To compare contemporary perspectives, name who held each view, what it says, why that person might say it, and where the two agree or differ. Attribution keeps each view tied to its holder. This lesson uses invented extracts so that no real person is made to say anything.
It follows using a dataset with date and population identified and belongs to the United States depth-study pathway.
How is a perspective different from a fact?
Some statements are established facts, such as the date a law took effect. A perspective is how a person saw events at the time, which depends on their position and purpose. A later interpretation is a historian’s reasoned account made afterwards.
When you write, label them. “The law took effect in January 1920” is a fact. “The columnist believed the law had calmed the city” is a perspective.
“A modern historian argues that enforcement was uneven” is an interpretation.
A four-step method
- Attribute: who said it, in what kind of source, and when.
- Summarise: what the view claims, in your own words.
- Explain a possible reason: purpose and audience, without claiming to know the author’s secret thoughts.
- Compare: where the views agree, where they differ, and why a difference might exist.
Worked example
Both extracts are invented for practice. The writers and the newspaper do not exist.
Source A (invented). A newspaper columnist, 1927: “On my street the Saturday night noise has dropped. The law has made this a calmer city.”
Source B (invented). A police sergeant’s report to his superior, 1927: “Arrests for drunkenness in my district were higher this year than last. The law is not being respected.”
Step 1, attribution: A is a newspaper column by an invented columnist. B is an internal report by an invented police sergeant.
Step 2, summary: A says one street became quieter and generalises to the city. B says arrests rose in one district and judges that the law is not respected.
Step 3, possible reasons: A is written for readers who may share the columnist’s view, and it describes one street. B is written for a superior and counts arrests, which also depend on how many officers were on duty.
Step 4, comparison: The sources appear to disagree, but they measure different things in different places: noise on one street and arrests in one district. They may both be accurate about what each writer saw. Neither shows the whole city.
Answer: The two writers offer different views about the effect of the law, but each draws on a narrow sample. They do not prove that either claim is true for the whole city.
The mistake to watch for
A student wrote:
“Source A says Prohibition worked and Source B says it did not, so one of them must be lying.”
This turns a difference in evidence into an accusation. There is nothing in the extracts to show that either writer is lying. They were looking at different places and at different measures.
Correction: “Source A and Source B offer different views, but A describes noise on one street and B counts arrests in one district, so they do not directly contradict each other.”
Check yourself
1. Rewrite with attribution: “It was thought that the law was working.”
Show answer
For example: “The invented columnist in Source A believed the law was working.” The rewrite names the person and keeps the claim as a belief, not a fact.
2. Source C (invented): a church newsletter of 1926 states, “Our members now spend Saturday nights at home.” Why is this a perspective and not a fact about the whole town?
Show answer
It was written by one group about its own members, for its own readers, so it describes a narrow part of the town and may reflect what the writer hoped to show. It is useful evidence of how that group saw events, but it does not describe the town.
3. Write one comparison sentence about Source A and Source C.
Show answer
Example: “Both the columnist and the church newsletter suggest that Saturday nights became quieter, but each speaks about a small group, a street or a congregation, so neither shows the pattern across the whole city.” Any accurate sentence that names both and gives a limit is acceptable.
Where this leads next
The final skill is to put scope, data and views into your own paragraph: develop an original practice answer without unsupported generalisations. You can also revisit evidence and source interpretation.
Some students find that comparison is where their answers become descriptive. Our teachers coach that step in online one-to-one History tuition.