Stiles History 1
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?
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2. What is the author’s bias? What might have motivated Boccaccio to describe the Black
Death’s impact in Florence?
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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?
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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?