Chris Van Allsburg’s The Polar Express has been a staple of the Christmas season since it was published in 1984, perhaps challenging The Night Before Christmas as standard bedtime read-alouds on Christmas Eve. Its themes, images, awards and historical context all signal that this is an exceptional primary source of its time period and place—the early 80s in the United States. I was beyond elated when an art professor dropped by my set up at Loaded Question brewery in Portsmouth, NH to talk about the Caldecott Award-winning book, The Polar Express.
Everything is a Primary Source
The analysis of a primary source helps us to learn about the time period and the place from which it came. Too often we limit the term "primary source" to mean just newspapers, letters, diaries and such, when in reality EVERYTHING, from toy packaging to movies, websites to toothpaste, restaurant menus to , well, podcasts, can be dissected. This podcast focuses on American Popular Culture and treats films, songs, food, comic books, toys, games, TV shows, clothing...& etc as artifacts waiting to inform us about the time period and society that produced and embraced them.To learn more about the process, see materials and follow the episodes, go to epspodcast.club Join the EPS Podcast Facebook Group to follow new episodes, see announcements and offer up suggestions for future episodes.
The analysis of a primary source helps us to learn about the time period and the place from which it came. Too often we limit the term "primary source" to mean just newspapers, letters, diaries and such, when in reality EVERYTHING, from toy packaging to movies, websites to toothpaste, restaurant menus to , well, podcasts, can be dissected. This podcast focuses on American Popular Culture and treats films, songs, food, comic books, toys, games, TV shows, clothing...& etc as artifacts waiting to inform us about the time period and society that produced and embraced them.To learn more about the process, see materials and follow the episodes, go to epspodcast.club Join the EPS Podcast Facebook Group to follow new episodes, see announcements and offer up suggestions for future episodes.Listen on
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