Document analysis methods and applications

¶ … tone of voice makes the reader understand that the person who wrote the document is not a professional writer. We are presented with just the point-of-view of the writer as the only evidence to the described events. From this it can be deduced that the writer thinks very well of himself and his exhaustive perspective.

The writer must have an important social status since he is part of the events he describes. In other words he comes from an upper class family. He has a good financial situation and has benefited from high education. He is a religious person since god and various moral principles are evoked numerous times. The values which the text illustrates are the values of the upper class society of those times.

The perspective is clearly the one of a male. However, he tries to keep a moderate look upon the development of the story and not impose severe criticism. A large number of facts are described in detail, which means that the writer is aware of the importance that some detail might have for interpreting and evaluating the events. This is another element which supports the idea of a high education.

The awareness for such details, as well as the manner in which the writer positions himself towards the story suggest that he has a certain life experience and is probably in his thirties or even more. The writer is self-confident and proud of his judgement, as we can deduce from the value which he attributes to or denies to things, persons and happenings. His worldview is influenced by his status and education and also by his political views. His interpretation of the events is made according to his very own social status (he probably has a role in the political life as well).

The author is basically telling the story of how Pocahontas was taken from her father's tribe and how she came to be Lady Rebecca., as well as her relation to the man the life of whom she saved. The circumstance sunder which the men came to be captured by the Indians are also narrated.

However, there are a lot of details and descriptions of the places, the houses, the people, the actions of various people who played an important role in the development of the country. The idea that the reader should get is probably that the actions which were being undertaken were the right ones.

Although the writer is clearly a religious man, that is one who was probably raised up according to religious moral standards, he presents the facts in a manner which privileges those of his kind. All the facts regarding the kidnapping of Pocahontas, as well as all the events involving her father and the soldiers are presented as things which had to be done. Although the merit of the girl and of her father for not having allowed for the death of the soldiers on various occasions is recognized, the main focus is concentrated upon the "righteousness" of the intentions and the deeds of the latter ones.

A political ideology according to which the American fathers are not only superior to the Indians, but also the supreme beholders of all the values, starting from the moral and ending with the political ones is to be read between the lines.

The actions of the Indians are always the ones which provoke the others. This is the manner through which the author of the text makes the readers understand that all the deeds of the soldiers were always perfectly justified. And if they were not justified by the actions of the natives, then they were justified by the political agenda of that time.

The point-of-view of the author is presented as the absolute truth. The fact that he was present when the actions took place should make him an unbiased teller. In addition, the fact that he took part in the events should actually become a guarantee for the truth value of his sayings.

The text was written shortly after the events took place, in Virginia. The events are presented as if they took place shortly before. The temporal indications are not always exact. The fact that the writer is not always exact proves that he makes value judgements not only upon the events, but also upon the temporal duration. He presents himself as the possessor of an exhaustive knowledge regarding the events.

People needed to be informed about the events which were taking place. This was an opportunity not just to become famous, but also to acquire a certain reputation. People probably looked forward to acknowledge what had been going on, through his writing the author non-only satisfied a curiosity, but created an image for himself. The text was produced in which written evidence of this kind was considered not only to tell history, but to actually create it. Hence, the importance of the text and of the writer.

A country was in course of creation, important social changes were taking place and the public opinion needed evidence to support the value of the things which were happening. In addition, this kind of writing was needed in order to make sure that the importance of the events was recorded and preserved for posterity.

These are several reasons for which the text was written. First and foremost, since the writer was part of the events, he considered it was his duty to record them. In addition, he knew that performing this duty would have important consequences upon his life. On the one hand, there would be the immediate recognition of his merits, not only as a participant to the events which would make America a nation, but also as an acute witness who recorded the events and made them available for everybody.

The events taking place at that time were the most important one son the political agenda. The writer knew the importance of information. He also knew that the importance of the events will be associated to the person who would best tell them to the ones who had not been there to witness them. The text was in fact published as historic evidence to the events.

The audience of the text is one of great importance. On the one hand, it is represented by the political scene of the time, including all the people who had power of decision. In addition, it is represented by the common people who had an interest to find out about what happened in territories they did not have access to. Last and not least, the audience is represented by posterity. Historians as well as common people are interested in knowing a country's history. The only way to do that is to read what others have written about it. And the most revealing and thus most meaningful sources should be the primary documents, written by people who had been considered as having the competencies to do it.

The contemporary audience of the text probably received the text well, since it is full of details and it offers a reason for what happened, not just a description of the events. The fact that the writer actually wrote what happened must have made people appreciate him and his involvement in the story been more, transforming him into a sort of hero (he was after all part of the story).