History 135: The Coffeehouse from Arabia to the Enlightenment: Secondary Sources

Secondary sources interpret or analyze primary sources. Thus, they are a step removed from the event or original text. Examples of secondary sources include:

• Articles from journals
• Articles from magazines
• Articles from edited collections
• Biographies
• Book reviews
• Documentary films
• Essays in anthologies
• Literary criticism
• Popular press books
• Scholarly books

How you use a source determines whether it is a primary source or secondary source. If you are analyzing a magazine article from the 1940s to talk about what life was like during that time period, it is a primary source. However, if you are citing information from a magazine article written today about the 1940s, then it is a secondary source.

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