Purpose: To start student's thinking about the purposes of document creation, why content is presented the way it is, and how people use both content and format in interpreting a document.

1. Form groups of up to five individuals.

2. Trade personal documents, spend about five-ten minutes on each document trying to determine what you can about the individual from their document

3. Analyze each document as to:

	a. Why it may have been created and what is its purpose?
   	b. What jurisdiction and what has that to do with its purpose?
   	c. Who is the issuing authority or the creator?
   	d. flow does it pertain to the owner'?
   	e. What can you tell about the owner from the document'?
   	f. Etc. can you think of any other questions?

4. Have the owner's of the document explain why they have the document and what it means to them.

5. Return to one group and discus, the exercise and its implications.

Find a partner:

Look through your own bag, notebooks, purses or wallets for things you carry that are documents of your own life. These might be photographs, a letter, a news clipping, a driver's license, a social security card, a ticket stub.

Select one item you are willing to share with your partner and the rest of the learners today.
 

Together with your partner, analyze each of the chosen documents:

*What type of document is this? .What is the date of the document? *Who created the document? How does the document relate to you?
 

Consider the document as a historical document:

*What does the existence of this document say about whomever created it?

*What does they existence of the document say about whomever saved it?

*What does the existence of this document say about life in North America or the United States in this era? What questions does this document raise?

Prepare to introduce your partner using the document you have analyzed as a basis for the introduction.