Doing History Summary

She carries the audience through her argument in a logical sequence. First, she makes her claim that student do not know history and explains her reasons (250). She then elaborates on what history students are taught and what exactly is wrong with the methods by which they learn (251). After this, she explains the job of a historian to the reader – how historians confront primary sources to “make some sense of what once happened” (252). To end the article, Simon describes how students can better learn history through exploring primary sources (253). This structuring and organization helps the reader to understand and to believe Simon’s

Not all is known and the facts passed down may not reveal the whole truth. History is biased and can easily be manipulated by those with more power, and it is a modern historian’s job to weed through the commonly accepted information, and try to find the truth. If the truth is not found, then they present alternative theories to broaden the world’s knowledge on the possible course of events in the

History can be an intricate and laborious subject to teach and learn. James W. Loewen, author, historian, and sociologist, is the perfect example of someone who appreciates the subject in all aspects, but knows how underestimated it is. As he says in Lies My Teacher Told Me, “Our educational media turn flesh-and-blood individuals into pious, perfect creatures without conflicts, pain, credibility, or human interest” (Loewen 11). Throughout the book, he further elucidated the idea of that quote by introducing particular topics that deserved more details and acknowledgement. Loewen argues with enough reasoning from numerous textbooks that the writers aren’t involving all facts that should be included to inform the students. Nearly all points

The essay “Historian as Citizen” by Howard Zinn presents a call to action for historians everywhere. To start, he analyzes the delicate need for balance that comes with studying history, how historians can use patterns of the past to judge contemporary events, but must not overlook the “universe of tricks” outside that realm. Next, he argues we must also transcend the present and act as if we are freer than logic may suggest. Finally, Zinn delves into the negative aspects of society’s long-established blame game and submits his proposed solution. Through this text, Zinn seeks a drastic shift in focus from antiquity to activism— for historians to stop merely scrutinizing old facts but instead use them as tools with which to examine human nature and build a better tomorrow.

In The Death of History is Bunk, Patrick Watson argues that the decrease of historical content in the curriculum does not indicate that history, as a subject, is declining. While many complain about the decreasing prominence of history classes in Canadian schools, the content of those classes is excessively dull as it consists of memorizing lists of facts. Despite this, there are still protests that knowledge of “defining events” is required to contribute to “the National Conversation”. However, history is not so simple as a list of events—it is the sum of the small happenings in society around the events. A whole variety of factors influence history, which is created by the common people. Unlike Americans, who turn to their constitution for

To begin, a major flaw in the way American history courses are taught is due to the fact that textbooks do not allow students to form their own opinions, for everything is presented as “fact”. This is exemplified through the way early American life is taught. For example, a controversial topic is the specific destination of the Mayflower during the Pilgrim’s journey to America. Some historians believe their arrival in Massachusetts was on purpose to be far from Anglican control in Virginia, while others believe violent storms lead them off track, or there were just navigation errors. The flaw then arises for all textbooks only pick one, and present it as fact to their readers for they believe it is the students’ only way to “learn” about the past (81).

This paper deals with ways history can be interpreted and influences different interpretations have on society and individuals. This is explored through

“I don’t understand why I have to take this class. All that old history stuff has no relevance to my life, and it is a waste of time to fool with it. My life today is more important than the lives of all those dead and boring people.” This remark is said more frequently than we realize. History is a combination of events that created our present and future today. The past it what simply gives our present it’s value. Another way to look at history is it can be compared to our ancestry line. Without our ancestors we wouldn’t have the make-up of genes that we do today. For example, the Columbian exchange is one of the events in history that has really impacted our world. Not only did one change come from the event but a variety including food, plants, animals, goods and knowledge. History also exposes knowledge to us. It is the resource that allows us to better our lives and expand our knowledge. Believe it or not, our life we peruse everyday consist of history. Including languages, we inherited, religions that weren’t just created on the spot, technologies that have been upgraded in the past years, and the clothing we decided to put on our backs everyday that has evolved from different materials to different fittings. The world has evolved in many ways in the past and it continues to evolve.

In Telling the Truth About History, three historians discuss how the expanded skepticism and the position that relativism has reduced our capacity to really know and to expound on the past. The book talks about the written work of history and how individuals are battling with the issues of what is “truth.” It likewise examines the post-modernist development and how future historians

In the second part “History the weapon”, Schlesinger addressed why the history can used as a weapon in the conflict between the cultural majority and the minorities. History has its own role in the future of nations, for it is to the whole nation than as the memory to individual. As the means to define the national identities, who controls the history would have control the future.

To know the past is to know the future. In his essay Knowing History and Knowing Who We Are, David McCullough argues about the importance of studying and teaching history. In his essay, he explains that there are three main points about history: character and its effect upon destiny, our failure of teaching the future generation, and the importance of learning and listening to history. David McCullough strongly advocates that audience should start to listen to and teach about the past in order to learn about the way a person’s character can affect their destiny.

History is very unique to itself when compared to other subjects. Historians and novelist both spend a lot of time doing research in order to accurately write about history. It is very important for historians to gather accurate information from multiple sides of a historical event to be sure what they are writing about is true. Historians and novelist can’t just repeat the process or redo an experiment to prove that it is correct. If a historian only writes from one perspective it will be slandered. In order to portray an accurate representation of history a writer must research the historical event and include multiple perspectives. It is also important for a student to read multiple writings about the time period and event in order to grasp an accurate portrayal of the historical event and significance.

History, the study of the past, can often be approached in a manner that emphasizes trivial facts and influential men; however, history is only effective when one’s study is centered around patterns of the past and grassroots movements. If studied effectively, history is a means of gaining a fuller understanding of the world’s current state, and one’s role in resisting the injustices in their society. One cannot gain the deeper understanding of the world that historical education offers by simply memorizing facts and accepting information given to them by their teacher, textbook, or community . The benefits of historical education only prevail when one examines patterns in history and uses their observations to question the state of their current society. In his book Pedagogy of the Oppressed, Paulo Freire alludes to the danger of an education system built on the transferal of facts from teachers to students, stating that students “must abandon the educational goal of deposit-making and replace it with the posing of problems of human beings in their relations with the world”(Freire 60).

When analyzing a historical event, ideally information is required to be traced back in both quantitative and qualitative variables. History could be easily manipulated, misinterpret and biased. For a particular historical event, many claims could be laid out with certain amount of evidence. For example, many historians claim that the Holocaust did not happen and the conspiracy theory that America did not plan on the moon. The reality that anyone is able to propose various theories that contradicts what may seem as ‘facts’ to others proves that there are multiple perspective that needs critical analysis. Historians evaluates the evidence proposed, they

The definition of history, is a question which has sparked international debate for centuries between the writers, readers, and the makers of history. It is a vital topic which should be relevant in our lives because it?s important to acknowledge past events that have occurred in our world that deeply influences the present. This essay will discuss what history is, and why we study it.