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