Assignment

Primary Source Document Analysis Worksheet

Primary source: Giovanni Boccaccio - The Decameron

1. What is the main idea Boccaccio is trying to communicate in this excerpt from The Decameron? How does he describe the reactions of the citizens of Florence?

2. What is the author's bias? What might have motivated Boccaccio to describe the Black Death's impact in Florence?

3. What was the context in which Boccaccio was writing? Where and when was this document written, and what was going on at that time (beside the plague epidemic)?

4. Who was the intended audience for The Decameron?

5. Can you connect The Decameron to other things you've learned about, either in class or elsewhere? How might this source add to our understanding of history?