MCO220: Cultural Diversity in the Media (Desai)

Primary Resources Defined:

If you are seeking to learn about the past, primary sources of information are those that provide first-hand accounts of the events, practices, or conditions you are researching. In general, these are documents that were created by the witnesses or first recorders of these events at about the time they occurred, and include diaries, letters, reports, photographs, creative works, financial records, memos, and newspaper articles (to name just a few types).  (Definition from University of Illinois)

For your paper, these primary resources will be historical sources where you can find depictions of your social group.  These can include any of the following:

• Ads and promos from different time periods
• Stories and articles from different time periods
• Videos from different time periods
• First-hand testimonies of people from the time or period

Check these first...

Check these next...

Google is a great place to find advertisements and images for the different societal group that you are studying.  That said, here are some hints to help you make the most of your searches:

• One thing you might want to consider is typing in the name of your societal group, then the word "and" followed by what you are looking for, such as advertisements, television, etc. 
• Also consider putting in a time period such as 1980s or 1990s. 
• Finally, also consider using Google's Image Search to limit to image options.

That said, here are a few sample searches to give you an idea:

• African Americans and advertisements and 1950s (image search)
• immigrants and cartoons and 1900s (image search)
• Native American movie depictions