Activity 1: Who Is Speaking?

Choose one source (a newspaper article, archival document, or scholarly text).

Before reading closely, answer:

• Who created this?

• When was it written?

• Under what political conditions?

• Who was the intended audience?

• Whose perspective does it center?
   

Now read the source again.
Did your understanding shift?

 

Activity 2: Reading Hawaiian-Language Sources in Context

If you are working with a Hawaiian-language text:

• Identify key terms in ʻōlelo Hawaiʻi.

• Look up alternate meanings or historical usage.

• Ask: Does translation flatten or shift meaning?
   

Quick check:

• What concepts appear central in Hawaiian but secondary in English?

• What cultural assumptions are embedded in the language?
   

Language carries worldview. Reading requires attention.

 

Activity 3: Archive vs. Narrative

Find a primary archival record related to your topic. Then find a scholarly or community-based interpretation of the same issue.

Compare:

• What does the archival record emphasize?

• What does the interpretation emphasize?

• What is missing in each?

• How might power shape what was recorded?
   

This exercise helps you recognize that archives reflect institutional priorities, not complete realities.

 

Activity 4: Spotting Power & Framing

Take one paragraph from a source and annotate it.

Ask:

• What words signal bias?

• What assumptions are made?

• What is treated as “normal” or unquestioned?

• How might a different community describe this event?
   

Strong researchers learn to read between the lines.

 

Guiding Questions for All Research

As you work, return to these:

• Who wrote this?

• For whom?

• Under what power?

• What is emphasized?

• What is absent?
   

Discernment is a skill. It develops through practice.