Challenge: Why Was This Source Made?

Someone made every source, for someone, to get them to think or do something: that is its . This skill is usually taught from Sec 2, so it is a bonus challenge that builds on inference. It uses three steps (, , ), and the answer is written with a strong . The worked example is a given to Japanese soldiers on their way to attack Malaya.

What Is a Purpose Question?

Students walking calmly up a school staircase past a safety poster with a walking-figure icon — Every poster is made to get someone to do something. Illustration drawn for Our Study Tribe.

Purpose: why a source was made.
Examples: "Why was this poster published?" "Why do you think this cartoon was drawn?"
Best sources: posters, cartoons, speeches, paintings and pamphlets.
Usually taught from Sec 2. It builds on inference.

Three Steps

Message: what is the source trying to tell you?
Audience: who was it made for? Check the .
Outcome: what did the makers want the audience to think or do?

Provenance

Provenance: the line that tells you who made the source, when, and where.
Be specific about the audience: not "the people", or even "soldiers".

Worked Example: The Pamphlet

The source: Read This Alone and the War Can Be Won, a pamphlet given to Japanese soldiers on their way to attack Malaya.
Message: the soldiers defending Malaya were enemies to be hated, and destroyed completely.
Audience: the Japanese soldiers on their way to attack Malaya.
Outcome: attack without hesitating, and fight fiercely from the very first moment.
Historians study writing like this to understand how soldiers were prepared for war, not because they agree with it.

Challenge: Why Was This Source Made?

Model Answer: Why Was the Pamphlet Made?

PointThis pamphlet was given to the Japanese soldiers on their way to attack Malaya to convince them that the soldiers defending Malaya were enemies to be destroyed, and to urge them to fight fiercely from the very first attack.
EvidenceThe pamphlet, Read This Alone and the War Can Be Won, presents the soldiers defending Malaya as enemies to be hated and destroyed completely. Its provenance shows it was handed to the Japanese soldiers on their way to attack Malaya.
ElaborationBecause the readers were about to go into battle, a message of hatred for the enemy was meant to remove any doubt, so that they would attack without hesitating.
LinkHence, the pamphlet was made to persuade the invading soldiers to fight fiercely from the start.

Strong Purpose Verbs

Strong: convince, persuade, urge, encourage, promote.
Weak: show, tell, inform. They say what a source contains, not why it was made.

In One Sentence

To find a source's purpose, work out its message, its exact audience and the outcome its makers wanted, then write it with a strong purpose verb.

Think About It

Find a poster in your school. What is its message, who is its audience, and what outcome does it want?
Why is "to show" a weaker purpose verb than "to persuade"?
Why might historians study a source they strongly disagree with?