Nursing Preparation Study Guide

Nursing Preparation Study Guide A section of a history textbook which describes the conditions and causes for the Great Depression would have been written with the purpose of informing an audience. The textbook would be used for learning and gaining new information. 1.2.5 Historical Context The time and place that a text was written will have an impact on the work in some way. Historical factors can influence both a text’s content and style. Example Read the following text and answer the question about historical context. Medicine in Ancient Greece Hermodicus of Lampsacus was paralyzed in the body. When he slept in the temple the god healed him and ordered him to bring to the temple as large a stone as he could. The man brought the stone which now lies before the abaton (where people slept). What does the second sentence suggest about the historical context of the text? a. In Ancient Greece doctors performed medicine. b. In Ancient Greece herbal remedies were used to cure diseases. c. In Ancient Greece, it was believed that stones could be used for healing. d. In Ancient Greece people were taken to hospitals for treatments. The second sentence reveals that in Ancient Greece it was believed that stones could be used for healing because Hermodicus of Lampsacus was brought to a temple and was asked to bring a large stone. 1.3 Integrative Knowledge and Ideas 1.3.1 Primary Sources Primary sources are firsthand records of events, theories, opinions or actions which are found in the form of published or unpublished documents, recordings or artifacts. They must be contemporary to the events, people or information they are about. When using primary sources, several challenges arise. Documents written hundreds of years after an event has happened are not primary sources (they are secondary sources), but sometimes those are the only kinds of records available about an event. They may not be accurate if they are only written from one person’s point of view and are based on the writer’s perceptions. Also, they can be fragmented or vague which make them difficult to analyze. Websites can be considered primary sources if they are the firsthand records of an event theory, opinion or action. Websites with a non-biased approach to presenting information are the most reliable when it comes to primary sources. Examples of these include government sites, organizational sites and websites of educational institutions. The final type of source, tertiary, is a mixture of both primary and secondary source. For example, a history textbook may contain

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