence