In this exercise, students first interpret an exhibit source without any supplementary sources and then reinterpret it in light of background and/or theory sources. Assembling a set of short, relatively accessible sources is key to this exercise’s success. The result is that students come to appreciate how background and theory sources can deepen their interpretation of an exhibit source.

Objective

To use additional sources to strengthen analysis of an exhibit; to explore how background and/or theory sources can deepen and complicate analysis

Key Terms

background source; exhibit source; theory source; analysis; BEAM/BEAT

Exercise

  1. Present an exhibit source related to the course topic. Select a short written text, an excerpt, or a visual text that students can engage quickly. This exercise will work best if you choose an exhibit that has a context and/or content that most students are likely to be unfamiliar with.
  2. Begin by asking students if they have heard of the exhibit source or its content. Then ask students to analyze it. They may not have much to say, or they may draw on interpretive methods they have developed earlier in the class or from previous courses. (For example, in a class on a literary topic, students may analyze formal features such as imagery, diction, and tone.) Give students a few minutes to interpret the exhibit source in this way.
  3. Introduce several sources that will open up new ways of understanding or interpreting the exhibit source. Since the point of the exercise is to demonstrate how background and theory sources can enhance one’s interpretive power, choose sources that will do so relatively quickly and dramatically.
  4. Reconvene as a large group to re-visit the exhibit source (and students’ initial interpretations) in light of this new information.
  5. Consider asking students to reflect on background or theory sources they might use to help them better analyze an exhibit source in an upcoming essay.

Here’s an example of how one instructor used this approach to teach “The Last Quatrain of the Ballad of Emmett Till” by Gwendolyn Brooks.