Level 2 History · History 2.4 · Lesson 2 · Analyse the source before asking "what does this tell us about perspectives?"
Source to analyse — read carefully before you begin
"The Government of New Zealand must now proceed to take into its own hands the whole of the country between the Waikato River and the sea as far north as the Mokau River... The Waikato tribes have committed acts of rebellion against the Queen's authority, and Her Majesty's Government has consequently determined to proceed against them with the forces now at its disposal..."
— Governor George Grey, Proclamation to the Waikato people, 11 July 1863. New Zealand Gazette.
S
Subject
What is it about?
What is this document literally about? Summarise in one sentence — not your interpretation, just what it states on the surface.
O
Occasion
Historical context
What was happening in 1863 that led to this document? Consider: the Kīngitanga movement (Māori King), the 1860 Waitara land dispute, and growing Crown anxiety about Waikato. Why July 1863 specifically?
A
Audience
Who was meant to read it?
Who was the intended reader? (The Waikato people? The Colonial Office in London? Settler newspapers? All three simultaneously?) How does the audience change the language used?
P
Purpose
What did it do?
What did Grey want this document to achieve? (Justify military action? Issue a legal warning? Create an official record? Appeal to settlers?) There may be more than one purpose.
S
Speaker
Who wrote it?
Who was Governor Grey? What was his role, background, and prior history in NZ? (He had been Governor 1845–53 before returning. He signed early Land Purchase Acts.) Why does knowing this matter for reading the document?
T
Tone
Feeling + language
What feeling does the language create? Choose three adjectives — then back each up with a specific word or phrase from the text.
Adjective
Evidence from text
Synthesis — putting it together
1. What perspective does this source represent? Whose view of the NZ Wars does it express?
2. What perspective does this source NOT show us? Whose voice is absent?
3. What would a Waikato rangatira say in response to this proclamation? (Write 1–2 sentences from their perspective.)
Pātai Hōhonu — Bias check questions to ask of any source
Who created this? · Why did they create it? · Who was their audience? · What do they leave out? · How might someone else tell this story differently?
📋 Teacher Planning Snapshot
Ngā Whāinga Ako — Learning Intentions
A single-source analysis sheet applying SOAPSTONE to Governor Grey's Proclamation to the Waikato people, 11 July 1863.
Ngā Paearu Angitū — Success Criteria
✅ Students can summarise what the Proclamation states on its surface, without interpreting it.
✅ Students can identify more than one intended audience and say how that changes the language.
✅ Students can name what the document conceals as well as what it reveals.
Differentiation & Inclusion
Scaffold support: If the full acronym overloads a student, require Speaker and Purpose only — those two carry most of the analytical weight and the remaining letters can be added in Lessons 3–4. Extend with the bias-check questions at the foot of the sheet.
ELL / ESOL: The source is 1863 official English and is genuinely hard. Read the extract aloud, gloss rebellion, proceed against and Her Majesty's Government, then let ākonga answer S and O before anything else.
Inclusion: Twenty minutes on one document is a long time. Chunk it — two letters, share, two more — and allow answers to be spoken before they are written.
Mātauranga Māori: The Proclamation announces the taking of Waikato land and describes the people it is taken from only as rebels. Students analysing it are reading raupatu in the Crown's own voice; the O and A rows are where that becomes visible, so do not let those be skipped for time.
Prior knowledge: Use in Lesson 2, after the source-sorting cards have established the primary / secondary distinction.