Students are asked to examine the book's bibliography and respond to whether the author's research appears thorough, which requires judging the relevance and scope of evidence. Students are asked to read and reflect on the foreword and how it helps them understand the subject, which asks them to consider an author's claims about importance. Students are prompted to consider how the availability of primary sources influences historical writing and to generate questions about the book that they want answered, which fosters consideration of evidence and claims underlying historical accounts.

Students are asked in Question #2 to judge how often claims about the farm are backed up with credible evidence and to consider reasons behind possible misinformation, prompting them to identify absence of supporting evidence and propaganda techniques. The prompt asks students to recognize that reassurances, explanations, and intimidation (the dogs) are used instead of actual evidence. This task requires students to think about the relationship between claims and supporting evidence in the chapter.