{"id":19492,"date":"2022-03-07T21:59:13","date_gmt":"2022-03-07T21:59:13","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/dcc.newberry.org\/2022version\/?p=19492"},"modified":"2025-08-29T21:40:16","modified_gmt":"2025-08-29T21:40:16","slug":"copy-8-copy-2","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/dcc.newberry.org\/?p=19492","title":{"rendered":"Skills Lesson: Reading a Transcription"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<div class=\"wp-block-getwid-tabs\" data-active-tab=\"0\"><ul class=\"wp-block-getwid-tabs__nav-links\"><\/ul>\n<div class=\"wp-block-getwid-tabs__nav-link\"><span class=\"wp-block-getwid-tabs__title-wrapper\"><a href=\"#\"><span class=\"wp-block-getwid-tabs__title\">Lesson<\/span><\/a><\/span><\/div><div class=\"wp-block-getwid-tabs__tab-content-wrapper\"><div class=\"wp-block-getwid-tabs__tab-content\">\n<p><strong>Materials \u2013 Available for Download in the Downloads Tab:<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>PDF and Microsoft Word versions of the Skills Lesson<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p>Explain to students that many of the primary sources they see in textbooks and history books are transcriptions of handwritten documents. A transcription is the text of a primary source such as a letter or diary\u2014or even the audio of an oral history\u2014typed up so that it is easier to read.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h5 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Transcribing Letters<\/h5>\n\n\n\n<p><a rel=\"noreferrer noopener\" href=\"https:\/\/collections.carli.illinois.edu\/digital\/collection\/nby_eeayer\/id\/40824\" target=\"_blank\">This image is from a diary written by C. S. Hodges during a trip in 1878-1879.<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image aligncenter size-large\"><img fetchpriority=\"high\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"1024\" height=\"546\" src=\"https:\/\/dcc.newberry.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/06\/Hodges_Cropped-1024x546.png\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-17783\" srcset=\"https:\/\/dcc.newberry.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/06\/Hodges_Cropped-1024x546.png 1024w, https:\/\/dcc.newberry.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/06\/Hodges_Cropped-300x160.png 300w, https:\/\/dcc.newberry.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/06\/Hodges_Cropped-600x320.png 600w, https:\/\/dcc.newberry.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/06\/Hodges_Cropped-768x409.png 768w, https:\/\/dcc.newberry.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/06\/Hodges_Cropped.png 1430w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 1024px) 100vw, 1024px\" \/><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p>Here is what a transcription of this passage looks like:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<blockquote class=\"wp-block-quote is-layout-flow wp-block-quote-is-layout-flow\">\n<p>. . . At 2 P.M. reached Flat Rocks \u2013 found sufficient water in holes for stock \u2013 . . . &nbsp;Maxon\u2019s Co. coming in shortly after dark, grazing good \u2013 weather quite [?] today \u2013 Lt Smither expended a few rounds of ammunition upon a rock&nbsp; &#8211; which he thought to be an Antelope&nbsp; [sic]<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n<h4 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Transcribing Conventions<\/h4>\n\n\n\n<p>Explain to students that there are certain <strong>conventions<\/strong> that transcribers use. These are symbols, marks, and other things that show the reader certain things about the original, about the transcription, and about the differences between them.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li><strong>[?]<\/strong> When the transcriber can\u2019t figure out what a word is, they may use square brackets with a question mark in its place. [?] can also appear after a word a transcriber guess at but isn&#8217;t certain of. <\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>[unclear] <\/strong>Instead of [?], sometimes transcribers use the word &#8220;unclear&#8221; in square brackets when they can&#8217;t figure out what a word is.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>[word] <\/strong>When the original writer crossed out a word, the transcriber may put it in square brackets. Sometimes people who quote primary source use square brackets to indicate that they have inserted a word or words to clarify meaning.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>[*words] <\/strong>If the original writer added a note in the margin, the transcriber may put it in square brackets with an asterisk before it.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>[sic]<\/strong> Transcribers generally do not fix spelling, grammatical errors, or punctuation. Sometimes, though, they want to point out that the error is in the original. That\u2019s when they use [sic].<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>Ellipsis<\/strong> When you see three periods in a row, something has been left out.\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>The ellipsis may show that there was more before the transcription started or more after it ended.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>People who quote primary source texts often leave out sentences or parts of sentence that they think are beside the point. They insert an ellipsis (or should) to show that there is more there in the original.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>&nbsp;If you see four periods, that means there was a period at the end of a sentence before the ellipsis started.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/div><\/div>\n\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-getwid-tabs__nav-link\"><span class=\"wp-block-getwid-tabs__title-wrapper\"><a href=\"#\"><span class=\"wp-block-getwid-tabs__title\">Downloads<\/span><\/a><\/span><\/div><div class=\"wp-block-getwid-tabs__tab-content-wrapper\"><div class=\"wp-block-getwid-tabs__tab-content\">\n<p><strong>Download the following materials below: <\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>PDF and Microsoft Word versions of the Skills Lesson<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<div data-wp-interactive=\"core\/file\" class=\"wp-block-file\"><object data-wp-bind--hidden=\"!state.hasPdfPreview\" hidden class=\"wp-block-file__embed\" data=\"https:\/\/dcc.newberry.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/02\/ReadingaTranscription_Download.pdf\" type=\"application\/pdf\" style=\"width:100%;height:600px\" aria-label=\"Embed of &lt;strong&gt;Download a PDF copy of the Reading a Transcription lesson here.&lt;\/strong&gt;.\"><\/object><a id=\"wp-block-file--media-2bdf23ce-93b1-41c3-a008-4926066967ee\" href=\"https:\/\/dcc.newberry.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/02\/ReadingaTranscription_Download.pdf\"><strong>Download a PDF copy of the Reading a Transcription lesson here.<\/strong><\/a><a href=\"https:\/\/dcc.newberry.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/02\/ReadingaTranscription_Download.pdf\" class=\"wp-block-file__button wp-element-button\" download aria-describedby=\"wp-block-file--media-2bdf23ce-93b1-41c3-a008-4926066967ee\"><strong>Download<\/strong><\/a><\/div>\n\n\n\n<p><\/p>\n\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-file\"><a id=\"wp-block-file--media-b607304e-8743-4bb9-9f52-1f3558f213ec\" href=\"https:\/\/dcc.newberry.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/02\/SkillsMinilesson_ReadingaTranscription_Download.docx\"><strong>Download a Microsoft Word copy of the Reading a Transcription lesson here.<\/strong><\/a><a href=\"https:\/\/dcc.newberry.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/02\/SkillsMinilesson_ReadingaTranscription_Download.docx\" class=\"wp-block-file__button wp-element-button\" download aria-describedby=\"wp-block-file--media-b607304e-8743-4bb9-9f52-1f3558f213ec\"><strong>Download<\/strong><\/a><\/div>\n<\/div><\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n<p><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":17783,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_feature_clip_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[124,139,148],"tags":[168],"class_list":["post-19492","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-cm","category-middle-school","category-skillslesson","tag-literature"],"blocksy_meta":{"styles_descriptor":{"styles":{"desktop":"","tablet":"","mobile":""},"google_fonts":[],"version":6}},"acf":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/dcc.newberry.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/06\/Hodges_Cropped.png","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/dcc.newberry.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/19492","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/dcc.newberry.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/dcc.newberry.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dcc.newberry.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dcc.newberry.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=19492"}],"version-history":[{"count":14,"href":"https:\/\/dcc.newberry.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/19492\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":22857,"href":"https:\/\/dcc.newberry.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/19492\/revisions\/22857"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dcc.newberry.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/17783"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/dcc.newberry.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=19492"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dcc.newberry.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=19492"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dcc.newberry.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=19492"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}