DOMINICAN COLLEGE OF TARLAC

Mac Arthur Highway, Poblacion (Sto.Cristo), Capas. 2315 Tarlac, Philippines

Tel.No. (045) 491-7579/Telefax (045) 925-0519
E-mail: domct [email protected]

COLLEGE DEPARTMENT
A.Y. 2020-2021, First Semester

OBE FACULTY-DESIGNED MODULE

I. Subject: GE2 Readings in Philippine History

II. Learning Outcomes:

1. Analyze the context, content, and perspective of different kinds of primary sources
2. Determine the contribution of different kinds of primary sources in understanding
Philippine History
3. Develop critical and analytical skills with exposure to primary sources

III. Topic/Lesson:
1. Content and contextual analysis of selected primary sources; identification of the historical
importance of the text, and examination of the author’s main argument and point of view

IV. Days of Learning Sessions:

BEED 1A - Wed/Fri
BEED 1B - Thurs/Sat
BSED E1A- Wed/Fri
BSED E1B- Fri/Wed
BSED E1 - Thurs/Sat
BSED M1 - Sat/ Thurs

V. Expected Outcomes:
1. To familiarize oneself with the primary documents in different periods of the Philippine
2. To learn history through primary sources.
3. To properly interpret primary sources through examining the content and context of the
document.
4. Analyze the context, content, and perspective of different kinds of primary sources.
5. Identify its historical viewpoint of text.
6. Examine the author’s argument and point of view.

VI. Delivery:
1.1 Thought Processing
Pre-assessment Activity (Critical Thinking)
Read the excerpts below then do a comparative analysis.

The following readings discuss the findings on the remains of what was then considered the
earliest known human remains in the Philippines- TABON MAN.

Robert B. Fox. The Tabon Caves: Archaeological Explorations and Excavations on Palawan
Island, Philippine (Manila, 1970) p. 40.

TABON MAN- During the initial excavations of Tabon Cave, June and July, 1962 the scattered fossil bones
of at least three individuals were excavated, including a large fragment of a frontal bone with the brows and
portions of the nasal bones. These fossil bones were recovered towards the rear of the cave along the left
wall. Unfortunately, the area in which the human fossil bones were discovered had been disturbed by
Magapode birds. It was not possible in 1962 to establish the association of these bones with a specific flake
assemblage. Although they were provisionally related to either Flake Assemblage II or III, subsequent
excavations in the same area now strongly suggest that the fossil human bones were associated with Flake
Assemblage III for only the flakes of this area of the cave. The available data would suggest that Tabon Man
may be dated from 22, 000 to 24, 000 years ago. But only further excavations in the cave and chemical
analysis of human and animal bones from disturbed and undisturbed levels in the cave will define the exact
age of the human fossils.

The fossil bones are those of Homo sapiens. These will form a separate study by a specialist which
will be included in the final site report for Tabon Cave. It is important, however, because of a recent
publication (Scott, 1969), that a preliminary study of the fossil bones of Tabon Man shows that
it is above average in skull dimensions when compared to the modern Filipino. There is no evidence
that Tabon was”. a less brainy individual…” (Scott (1969) 36). Moreover, Scott’s study includes many
misstatements about the Tabon Caves, always the problem when writers work from “conversation”

William Henry Scott- Prehispanic Source Materials for the Study of Philippine History
(Revised Edition) (Quezon City, 1984), pp. 14-15.

Tabon Man- The earliest human skull remains known in the Philippines are the fossilized fragments
of a skull and jawbone of three individuals who are collectively called “Tabon Man” after the place
where they were found on the west coast of Palawan. Tabon Cave appears to be a kind of little
Stone Age Factory: both finished tools and waste cores and flakes have been found at four different
levels in the main chamber. Charcoal left from cooking fires has been recovered from three of these
assemblages and dated by C-14 to roughly 7,000 B.C.- 20, 000 B.C. and 28,000 B.C. with an earlier
level lying so far below these that it must represent Upper Pleistocene dates like 45 or 50 thousand
years ago…. Physical anthropologists who have examined the Tabon skullcap are agreed that it
belonged to modern man- that is. Homo Sapiens as distinguished form those mid- Pleistocene
species nowadays called Homo Erectus. Two experts have given the further opinion that the
mandible is “Australian” in physical type, and that the skullcap measurements are mostly nearly like
those of Ainus and Tasmanians. What this basically means is that Tabon Man wa “pre-Mongiloid”,
Mongoloid being the term anthropologists apply to the racial stock which entered Southeasth Asia
during the Holocene and absorbed earlier peoples to produce the modern Malay, Indonesian,
Filipino, and Pacific peoples popularly- and unscientifically- called, “the brown race”. Tabon Man
presumably belonged to one of those earlier peoples, but if decently clothed in flesh, T-shirt, and
blue jeans, might pass unnoticed in Quiapo today, whatever his facial features are concerned,
nothing can be said about the color of his skin or hair, or the shape of his nose or eyes- except one
thing: Tabon Man was not a Negrito.

a. Which is the primary source and the secondary source between the two readings?

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b. Do a credibility analysis of the sources. Who between the two authors is more credible about the
topic?

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2. Presentation Phase:

The 3-A Approach

 2.1. ANALYSIS (Communication)

Primary Source Can Be Analyzed and Evaluated By Different Criteria. These criteria are the content
analysis, contextual analysis, and the author’s main argument or point of view. Context analysis-
considers the time and place the historical document was written as well as the situation or the
circumstances during the time. It is a researched method for studying primary sources such as
documents and communication artifacts, which can be texts of various formats, pictures, audio, or
video. Works pertaining to events in the past are analyzed by also taking into account the author of
the document, his/her biographical background, role in the event, and the intent for writing the
document. One of the key advantages of using content analysis to analyze social phenomena is its
non- invasive nature, in contrast to stimulating social experiences or collecting survey answers.
Practices and philosophies of content analysis vary according to the location of the source
communities. They all involve systematic reading or observation of texts or artifacts which are
assigned labels (Sometime called codes) to indicate the presence of interesting, meaningful
patterns. After labelling a large set of media, a social researcher is able to statistically estimate the
proportions of patterns in the text, as well as correlations between patterns. Nowadays, computers
are increasingly used in content analysis to automate the labeling (or coding) of documents. Simple
computational techniques can provide descriptive data such as word frequencies and document
lengths. According to Klaus Krippendorf, six questions must be addressed in every content analysis:

1. Which data are analyzed?

2. How are the data defined?
3.From what population are the data drawn?
4. What is the most relevant context?
5. What are the boundaries of the analysis?
6. What is to be measured?
The simplest and most objective forms of doing content analysis are the unambiguous
characteristics of the text like word frequencies, the page area taken by a newspaper column, or the
duration of a radio or television program. Analysis of a simple word frequencies is limited because
the meaning of a word depends on the surrounding text. The keyword in context routines address
this by placing words in their textual context. This helps resolve ambiguities such as those
introduces by synonyms and homonyms.
The second way to analyzing primary sources is the contextual analysis or simply called textual
analysis. Understanding the historical context of a primary source is called for understanding the
attitudes and influences that shaped the creations of the primary source. If not placed into historical
context, a primary source’s true meaning might be misinterpreted
HERE ARE SOME SPECIFIC QUESTIONS TO ASK IN ANALYZING PRIMARY SOURCES
1.What kind of document do you have? Is it a treatise letter? A manuscript, or a printed document?
2. Was it published? If yes, when and where?
3. Who is the author? What positions, role, reputations, status, did the author have at the time of
writing?
4. Is the author well- known today or at the time of writing?
5. Who is the intended audience?
6. Who read this text at that time? What are the responses of those who read it?
7. What was to be gained and what were the risks in writing this text?
8. How is this document related to other primary documents known to you, particularly from the
same time period?
9. Does this document square with what you know from secondary sources?
10. What evidence do you have for your claim about the text?
A further step in the analysis of primary sources is to examine the author’s main argument or main
point of view.
Here are some guide questions in critically analyzing or examining the author’s main argument and
point of view.
1. What is the author’s main objective in writing the article, book , etc?
2. Does the author seek to persuade, convince, to identify problem, or to provide a solution?
3. What are the forms of evidence used by the author? Are they effective and for whom?
A further step in the analysis of primary sources is to examine the author’s main argument or main
point of view.
In the process of analyzing a primary source, a history student must closely examine a single text
written by a single author in an attempt to understand why the writer/ author wrote the particular text
in a particular way, to a particular audience and for what purpose?
So, the history student must critically analyze/ examine the text (article, book etc.) based on these
guidelines:
1. What was argued or described by the writer?
2. How did the writer present his argument or point of view?
3. Why did the writer choose (for example, persuasion) as the method of presentation?
4. What evidences or arguments that the writer used in persuading his audience?
REMEMBER: the audience are not the history students in this subject but those people being
persuaded.
5. What does the writer ultimately hope to achieve by writing this particular text?
Significant historical text document can be deeds, laws, accounts of battles, etc. given by a person
or groups sharing their viewpoints. These documents or text have historical importance and of
historical interest.
Many of historical importance produced today, such as personal letters, pictures, contracts,
newspapers, and medical records would be considered valuable historical documents that will
survive the passage of time, by taking into account the preservation issues and either printing
documents in a manner that documents in time capsules that the degree of significance is a matter
of interpretation, often related to the value systems of the period in which the interpretations was
produced
Hence, the main goal of carefully examining the primary source is to construct new knowledge or to
use the information that the primary source (document sample) is to explore broader historical
issues or context

Answer the following questions:

1. Differentiate contextual analysis from content analysis?
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2. In analyzing a single text, why is it easier to analyze the text written by a single author than by a
multiple author?
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3. One of “don’ts” in analyzing or evaluating a primary source is to avoid recreating the author’s
experience of his society. Do you agree to this statement? If yes, why? If no, why not?
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4. What is the main purpose of examining or evaluating primary sources?

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5. Why are some texts (like primary documents) difficult to analyze?

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6. As a history student, why is it more important to read primary sources than secondary sources.
Support your answer.
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7. How can you think and act like historians?

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2.2. ABSTRACTION (Critical Thinking)
Read the following elaborations to further aid your understanding.
Refer to the PowerPoint presentation SCHOOLOGY- Analysis of selected Primary Sources for
more information.

Each historian, including you, will approach a source with a different set of experiences and skills,
and will therefore interpret the document differently. Remember that there is no one right
interpretation. However, if you do not do a careful and thorough job, you might arrive at a wrong
interpretation. In order to analyze a primary source you need information about two things: the
document itself, and the era from which it comes. You can base your information about the time
period on the readings you do in class and on lectures. On your own you need to think about the
document itself. The following questions may be helpful to you as you begin to analyze the sources:
1. Look at the physical nature of your source. This is particularly important and powerful if you are
dealing with an original source (i.e., an actual old letter, rather than a transcribed and published
version of the same letter). What can you learn from the form of the source? (Was it written on fancy
paper in elegant handwriting, or on scrap-paper, scribbled in pencil?) What does this tell you?
Think about the purpose of the source. What was the author's message or argument? What was
he/she trying to get across? Is the message explicit, or are there implicit messages as well?
3. How does the author try to get the message across? What methods does he/she use?
4. What do you know about the author? Race, sex, class, occupation, religion, age, region, political
beliefs? Does any of this matter? How?
5. Who constituted the intended audience? Was this source meant for one person's eyes, or for the
public? How does that affect the source?
6. What can a careful reading of the text (even if it is an object) tell you? How does the language
work? What are the important metaphors or symbols? What can the author's choice of words tell
you? What about the silences--what does the author choose NOT to talk about?
Now you can evaluate the source as historical evidence.
1. Is it prescriptive--telling you what people thought should happen--or descriptive--telling you what
people thought did happen?
2. Does it describe ideology and/or behavior?
3. Does it tell you about the beliefs/actions of the elite, or of "ordinary" people? From whose
perspective?
4. What historical questions can you answer using this source? What are the benefits of using this
kind of source?
5. What questions can this source NOT help you answer? What are the limitations of this type of
source?
6. If we have read other historians' interpretations of this source or sources like this one, how does
your analysis fit with theirs? In your opinion, does this source support or challenge their argument?
How to Read a Primary Source
Good reading is about asking questions of your sources. Keep the following in mind when reading
primary sources. Even if you believe you can't arrive at the answers, imagining possible answers will
aid your comprehension. Reading primary sources requires that you use your historical imagination.
This process is all about your willingness and ability to ask questions of the material, imagine
possible answers, and explain your reasoning. As a historian, you will want to ask:
What can I know of the past based on this material?
How can I be sure about it?
How do I know these things?
Evaluating primary source texts: I've developed an acronym that may help guide your evaluation of
primary source texts: PAPER.
Purpose and motives of the author
Argument and strategy she or he uses to achieve those goals
Presuppositions and values (in the text, and our own)
Epistemology (evaluating truth content)
Relate to other texts (compare and contrast)
Ask the questions that come under each of these headings.
Purpose
Who is the author and what is her or his place in society (explain why you are justified in thinking
so)? What could or might it be, based on the text, and why? What is at stake for the author in this
text? Why do you think she or he wrote it? What evidence in the text tells you this? Does the author
have a thesis? What is that thesis? Argument. How does the text make its case? What is its strategy
for accomplishing its goal? How does it carry out this strategy? What is the intended audience of the
text? How might this influence its rhetorical strategy? What arguments or concerns does the author
respond to that are not clearly stated? Do you think the author is credible and reliable?
Presuppositions
How do the ideas and values in the source differ from the ideas and values of our age?
What presumptions and preconceptions do you as a reader bring to bear on this text? For instance,
what portions of the text might you find objectionable, but which contemporaries might have found
acceptable?
How might the difference between our values and the values of the author influence the way you
understand the text. How might this text support one of the arguments found in secondary sources
you've read? What kinds of information does this text tell you without knowing it's telling you? Relate
Now choose another of the readings, and compare the two, answering these questions:
What patterns or ideas are repeated throughout the readings? What major differences appear in
them.Which do you find more reliable and credible?
Here are some additional concepts that will help you evaluate primary source texts:
Texts and documents, authors and creators: You'll see these phrases a lot. I use the first two and
the last two as synonyms. Texts are historical documents, authors their creators, and vice versa.
"Texts" and "authors" are often used when discussing literature, while "documents" and "creators"
are more familiar to historians. Evaluating the veracity (truthfulness) of texts: For the rest of this
discussion, consider the example of a soldier who committed atrocities against non-combatants
during wartime. Later in his life, he writes a memoir that neglects to mention his role in these
atrocities, and may in fact blame them on someone else. Knowing the soldier's possible motive, we
would be right to question the veracity of his account. The credible vs. the reliable text:
Reliability refers to our ability to trust the consistency of the author's account of the truth. A reliable
text displays a pattern of verifiable truth-telling that tends to render the unverifiable parts of the text
true. For instance, the soldier above may prove to be utterly reliable in detailing the campaigns he
participated in during the war, as evidenced by corroborating records. The only gap in his reliability
may be the omission of details about the atrocities he committed. Credibility refers to our ability to
trust the author's account of the truth on the basis of her or his tone and reliability. An author who is
inconsistently truthful -- such as the soldier in the example above -- loses credibility. There are many
other ways authors undermine their credibility. Most frequently, they convey in their tone that they
are not neutral (see below). For example, the soldier above may intersperse throughout his reliable
account of campaign details vehement and racist attacks against his old enemy. Such attacks signal
readers that he may have an interest in not portraying the past accurately, and hence may
undermine his credibility, regardless of his reliability. An author who seems quite credible may be
utterly unreliable. The author who takes a measured, reasoned tone and anticipates counter-
arguments may seem to be very credible, when in fact he presents us with complete fiction.
Similarly, a reliable author may not always seem credible. It should also be clear that individual texts
themselves may have portions that are more reliable and credible than others. The neutral text:
We often wonder if the author of a text has an "ax to grind" which might render her or his words
unreliable. Neutrality refers to the stake an author has in a text. In the example of the soldier who
committed wartime atrocities, the author seems to have had a considerable stake in his memoir,
which was to expunge his own guilt. In an utterly neutral document, the creator is not aware that she
or he has any special stake in the construction and content of the document. No texts are ever
completely neutral. People generally do not go to the trouble to record their thoughts unless they
have a purpose or design which renders them invested in the process of creating the text. Some
historical texts, such as birth records, may appear to be more neutral than others, because their
creators seem to have had less of a stake in creating them. (For instance, the county clerk who
signed several thousand birth certificates likely had less of a stake in creating an individual birth
certificate than did a celebrity recording her life in a diary for future publication as a memoir.)
Sometimes the stake the author has is the most interesting part of a document.If you take these
factors into account, you should be able to read and understand the historical implications of your
primary source.
REACT TO THE STATEMENTS:
1. Texts are continually re-read and re-negotiated
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2. Primary text can be made to speak to continuity and discontinuity, to chaos and contradictions.
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3. Perceptions, values, and biases are elements that are present in all texts.
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4. The history student is not the intended audience of the author/ writer.
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5. The most effective and efficient way to discuss and analyze the text is to move step through the
text.
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2.3. APPLICATION (Creativity)

Each student will analyze or evaluate one (1) primary source using content, contextual and author’s
main argument or point of view. The analysis is centered, but not limited to authenticity, credibility,
usefulness, authority and status of the author and its historical importance and significance. You may
choose one of the following primary sources
1. textbook (of any subject)
2. original contract (any type)
3. school record
4. photograph
5. application letter
6. magazine/ newspaper
7. birth certificate/ marriage certificate/ death certificate
8. written speech
9. thesis
Submit your findings in the short bond paper

3. Assessment Phase:
3.1. Work Activities
Sharp Up Your Mind
1. Choose one (1) essay in Filipino or English. The essay should contain the author’s name and the
title of the essay. Analyze or critically evaluate the essay using contextual analysis as well as the
author’s argument and point of view. Also, kindly identify the historical significance of the text being
examined. Print your answer in a short bond paper and attach the photocopy of the evaluated
answers and examined essay.

3.2. Take Home Tasks

Each student will analyze or evaluate one (1) primary source using content, contextual, and author’s
main argument or point of view. The analysis is centered, but not limited to authenticity, credibility,
usefulness, authority and status of the author and its historical importance and significance. Choose
one among the following primary sources.
1. textbook
2. original contract (any type)
3. school record
4. photograph
5. application letter
6. magazine/ newspaper
7. birth certificate/ marriage certificate/ death certificate
8. written speech
9. thesis book

The report, in written/ printed form must be placed in a short folder.

VII. Reference/s:

Torres, Jose Victor (2018) Batis, Sources in Philippine History, C & E Publishing
Inc, QC

Martinez, Rodolfo M. et al (2018) The Reading in Philippine History, Mindshapers

Co., Inc., Manila

Ariola, Mariano M. et al. (2019) Reading in Philippine History. Unlimited Books

Library Services & Publishing Inc. ,Manila