Writing Book 7 · Lesson 12

Notes that separate fact from interpretation

Notes mark which lines are the source's facts and which are its opinions.

What it is

Every source mixes what happened with what the writer makes of it. If your notes do not separate them, you will later argue from someone's opinion believing it was a fact. The test is whether it could be checked: a fact can be verified, an interpretation is a judgment about what the fact means.

Watch it built

1
A line from the source.
The treaty was signed in 1648 and the war ended.
2
Ask: could this be checked? Yes — mark it F.
  A. (F) Treaty signed 1648, war ended
3
The next line is a judgment. Mark it I and name whose it is.
  A. (I) Author calls it the birth of the modern state
Remember
F = could be checked. I = someone's judgment. Never mix them.
Ask yourself: “Could this be checked, or is it what the writer made of it?”

Remember

F is what could be checked. I is someone's judgment.

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