Source Analysis

ADAM PRU

(Author, Date, Audience, Motive, Perspective, Reliability & Usefulness)

Sources only become evidence when they are used to develop an interpretation or argument.

The ADAM PRU acronym can be used to deconstruct a source so that you can use it as evidence. ADAMPRU is also a useful framework for longer written responses or essays where you have to analyse a particular source.

A - Author

Who wrote, produced or made it? Is it an eyewitness, someone involved in events described or someone writing about what they’ve heard or researched?

D - Date

When was the source written, produced, made?

• At the time of events described or later?

• How much later – 5 years or 100?

A - Audience

Who was it produced for? Is the intended audience an important factor?

M - Motive

Why was it written or produced? • Are there personal motives, e.g. letter to parents? • Are there political reasons, e.g. censored newspaper article? • Is it propaganda, e.g. recruitment poster? • Have any facts been omitted? • Have emotive phrases or words been used?

P - Perspective

Does it give a particular point of view? Does it represent a certain section of society only? eg. white, western male?

R - Reliability

What kind of information is included in the resource? Is content of the resource primarily opinion? Is it balanced? Does the creator provide references or sources for data or quotations?

U - Usefulness

Does the information apply to your topic? How much of the information is relevant?

What does this source reveal of NAZI ideology in the 1930s?

“Children, What Do You Know of the Führer?”

1930’s NAZI Propaganda Poster

This Nazi poster is an advertisement for a children's book by S Morgenroth and M. Schmidt, published by the Franz Schneider Company in the 1930’s and reveals a great deal about Nazi ideology. Intended for an audience of German youth and school children, the poster aims to depict Hitler as a friendly, paternal figure who German children can trust and look up to. The question : “Children what do you know of the fuhrer?” infers that he is a figure of importance and that it’s imperative that children learn all they can about him. It highlights the German perspective of Hitler as a God-like figure, whose power was very much dependent upon the German population’s adoration for him as an infallible leader. The poster is a typical example of Hitler’s program to reshape German minds, using propaganda to persuade the German people that he was the answer to all their problems. Even though there is little truth in the poster, it is reliable and useful in shedding light upon the way propaganda was used to influence the German people.

Author Date Audience Motive Perspective Reliability Usefulness

This Nazi poster is an advertisement for a children's book by S Morgenroth and M. Schmidt, published by the Franz Schneider Company in the 1930’s and reveals a great deal about Nazi ideology. Intended for an audience of German youth and school children, the poster aims to depict Hitler as a friendly, paternal figure who German children can trust and look up to. The question : “Children what do you know of the fuhrer?” infers that he is a figure of importance and that it’s imperative that children learn all they can about him. It highlights the German perspective of Hitler as a God-like figure, whose power was very much dependent upon the German population’s adoration for him as an infallible leader. The poster is a typical example of Hitler’s program to reshape German minds, using propaganda to persuade the German people that he was the answer to all their problems. Even though there is little truth in the poster, it is reliable and useful in shedding light upon the way propaganda was used to influence the German people.