I- Definitions

1. What is a 'critical summary'?

A critical summary is a series of short paragraphs that provide an overview of the

strengths and weaknesses of the sources you found. The primary task of your summary
is to highlight how well your sources helped you answer your research questions. Please
be aware that you are not simply giving your opinion about whether you liked your
sources or not: you need to draw upon what you said in your source analysis and
evaluation section in order to justify your conclusions.
Critical summaries condense and assess the content of a book or article. It is not just
your opinion, but a complete assessment of the work as a whole. To critically assess,
you do not negatively criticize a work as in popular film or book reviews. Instead, you
engage generously with their ideas and arguments. You will need to consider both the
work’s structure and content.
2. Required elements:

• Based upon what your sources said, provide potential answers to your Key
Inquiry Question and Sub-Questions
• Mention specific sources by name and outline their strengths and weaknesses
• Use correct in-text referencing when providing direct and indirect quotes from
sources

3. Structuring your critical summary

There are a number of different ways that you can structure your critical summary.
Depending upon what you can say about the usefulness and reliability of your sources
and how you intend to answer your research questions, you can follow any of the
following approaches. Regardless of which approach you choose, ensure that you still
fulfil the ‘required elements’ listed above.
II- Approaches
Approach 1: Compare primary and secondary sources
Paragraph 1: What information did your primary sources provide?
Paragraph 2: What information did your secondary sources provide?
Paragraph 3: Based upon your research, how would you answer your Key Inquiry
Question?
Approach 2: Group by evaluation skill
Paragraph 1: Which sources were the most useful in answering your sub-questions?
Paragraph 2: Which sources were the most reliable?
Paragraph 3: Based upon your research, how would you answer your Key Inquiry
Question?

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Approach 3: Compare and contrast
Paragraph 1: Which sources provided similar or corroborating information?
Paragraph 2: Which sources provided dissimilar information based upon their
perspectives?
Paragraph 3: Which of these sources were most useful and reliable?
• Examples

Using Approach 1

The archaeological and written sources indicate that Roman propaganda stressed the
importance of military victories in establishing imperial legitimacy. However, these
sources were clearly created by and for members of the social elite and, as a result, only
reflect the perspective of these people. Whilst the purpose of the statues and histories
were to influence the loyalties of wealthy aristocrats, we have no way of knowing what
effect they had on the rest of the people in the city, as their thoughts are not preserved
in the extant sources. Regardless, Tacitus is crucial to answering my two sub-questions
about senatorial and military understandings of imperial rule, especially when he
outlines the failings of previous emperors in the eyes of the various social groups in
Rome (Annals, IV.39). His comments about “staged performances” is corroborated by
the scenes on the Arch of Titus. As both of these sources are contemporaneous with the
imperial system, they are a particularly reliable source of the perspectives of the
Romans themselves.

What I found most useful, specifically when researching information on the views of
the non-Romans about emperors' attempts at justifying their power were the works of
modern historians. Cambridge University classicist, Mary Beard provided substantial
detail about the use of statuary in Egypt and the Levant which provided a counterweight
to the ancient sources (2012, 165-8). Her overall point, that the propaganda didn’t
effectively filter down into the lower classes of provincial society was far more
convincing than the limited critique offered Brewer. I found Brewer to be less useful,
even though he is a professor of Ancient History, since he focused more on the actions
of the emperors themselves, rather than on broader sections of society (1977, 40). As a
result, I found the academic works of modern historians most useful in providing a
critique of the Roman perspective of the ancient sources.

Based upon the evidence I have gathered from ancient and modern sources, I concluded
that the Roman emperors believed that military victories were the primary mode of
establishing imperial legitimacy to their subjects, despite the fact that only the upper
classes of society were influenced by it.

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Using Approach 2

The sources that I have chosen at the completion of my research have all been incredibly
useful in answering my research questions. In particular, evidence from Shirer proved
invaluable in answering my sub-question about how the Nazi party came to power, since
the author took part in many of the events he describes (1951). What proved particularly
helpful to me was how much Greiger, emeritus professor of political history at Harford
corroborated the finer details provided by Shirer (1997). While I found the two Nazi
propaganda articles in the Der Stürmer helpful in answer my second two sub-questions,
I found the level of antisemitic bias difficult identify in every instance. Despite this, I
could confidently answer my first sub-question by showing that print media was central
in manipulating public opinion during the Nazi rise to power.

The academic works by Greiger (1997) and Stanton (2000) proved to be the most
reliable. This is firstly due to their credentials as history professors with a combined
fifty years of research experience between them. What made Stanton so much more
trustworthy is that he was fluent in German as well as English and went into detail about
the different nuances of the German words used in Hitler’s speeches (2000, 12-5). This
gave me a lot of confidence to then go back to the political posters and cartoons,
particularly those I found on the Holocaust Museum website, and identify specific word
choices that helped me answer my final two sub-questions. Therefore, I have concluded
that Goebbels invested heavily in radio and visual forms of propaganda to further the
Nazi party’s agenda.

Based upon the information provided by my sources in my research, I am drawn to the

conclusion that it was the Nazi party’s manipulation of all forms of available mass
media that played a central role in their ability to change the opinions of the German
population during their rise to political dominance.

Using Approach 3

Among the sources discovered for this task, a number have proved to be useful in
answering my sub-questions due to the explicit and implicit information contained
within them. For example, Source 1 is extremely relevant to my sub-question about the
experience of the First Nations’ contact with European settlers because it explicitly
stated that “the aboriginal tribes in the Sydney area consistently had contact with the
colonists using traditional ceremonies that demonstrated openness and respect” (Source
1). The sentiment that the First Nation groups were not initially violent is also
corroborated by Jacobson, who provides numerous descriptions by Arthur Philip about

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the friendly nature of the tribal leaders (Source 2). The fact that Jacobson corroborates
the information provided in Source 1 makes it incredibly useful in answering my third
sub-question about the opinions of primary source authors.

However, other sources offer different perspectives regarding the demeanor of the
original inhabitants of the Sydney area. For example, Wiles recorded in his personally
diary that he was “attacked without provocation by the natives” and “feared for the life
and security whenever [he] was working the land” (Source 3). It must be noted that
Wiles was writing from the perspective of a European settler in 1792, which means that
his experiences were the result of negative interactions that occurred between the
Europeans and the original inhabitants prior to his arrival. Another dissimilar
perspective is offered by Shindwuttle, who claims that the ceremonies observed by the
British appeared to be militaristic in nature, and was not interpreted as acts of diplomatic
engagement, as is claimed in Sources 1 and 2 (Source 4). The clear contradiction in the
interpretations offered by Wiles and Shindwuttle is clear evidence of the contestable
nature of this topic.

The evidence provided in the source analysis above shows that all four sources were
very useful and reliable in answering my research questions. Sources 2 and 3 were
particularly relevant in understanding competing understandings of the actions of the
First Nations groups, as they were both primary sources from the time of the events and
provided both explicit and implicit descriptions. Also, Wiles and Shindwuttle are both
very reliable sources of information as well, as both were professional historians
working at different Australian universities.

III- How to summarize critically

1. Paraphrase
Paraphrasing is often used when engaging with academic content to place your
argument in the context of other work on the subject and enter your ideas into the
academic discussion. This also helps writers avoid overusing quotations, which can
clutter up your work.
When paraphrasing, put someone else’s ideas into your own language, while still
crediting them with the original idea. For instance, you might say Cynthia Sugars argues
the significance of the continued presence of the gothic in Canadian historical
texts instead of quoting Sugars directly making this claim. If you are paraphrasing a
specific point the author has made, make sure to cite a page number, even if you aren’t
quoting directly.

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 2. Writing a Critical Summary
Your summary should include the thesis of the article, as well as mention of the
structure and supportive content of the argument. In a summary you typically avoid
direct quotations—paraphrase instead.
Evaluate the strengths and/or weaknesses of the piece, considering elements such as
content, arguments, organization, scholarship, and style. Take a position, arguing for or
against the argument of the article.
Be concise, but make sure you don’t inadvertently remove something essential or distort
the meaning of the original paper.

1. Read the article, noting the thesis, key issues surrounding it, and what is used to
support the argument. Write brief summary notes of key sections in the margins as
you go.
2. Are the arguments structured effectively? Ways of structuring an article include
ordering points chronologically, by topic, by character, or by theoretical approach.
Points can also be structured from strongest to weakest or reverse.
3. Are the paragraphs abstract, specific, or a mix?
4. Has the writer used evidence to support her work? Has she explained the quotations
as evidence well?
5. How well has the writer cited other scholarship in the area?
6. Does the book or article contribute to the scholarship? Why or why not?
7. Does the author end with questions and directions for future scholarship? If so, is
this effective?
IV- Exercise
HOW HERITAGE PRESERVATION REDUCES POVERTY

Cultural heritage preservation means keeping the artifacts and traditions of a

community intact against factors trying to change them or wear them away. Some
common examples are restoring historical buildings, passing on an ancient craft or
recording traditional tales. Cultural heritage is crucial for communities. It gives them a
way to look back on their history in a way that informs their present-day identity. It also
provides the communities with new chances to thrive.
Many people behind cultural conservation programs prioritize staying local and helping
their communities as much as possible. Often, people living in poverty or those on the
outskirts of society are the ones first offered these opportunities. In this sense, heritage
preservation reduces poverty and helps communities by giving people employment and
education.

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Cultural heritage preservation encourages as well as utilizes tourism. Heritage
Tourism is one of the major ways preserving cultural heritage can reduce poverty in a
community. It often boosts a community’s economy and can become one of its major
industries. Many tourists visit cultural sites and partake in culturally-enriching activities
while traveling and tend to stay longer at these places.
As tourism increases, so do jobs for local community members directly involved in
tourist activities (such as museum guides or re-enactors) and those not associated with
tourism (such as the food industry or local shops). Employers can then afford to pay
their employees more as they receive more and more business. People also become
encouraged to start their own businesses or move their businesses to these small
communities upon seeing the economy emerge and grow. A Pakistan-based
study published in February 2020 shows that increases in tourism noticeably improve a
community overall. A 1% increase in tourism can enhance the GPD by 0.051%,
agricultural development by 0.26%, direct foreign investment by nearly 2.65% and
potentially decrease poverty by 0.51%.
An example of a cultural heritage preservation project that has greatly helped a small,
rural community is the Rural Revitalization Drama Festival. It occurs in Shixia Village
in China and showcases traditional Chinese Opera. Though Shixia was an impoverished
village in 2010, the tourism created by the festival has provided more jobs. It has created
more opportunities for extra income, encouraged people who previously left the village
to return and urged people to start businesses there. The festival has also highlighted
other cultural treasures in the area that promoted even more preservation projects and
tourism. By 2019, they were able to purchase the technology needed to process their
own millet crops; whereas, they previously had to outsource production to other places.
These disciplines and practices are culturally important, but they also give many people
the chances of employment and education. For example, in the Philippines, Escuela
Taller has created education programs in different traditional disciplines, such as
carpentry and metalwork. In Peru, local women were trained in creating traditional
textiles in order to support themselves and their families. This project was created
by Centro de Textiles Tradicionale del Cusco in 1996 with the support of JoinTrafalgar
and the TreadRight Foundation.
Cultural heritage preservation reduces poverty and helps communities by passing down
ancient, artisan crafts to new generations. Preserving cultural heritage is a way of
declaring to others that the people and the communities housing these museums,
historical buildings and traditions are important and worth protecting. With people
empathizing with a community, it can encourage them to fight against the destruction
of land or buildings. It can inspire people to donate and even start charities and
nonprofits. Preserving cultural heritage reduces poverty by promoting the visibility and
the empowerment of communities. It can at first seem to only be about showcasing a
country’s history but it runs deeper. Cultural heritage preservation gives modern people
a chance at a prosperous future.
– Mikayla Burton
https://borgenproject.org/tag/cultural-preservation/