Joseph Hancock

Title: Journal Entry and Reminiscence
Type: Diary
Date: 1850
Source: Goodhue County Historical Society

Description: These two sources describe a trip to Red Wing taken by Hancock and his family. One source is his actual journal entry, the other is his reminiscence of the event years later.
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Activities:

1. What differences in the style of writing can you see between the journal and the book?
   
   
   
   
   Answer: In his journal, Hancock didn't use a great deal of description and did not necessarily write in complete sentences. He basically just listed events in the order that they happened. In the book, the event is written in more of a story, or narrative form.
2. How did the story in his journal change when he wrote the book years later? What details are different? Why might this be so?
   
   
   
   
   Answer: In the book, Hancock discusses why they decided to travel by water and offers in more detail the saw on the way. In the journal, he was writing for himself and probably assumed that he would remember such details, and therefore did not mention them as often.
3. Which of the two sources do you think would be most reliable?
   
   
   
   
   Answer: Since the journal was written closer to the time of the event, it is probably more accurate. Sometimes we remember things and think about events differently years later than we did while they were happening.
4. What are some of the difficulties in using a diary as a primary source?
   
   
   
   
   Answer: One difficulty is in reading handwriting, which can be difficult to read at times. A diary also does not give you access to what others thought of the same event or how the event was viewed by the community.