Name:
Due Date: August 25, 2014
CNEC AP World History Summer Assignment Part 1:
“Why Study History?” and “The History Guide” Response 2014-2015
Is history just a bunch of dates? Is history just a litany of stories about a bunch of dead people? Is the
only reason that we have to learn history because the state of California says so? The answer to those
questions is a resounding “No!” As we head into this next school year together, you will find your time
more valuable if you understand why it is important to study history and how to study history. Therefore,
please read the attached article titled “Why Study History?” by Peter Stearns. Then read “The
History Guide”, sections 1.1-1.2, by Steven Kreis. While you read, thoroughly annotate both
articles as you read (take notes, highlight things, circle, underline, etc. as appropriate). Why do you
need to annotate?
“To read well, we must understand reading as requiring intellectual skills. As a good reader, we don’t
simply decipher words, we actively engage in a dialog with the writer. We actively seek the author’s
purpose in writing. We look for systems of meaning in a text.”
Paul, Richard and Elder, Linda. How to Read a Paragraph: The Art of Close Reading. Foundation for Critical Thinking, 2014.
Here is what you need to look for as you annotate: the author’s thesis, the main points of the argument,
interesting points, the author’s conclusion(s), what other authors/historians would say about this author’s
idea(s), if you agree and why, etc. Your annotations should include highlighting, pencil and/or pen
markings (underlining, circles, squares, stars, etc.), plus added notations in the margins, including
questions about the content of the article. For specific guidance directions about how to annotate,
please refer to the “Annotation Guide” on page 15 of this document.
After you finish reading AND annotating both articles, think about what information you would
want to include in a persuasive essay that argues that it is important to study history AND how to
study history by following the directions below. Make sure that you do not plagiarize; use your own
words as you list your reasons. Make sure to include quotation marks and proper parenthetical references
as you list your supporting quotes. Complete this section of the assignment in legible handwriting
(printing or cursive) using a #2 pencil. If you make a mistake, erase it and rewrite it.
Write one reason why it is important to study history.
_____________________________________________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________________________________
List a quote from the article that supports that idea.
______________________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________________
Write a second reason why it is important to study history.
_____________________________________________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________________________________
List a quote from the article that supports that idea.
______________________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________________
1
Name:
Due Date: August 25, 2014
Write a third reason why it is important to study history.
_____________________________________________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________________________________
List a quote from the article that supports that idea.
______________________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________________
___________________________________________________________________________
Write a fourth reason why it is important to study history.
_____________________________________________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________________________________
List a quote from the article that supports that idea.
______________________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________________________
Write a fifth reason why it is important to study history.
_____________________________________________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________________________________
List a quote from the article that supports that idea.
______________________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________________
Write a sixth reason why it is important to study history.
_____________________________________________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________________________________
List a quote from the article that supports that idea.
______________________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________________
ALSO…
Write one idea about how to study history.
_____________________________________________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________________________________
List a quote from the article that supports that idea.
______________________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________________
2
Name:
Due Date: August 25, 2014
Write a second idea about how to study history.
_____________________________________________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________________________________
List a quote from the article that supports that idea.
______________________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________________
Write a third idea about how to study history.
_____________________________________________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________________________________
List a quote from the article that supports that idea.
______________________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________________
Now that you have collected all of that information, please read through both the POET and the
AXES approaches to writing on pages 16 and 17 of this document. Then choose one of the
following options to communicate what you have learned through this process, applying both the
POET and AXES approaches to the best of your ability. You will be graded on the content and the
presentation quality of your writing. Make sure that your writing is yours alone; do not plagiarize.
1. Write a persuasive essay that argues that it is important to study history and explain how to
study history successfully. Make sure to clearly state your thesis and provide proper support for
your thesis in your body paragraphs. You must include at least four (4) of the reasons why history is
important AND at least two (2) ways about how to study history and make use of their supporting
quotes in each case (that means using/referring to a total of six [6] quotes). You must cite specific
evidence from the articles to support/explain your contentions (you may paraphrase, as appropriate, as
long it is clear that you are citing from an outside source; you may cite from additional sources, as
well, if you choose). Present your final product by writing your essay BY HAND in legible
handwriting (printing or cursive) using blue/black pen AND have a full heading (including name
and date) in ink on the top of EVERY page of the essay. Make sure that you include a proper title.
Any mistakes made should be crossed out with one neat line—no scribbling. Your finished essay
should be about three (3) full pages in length, so please include page numbers and put one staple in
the upper left-hand corner. EXTRA CREDIT OPTION: Pretend that you are one of the speakers at
your high school class’s graduation ceremony. Your specific job is to inspire your fellow classmates
to remember as they head out into the world that understanding history is important. Turn your essay
into a speech, record your speech, burn it on a CD, and put in a CD case. Make a proper label for the
CD or the case that includes your name and the title of your speech.
OR
2. Write a poem that argues that it is important to study history and explains how to study history
successfully. You may write any style of poem that you would like to write. You must include at
least four (4) of the reasons why history is important AND at least two (2) ways about how to study
history and make use of their supporting quotes in each case (that means using/referring to a total of
six [6] quotes). You must cite specific evidence from the articles to support/explain your contentions
(you may paraphrase, as appropriate, as long it is clear that you are citing from an outside source; you
may cite from additional sources, as well, if you choose). Present your final product by writing your
3
Name:
Due Date: August 25, 2014
poem BY HAND in legible handwriting (printing or cursive) using blue/black pen AND have a
full heading (including name and date) in ink on the top of EVERY page of the essay. Make sure
that you include a proper title. Any mistakes made should be crossed out with one neat line—no
scribbling. Your finished poem should be about three (3) full pages in length, so please include page
numbers and put one staple in the upper left-hand corner. EXTRA CREDIT OPTION: Set you poem
to music. Make a recording of your song, burn it on a CD, and put in a CD case. Make a proper label
for the CD or the case that includes your name and the title of your song. Suggestion: go to
http://audacity.sourceforge.net for access to a free online sound editor.
OR
3. Write a rap that argues that it is important to study history and explains how to study history
successfully. You may write any style of poem that you would like to write. You must include at
least four (4) of the reasons why history is important AND at least two (2) ways about how to study
history and make use of their supporting quotes in each case (that means using/referring to a total of
six [6] quotes). You must cite specific evidence from the articles to support/explain your contentions
(you may paraphrase, as appropriate, as long it is clear that you are citing from an outside source; you
may cite from additional sources, as well, if you choose). Present your final product by writing your
rap BY HAND in legible handwriting (printing or cursive) using blue/black pen AND have a full
heading (including name and date) in ink on the top of EVERY page of the essay. Make sure that
you include a proper title. Any mistakes made should be crossed out with one neat line—no
scribbling. Your finished rap should be about three (3) full pages in length, so please include page
numbers and put one staple in the upper left-hand corner. EXTRA CREDIT OPTION: Make a
recording of your rap, burn it on a CD, and put in a CD case. Make a proper label for the CD or the
case that includes your name and the title of your rap song.
Suggestion: go to
http://audacity.sourceforge.net for access to a free online sound editor.
If you decide that you want to complete one of the EXTRA CREDIT OPTIONS for Part 1, consider
using the program Audacity for audio editing, which is a free-download from
http://audacity.sourceforge.net .
For those of you who do not have access to a computer, the Internet, and/or a printer at home: please
be aware of the fact that Fresno and Clovis public libraries have computers available for public use. You
will need to make use of the computer, the Internet, and a printer on a regular basis during the
course of the school year, because AP World History is a college class. So make sure that you have a
memory key/thumb drive//flash drive so you can save things that you create and/or download on another
computer.
4
Name:
Due Date: August 25, 2014
When you are finished reading and responding to the articles “Why Study History?” and “The
History Guide”, put them both in your AP World History binder in a section labeled “Information
Related to the Study of History.”
Why Study History?
By Peter N. Stearns
People live in the present. They plan for and worry about the future. History, however, is the study of the
past. Given all the demands that press in from living in the present and anticipating what is yet to come,
why bother with what has been? Given all the desirable and available branches of knowledge, why
insist—as most American educational programs do—on a good bit of history? And why urge many
students to study even more history than they are required to?
Any subject of study needs justification: its advocates must explain why it is worth attention. Most widely
accepted subjects—and history is certainly one of them—attract some people who simply like the
information and modes of thought involved. But audiences less spontaneously drawn to the subject and
more doubtful about why to bother need to know what the purpose is.
Historians do not perform heart transplants, improve highway design, or arrest criminals. In a society that
quite correctly expects education to serve useful purposes, the functions of history can seem more
difficult to define than those of engineering or medicine. History is in fact very useful, actually
indispensable, but the products of historical study are less tangible, sometimes less immediate, than those
that stem from some other disciplines.
In the past history has been justified for reasons we would no longer accept. For instance, one of the
reasons history holds its place in current education is because earlier leaders believed that a knowledge of
certain historical facts helped distinguish the educated from the uneducated; the person who could reel off
the date of the Norman conquest of England (1066) or the name of the person who came up with the
theory of evolution at about the same time that Darwin did (Wallace) was deemed superior—a better
candidate for law school or even a business promotion. Knowledge of historical facts has been used as a
screening device in many societies, from China to the United States, and the habit is still with us to some
extent. Unfortunately, this use can encourage mindless memorization—a real but not very appealing
aspect of the discipline.
History should be studied because it is essential to individuals and to society, and because it harbors
beauty. There are many ways to discuss the real functions of the subject—as there are many different
historical talents and many different paths to historical meaning. All definitions of history's utility,
however, rely on two fundamental facts.
History Helps Us Understand People and Societies
In the first place, history offers a storehouse of information about how people and societies behave.
Understanding the operations of people and societies is difficult, though a number of disciplines make the
attempt. An exclusive reliance on current data would needlessly handicap our efforts. How can we
evaluate war if the nation is at peace—unless we use historical materials? How can we understand genius,
the influence of technological innovation, or the role that beliefs play in shaping family life, if we don't
use what we know about experiences in the past? Some social scientists attempt to formulate laws or
theories about human behavior. But even these recourses depend on historical information, except for in
limited, often artificial cases in which experiments can be devised to determine how people act. Major
5
Name:
Due Date: August 25, 2014
aspects of a society's operation, like mass elections, missionary activities, or military alliances, cannot be
set up as precise experiments. Consequently, history must serve, however imperfectly, as our laboratory,
and data from the past must serve as our most vital evidence in the unavoidable quest to figure out why
our complex species behaves as it does in societal settings. This, fundamentally, is why we cannot stay
away from history: it offers the only extensive evidential base for the contemplation and analysis of how
societies function, and people need to have some sense of how societies function simply to run their own
lives.
History Helps Us Understand Change and How the Society We Live in Came to Be
The second reason history is inescapable as a subject of serious study follows closely on the first. The
past causes the present, and so the future. Any time we try to know why something happened—whether a
shift in political party dominance in the American Congress, a major change in the teenage suicide rate, or
a war in the Balkans or the Middle East—we have to look for factors that took shape earlier. Sometimes
fairly recent history will suffice to explain a major development, but often we need to look further back to
identify the causes of change. Only through studying history can we grasp how things change; only
through history can we begin to comprehend the factors that cause change; and only through history can
we understand what elements of an institution or a society persist despite change.
The importance of history in explaining and understanding change in human behavior is no mere
abstraction. Take an important human phenomenon such as alcoholism. Through biological experiments
scientists have identified specific genes that seem to cause a proclivity toward alcohol addiction in some
individuals. This is a notable advance. But alcoholism, as a social reality, has a history: rates of
alcoholism have risen and fallen, and they have varied from one group to the next. Attitudes and policies
about alcoholism have also changed and varied. History is indispensable to understanding why such
changes occur. And in many ways historical analysis is a more challenging kind of exploration than
genetic experimentation. Historians have in fact greatly contributed in recent decades to our
understanding of trends (or patterns of change) in alcoholism and to our grasp of the dimensions of
addiction as an evolving social problem.
One of the leading concerns of contemporary American politics is low voter turnout, even for major
elections. A historical analysis of changes in voter turnout can help us begin to understand the problem
we face today. What were turnouts in the past? When did the decline set in? Once we determine when the
trend began, we can try to identify which of the factors present at the time combined to set the trend in
motion. Do the same factors sustain the trend still, or are there new ingredients that have contributed to it
in more recent decades? A purely contemporary analysis may shed some light on the problem, but a
historical assessment is clearly fundamental—and essential for anyone concerned about American
political health today.
History, then, provides the only extensive materials available to study the human condition. It also
focuses attention on the complex processes of social change, including the factors that are causing change
around us today. Here, at base, are the two related reasons many people become enthralled with the
examination of the past and why our society requires and encourages the study of history as a major
subject in the schools.
The Importance of History in Our Own Lives
These two fundamental reasons for studying history underlie more specific and quite diverse uses of
history in our own lives. History well told is beautiful. Many of the historians who most appeal to the
general reading public know the importance of dramatic and skillful writing—as well as of accuracy.
Biography and military history appeal in part because of the tales they contain. History as art and
entertainment serves a real purpose, on aesthetic grounds but also on the level of human understanding.
6
Name:
Due Date: August 25, 2014
Stories well done are stories that reveal how people and societies have actually functioned, and they
prompt thoughts about the human experience in other times and places. The same aesthetic and
humanistic goals inspire people to immerse themselves in efforts to reconstruct quite remote pasts, far
removed from immediate, present-day utility. Exploring what historians sometimes call the "pastness of
the past"—the ways people in distant ages constructed their lives—involves a sense of beauty and
excitement, and ultimately another perspective on human life and society.
History Contributes to Moral Understanding
History also provides a terrain for moral contemplation. Studying the stories of individuals and situations
in the past allows a student of history to test his or her own moral sense, to hone it against some of the
real complexities individuals have faced in difficult settings. People who have weathered adversity not
just in some work of fiction, but in real, historical circumstances can provide inspiration. "History
teaching by example" is one phrase that describes this use of a study of the past—a study not only of
certifiable heroes, the great men and women of history who successfully worked through moral dilemmas,
but also of more ordinary people who provide lessons in courage, diligence, or constructive protest.
History Provides Identity
History also helps provide identity, and this is unquestionably one of the reasons all modern nations
encourage its teaching in some form. Historical data include evidence about how families, groups,
institutions and whole countries were formed and about how they have evolved while retaining cohesion.
For many Americans, studying the history of one's own family is the most obvious use of history, for it
provides facts about genealogy and (at a slightly more complex level) a basis for understanding how the
family has interacted with larger historical change. Family identity is established and confirmed. Many
institutions, businesses, communities, and social units, such as ethnic groups in the United States, use
history for similar identity purposes. Merely defining the group in the present pales against the possibility
of forming an identity based on a rich past. And of course nations use identity history as well—and
sometimes abuse it. Histories that tell the national story, emphasizing distinctive features of the national
experience, are meant to drive home an understanding of national values and a commitment to national
loyalty.
Studying History Is Essential for Good Citizenship
A study of history is essential for good citizenship. This is the most common justification for the place of
history in school curricula. Sometimes advocates of citizenship history hope merely to promote national
identity and loyalty through a history spiced by vivid stories and lessons in individual success and
morality. But the importance of history for citizenship goes beyond this narrow goal and can even
challenge it at some points.
History that lays the foundation for genuine citizenship returns, in one sense, to the essential uses of the
study of the past. History provides data about the emergence of national institutions, problems, and
values—it's the only significant storehouse of such data available. It offers evidence also about how
nations have interacted with other societies, providing international and comparative perspectives
essential for responsible citizenship. Further, studying history helps us understand how recent, current,
and prospective changes that affect the lives of citizens are emerging or may emerge and what causes are
involved. More important, studying history encourages habits of mind that are vital for responsible public
behavior, whether as a national or community leader, an informed voter, a petitioner, or a simple
observer.
7
Name:
Due Date: August 25, 2014
What Skills Does a Student of History Develop?
What does a well-trained student of history, schooled to work on past materials and on case studies in
social change, learn how to do? The list is manageable, but it contains several overlapping categories.
The Ability to Assess Evidence. The study of history builds experience in dealing with and assessing
various kinds of evidence—the sorts of evidence historians use in shaping the most accurate pictures of
the past that they can. Learning how to interpret the statements of past political leaders—one kind of
evidence—helps form the capacity to distinguish between the objective and the self-serving among
statements made by present-day political leaders. Learning how to combine different kinds of evidence—
public statements, private records, numerical data, visual materials—develops the ability to make
coherent arguments based on a variety of data. This skill can also be applied to information encountered
in everyday life.
The Ability to Assess Conflicting Interpretations. Learning history means gaining some skill in sorting
through diverse, often conflicting interpretations. Understanding how societies work—the central goal of
historical study—is inherently imprecise, and the same certainly holds true for understanding what is
going on in the present day. Learning how to identify and evaluate conflicting interpretations is an
essential citizenship skill for which history, as an often-contested laboratory of human experience,
provides training. This is one area in which the full benefits of historical study sometimes clash with the
narrower uses of the past to construct identity. Experience in examining past situations provides a
constructively critical sense that can be applied to partisan claims about the glories of national or group
identity. The study of history in no sense undermines loyalty or commitment, but it does teach the need
for assessing arguments, and it provides opportunities to engage in debate and achieve perspective.
Experience in Assessing Past Examples of Change. Experience in assessing past examples of change is
vital to understanding change in society today—it's an essential skill in what we are regularly told is our
"ever-changing world." Analysis of change means developing some capacity for determining the
magnitude and significance of change, for some changes are more fundamental than others. Comparing
particular changes to relevant examples from the past helps students of history develop this capacity. The
ability to identify the continuities that always accompany even the most dramatic changes also comes
from studying history, as does the skill to determine probable causes of change. Learning history helps
one figure out, for example, if one main factor—such as a technological innovation or some deliberate
new policy—accounts for a change or whether, as is more commonly the case, a number of factors
combine to generate the actual change that occurs.
Historical study, in sum, is crucial to the promotion of that elusive creature, the well-informed citizen. It
provides basic factual information about the background of our political institutions and about the values
and problems that affect our social well-being. It also contributes to our capacity to use evidence, assess
interpretations, and analyze change and continuities. No one can ever quite deal with the present as the
historian deals with the past—we lack the perspective for this feat; but we can move in this direction by
applying historical habits of mind, and we will function as better citizens in the process.
History Is Useful in the World of Work
History is useful for work. Its study helps create good businesspeople, professionals, and political leaders.
The number of explicit professional jobs for historians is considerable, but most people who study history
do not become professional historians. Professional historians teach at various levels, work in museums
and media centers, do historical research for businesses or public agencies, or participate in the growing
number of historical consultancies. These categories are important—indeed vital—to keep the basic
enterprise of history going, but most people who study history use their training for broader professional
purposes. Students of history find their experience directly relevant to jobs in a variety of careers as well
as to further study in fields like law and public administration. Employers often deliberately seek students
8
Name:
Due Date: August 25, 2014
with the kinds of capacities historical study promotes. The reasons are not hard to identify: students of
history acquire, by studying different phases of the past and different societies in the past, a broad
perspective that gives them the range and flexibility required in many work situations. They develop
research skills, the ability to find and evaluate sources of information, and the means to identify and
evaluate diverse interpretations. Work in history also improves basic writing and speaking skills and is
directly relevant to many of the analytical requirements in the public and private sectors, where the
capacity to identify, assess, and explain trends is essential. Historical study is unquestionably an asset for
a variety of work and professional situations, even though it does not, for most students, lead as directly
to a particular job slot, as do some technical fields. But history particularly prepares students for the long
haul in their careers, its qualities helping adaptation and advancement beyond entry-level employment.
There is no denying that in our society many people who are drawn to historical study worry about
relevance. In our changing economy, there is concern about job futures in most fields. Historical training
is not, however, an indulgence; it applies directly to many careers and can clearly help us in our working
lives.
What Kind of History Should We Study?
The question of why we should study history entails several subsidiary issues about what kind of history
should be studied. Historians and the general public alike can generate a lot of heat about what specific
history courses should appear in what part of the curriculum. Many of the benefits of history derive from
various kinds of history, whether local or national or focused on one culture or the world. Gripping
instances of history as storytelling, as moral example, and as analysis come from all sorts of settings. The
most intense debates about what history should cover occur in relation to identity history and the attempt
to argue that knowledge of certain historical facts marks one as an educated person. Some people feel that
in order to become good citizens students must learn to recite the preamble of the American constitution
or be able to identify Thomas Edison—though many historians would dissent from an unduly long list of
factual obligations. Correspondingly, some feminists, eager to use history as part of their struggle, want to
make sure that students know the names of key past leaders such as Susan B. Anthony. The range of
possible survey and memorization chores is considerable—one reason that history texts are often quite
long.
There is a fundamental tension in teaching and learning history between covering facts and developing
historical habits of mind. Because history provides an immediate background to our own life and age, it is
highly desirable to learn about forces that arose in the past and continue to affect the modern world. This
type of knowledge requires some attention to comprehending the development of national institutions and
trends. It also demands some historical understanding of key forces in the wider world. The ongoing
tension between Christianity and Islam, for instance, requires some knowledge of patterns that took shape
over 12 centuries ago. Indeed, the pressing need to learn about issues of importance throughout the world
is the basic reason that world history has been gaining ground in American curriculums. Historical habits
of mind are enriched when we learn to compare different patterns of historical development, which means
some study of other national traditions and civilizations.
The key to developing historical habits of mind, however, is having repeated experience in historical
inquiry. Such experience should involve a variety of materials and a diversity of analytical problems.
Facts are essential in this process, for historical analysis depends on data, but it does not matter whether
these facts come from local, national, or world history—although it's most useful to study a range of
settings. What matters is learning how to assess different magnitudes of historical change, different
examples of conflicting interpretations, and multiple kinds of evidence. Developing the ability to repeat
fundamental thinking habits through increasingly complex exercises is essential. Historical processes and
institutions that are deemed especially important to specific curriculums can, of course, be used to teach
9
Name:
Due Date: August 25, 2014
historical inquiry. Appropriate balance is the obvious goal, with an insistence on factual knowledge not
allowed to overshadow the need to develop historical habits of mind.
Exposure to certain essential historical episodes and experience in historical inquiry are crucial to any
program of historical study, but they require supplement. No program can be fully functional if it does not
allow for whimsy and individual taste. Pursuing particular stories or types of problems, simply because
they tickle the fancy, contributes to a rounded intellectual life. Similarly, no program in history is
complete unless it provides some understanding of the ongoing role of historical inquiry in expanding our
knowledge of the past and, with it, of human and social behavior. The past two decades have seen a
genuine explosion of historical information and analysis, as additional facets of human behavior have
been subjected to research and interpretation. And there is every sign that historians are continuing to
expand our understanding of the past. It's clear that the discipline of history is a source of innovation and
not merely a framework for repeated renderings of established data and familiar stories.
Why study history? The answer is because we virtually must, to gain access to the laboratory of human
experience. When we study it reasonably well, and so acquire some usable habits of mind, as well as
some basic data about the forces that affect our own lives, we emerge with relevant skills and an
enhanced capacity for informed citizenship, critical thinking, and simple awareness. The uses of history
are varied. Studying history can help us develop some literally "salable" skills, but its study must not be
pinned down to the narrowest utilitarianism. Some history—that confined to personal recollections about
changes and continuities in the immediate environment—is essential to function beyond childhood. Some
history depends on personal taste, where one finds beauty, the joy of discovery, or intellectual challenge.
Between the inescapable minimum and the pleasure of deep commitment comes the history that, through
cumulative skill in interpreting the unfolding human record, provides a real grasp of how the world
works.
Further Reading
Holt, Thomas C. Thinking Historically: Narrative, Imagination, and Understanding. New York: College
Entrance Examination Board, 1990.
Howe, Barbara. Careers for Students of History. Washington, D.C.: American Historical Association,
1989.
Hexter, J. H. The History Primer. New York: Basic Books, 1971.
Gagnon, Paul, ed. Historical Literacy. New York: MacMillan, 1989.
Oakeshott, Michael. On History. Totowa, N.J.: Barnes and Noble, 1983.
Stearns, Peter N. Meaning over Memory: Recasting the Teaching of History and Culture. Chapel Hill,
N.C.: University of North Carolina Press, 1993.
© 1998, American Historical Association.
10
Name:
Due Date: August 25, 2014
By Steven Kreis
Copyright: 2000 (last revised: May 12, 2004)
http://www.historyguide.org/guide/attitude.html and http://www.historyguide.org/guide/study.html
1.1 The Proper Attitude
In history, as in life in general, your attitude is everything. In other words, to make your experience with
History as enjoyable and worthwhile as possible requires the proper attitude. You have to be able to place
yourself in the right frame of mind, and that frame of mind is one in which exploration, discovery, and
self-awareness are integral.
History has always gotten a bad rap, in part because what students remember of their experience in
history classes is that sort of mindless memorization of facts: dates, events, wars—what I routinely refer
to as "the history of kings and queens." This sort of history has its place, I suppose. It does qualify as
history but of a most basic sort. A case in point: go to your local bookstore—go to several in fact, and
take a look at what they have on the shelves under History. Unless you are at one of the larger stores like
Borders, Barnes & Noble, or at a university bookstore, I'm willing to bet that most of what falls under
History is really little more than war. We have a fascination for war—I don't know why. But, the fact
remains that for most people, the study of history means little else than the study of war.
This confuses me! All these facts. All this stuff of history crowding my mind. A number of surveys over
the years have pointed to the disturbing fact that Americans don't know history. They don't know their
own history. Here is a typical question from one of those surveys: Did the Civil War take place before, or
after 1850? Hopefully, you did not need to find your textbook for the answer to that one. But there is a
deeper issue here. To know, to have the knowledge, to have committed to memory the simple fact that the
Civil War took place after 1850 is, to me, relatively unimportant. After all, anyone can learn to memorize,
well, anything. Is this History? What have you learned? What I would like to suggest is that you learned a
fact—you have obtained knowledge. But, far more important to me is wisdom. Does the knowledge that
the Civil War took place after 1850 give you wisdom? Does it make you wiser? Or, are facts and wisdom
gained through knowledge two distinct entities?
Some people like to read about war. For these people, it is war that "makes history come alive" (as if it
needed any prodding in the first place). Military history is fascinating but, in my opinion, only meaningful
(historically) when put into the context of the "other" history that is occurring at the same time. What is
that "other" history? Simple. It's the history which explains why that war took place in terms of the
economy, culture, diplomacy, and perhaps a hundred other variables. In general, most Americans would
rather be "entertained" by passively watching a film about war rather than listen to someone talk about the
origins and consequences of that war.
So, this much said, what sort of attitude do we need to have when studying history? Well, the first thing is
that you should not enter a history class—any history class—looking for answers. The study of history
reveals that there is no clear cut answer for anything. Since understanding history is based on individual,
and therefore subjective, interpretation, you must decide for yourself what kind of meaning you will
attach to the topic. Go into history with an open mind. Don't expect the answer to be presented to you as if
written in stone. It's not. History is not a science—it's a form of literature, and the historian is little more
than a writer of non-fiction.
11
Name:
Due Date: August 25, 2014
A number of years ago, I was teaching the second part of a western civilization course at a community
college. We had just spent four or five lectures running through the French Revolution. The students had
heard lectures on the origins of the Revolution, the moderate stage, the radical stage, Robespierre, and
finally Napoleon. Now it came time to review. Twenty of us sat in a circle and set out to "discuss" the
meaning and significance of the French Revolution. Was it successful? Was it a failure? Did the
Revolution come as a result of the Age of Enlightenment? Was it a bourgeois revolution? I began the
discussion by reviewing the "great days" of the Revolution, events like the Oath of the Tennis Court or
the Flight to Varennes and people like Robespierre and so on. So, we eventually got to the point where we
were discussing interpretation. Some students spoke up and said the Revolution was a success; others said
it was a failure. This went on for ten or fifteen minutes until one student raised her hand and said, plain as
day, "Well, which is it? Was it a success or a failure?" She sat in her chair, her pen poised to write...the
answer! All I could say was, "Well, what do you think?" I immediately saw a brick wall. She didn't get it.
Some of us don't. We build brick walls as a short-cut to thinking. "There must be an answer. What is it? I
don't want to think. I want to know." So much for wisdom.
You can avoid this trap. It's not that hard. You have to open your eyes, open your mind. Tear down the
walls. Study history with a sense of wonder and enjoyment… Study history with a sense of engagement.
There ought to be a sense of "what was it like" when you study history…
I've seen a great many students come and go in my own classes in Western Civilization and
European History. And one thing that will help them embrace the proper attitude is that they all get a
sense of historical time. Yes, this does mean that you understand what came before this or after that. You
must get into the habit, difficult as it might at first seem, of putting things into historical and
chronological perspective. You must make yourself aware of historical time. Look at the big picture
(Europe 1100-1650) even while you are studying the small one (the Renaissance) or the even smaller one
(Florentine diplomacy). You must be able to eventually "image" a timeline in your head so that when
your professor rambles on about Dante, Rabelais, Chaucer, Shakespeare, and Cervantes, you'll have an
approximate idea of how his discussion might all be tied together. I think that once you get in this habit,
your appreciation for history, in a word, your attitude, will begin to show signs of improvement as well.
Another important attribute which may assist in creating the proper attitude is television and film. I mean
this seriously. How else can you actually understand a lecture on say, the Black Death of 1347-1351,
unless you have some real images in your head? Your textbook will contain the obligatory photographs,
of course. And this will help. So too will an instructor who can really instill the terror, uncertainty and
anguish of the people at that time. But, I have always found that my memories of watching Ingmar
Bergman's film, "The Seventh Seal", has always helped me visualize mid-fourteenth century Europe.
Think of all the films you might have seen. Go ahead, do it right now.....do any of them provide you with
images of history past? Where else do our images of the past come from?
For instance, up to a certain point in time, my image of World War Two was fashioned by watching
Hollywood films—you know, John Wayne, Dana Andrews, Gregory Peck and so on. Americans charging
up hills toward victory. The hero, shot in the final scene, asks for a smoke with his dying breath. Blatant
or subtle propaganda? You decide. The point is that I grew up with a sort of idealized--mythical—version
of war that just does not stand up to the historical record. However, the images remain. "Image" as much
as possible.
Here's an example before we pass on to the next section. In my introductory lecture on the Scientific
Revolution, I ask my students to "image" a scientist. Go ahead. Do the same thing right now. What does a
scientist look like? How is the scientist dressed? What does his office look like? Is the scientist a man or a
12
Name:
Due Date: August 25, 2014
woman? Okay, what did you "image"? I'm almost certain I know what you are seeing because that image
of the scientist---wild hair, disorganized, absent-minded, dedicated to truth, unemotional---are all images
we've silently digested from Hollywood.
Can you successfully complete a course in history without having the proper attitude? Of course, you can.
But why take the short-cut? Why not make the effort. Rather than go through the motions, make history
part of your life. After all, that's exactly what history is—it is your life.
1.2 Why Study History?
Let's face it: our first experience with history is that it is a course that we have to take in order to graduate.
As a…high school student, we are confronted with American history, state history, and perhaps even a
general course in western civilization or world history. We [don’t] have a choice. And the fact that we are
forced to take history puts us on the offensive. We begin to build that grandiose brick wall that will
prevent us from getting anything important out of history.
The main problem as I see it is not history itself. The study of history can be fun… But…why study
history in the first place? What could history offer the business major? the student intending to study web
page development? the student taking her first psychology class? or pre-med student? or the lawyer? or
the worker on the shop floor? Well, simply stated, everything has a history, whether we like it or not.
Even history itself has a history. Try hard as we might, we can't escape the past. We can't let go of the
past. And we celebrate the past all the time.
You may have been told that we study history so that we won't repeat the mistakes of the past. This is the
wishful thinking school of historical interpretation. It's too clean. If we have learned from the past, then
over the centuries we ought to have accumulated so much knowledge that things like war, poverty,
injustice, and immorality ought not to exist. Of course, we've still got a long way to go in this respect.
You may also have heard that everything repeats itself, so if we study the past, we can be sure to know
something of the future. I don't hold to this view either. To insist that the study of the past will reveal
something of the future is a nice idea, but what I really want to know about is the present. History cannot
"tell" the future. History can, on the other hand, reveal all that is the present. So, faced as we are with the
question "why study history?", I can only hope to answer by telling you why I study history.
Well, first off, by studying history you can study anything for the simple reason that everything has a
history: ideas, wars, numbers, races, windsurfing, coal miners, pencils, motherhood and yes, even toilettraining. I first began to appreciate the study of history as an undergraduate studying political philosophy
at Boston University. I was pretty keen on Plato, Aquinas, Dante, Hobbes, Locke, Godwin, Marx, Mill
and a host of other "greats." But what I soon discovered was that my lack of understanding of history—
i.e. the actual historical context in which these writers conceived and executed their theoretical work—
made my understanding of their philosophy one-sided. Sure, I knew what they had to say about liberty, or
the proletariat, or monarchy, or the franchise. But what was the historical environment that gave rise to
their ideas? Ideas are not akin to balloons hanging from the ceiling…waiting to be retrieved by a Marx, a
Mill or a Plato. Ideas have a history. They undergo a process of development. They change, are modified,
are distributed or are forgotten only to reappear years, decades, or perhaps even centuries later.
Once I realized this fact, it was quite natural that I turn my attention to history itself. And why not? I
could still study Marx or Mill or Plato. Only this time I could do it from the ground up, so to speak. This
sort of approach makes me better able to visualize history in a different way. It gives some sense of
"pastness" to the past.
13
Name:
Due Date: August 25, 2014
But why do I bother? What's the point? Well, for me, it's a Socratic issue. Socrates was a man of
knowledge but not that much knowledge… Socrates was a wise man. He had wisdom, because he knew
only one thing: that he knew nothing. His "job," so to speak, was to question the Athenian youth. It was
not enough to know something. You had to know why you knew it. And this, of course, brought him to
the greatest question of all: what is knowledge? What can we know? Well, for Socrates, again, his
knowledge consisted in the realization that he knew nothing. This Socratic irony leaves us rather high and
dry, but I think there is a greater issue at stake here.
For Socrates, perhaps the highest virtue can be summed up in the phrase, "Know thyself." In other words,
of all the things in the phenomenal world, there is not one so important as yourself. To know yourself
means to be aware of what it is that makes you who you are. And in this respect, the one thing which
reveals this knowledge is history. But people do not live alone; they live in society. And it is in society
that the individual comes into contact with other individuals, all of whom are on the same quest, in
varying degrees. So, for Socrates, knowledge of self does not hinge upon reflection or introspection, but
conversation, hence the Socratic dialogue.
The Socratic dialogue implies that instructor and student meet on an equal footing. Dialogue means
conversation between two or more people. And what is the point of Socratic dialogue? Improvement.
Self-improvement of the instructor and self-improvement of the student.
So why do I study history? Or why do I teach history? Well, for me it's a form of selfishness. I wish to
improve myself. And by improving myself, I also improve others. This classical pedagogical method is
called the Socratic method… Can you learn history without the Socratic dialogue as your guide? Yes, it
can be done. All I am trying to suggest here is that your experience with history will be a much richer
one if you keep in mind that history means self-knowledge, and as students, that should be one of the
most important things to you.
14
Name:
Due Date: August 25, 2014
ANNOTATION GUIDE:
WHAT TO DO WHILE YOU READ - “Leaving Tracks of Thinking”
Annotating is recording what a reader is thinking while reading;
it helps a reader remember what s/he has read.
Annotation also provides an opportunity for a reader to wrestle with the meaning of the text.
Nothing matters more than THINKING while reading.
In general (using the Goldilocks's approach: not too little, not too much…)
 Circle each important verb.
 Underline each important noun (including proper nouns).
 Highlight every important adjective.
 Box or “squiggle underneath” things that seem extra important.
 Write AT LEAST one additional note for each SECTION along the way to clarify things
that the outline may not have included but that seems extra important.
Be cautious with the highlighter—underline and make notes with a pen or pencil. Highlighting
appropriately in a limited way can be helpful. However, highlighting can actually distract from the business of
learning and dilute your comprehension. Highlighting only seems like an active reading strategy, but it can actually
lull you into passivity rather than thinking about the text.
Mark up the margins of your text with WORDS. These are ideas that occur to you, notes about things that
seem important to you, reminders of how issues in a text may connect with class discussion or course themes. This
kind of interaction keeps you conscious of the reason you are reading and the purposes your instructor has in mind.
Later in the term, when you are reviewing for a test or project, your margin notes may become useful memory
triggers. Make a list of your ideas, write phrases or complete sentences—it is up to you! Just interact with the text
by writing and marking it up! (Post-it notes work too!)
Get in the habit of hearing yourself ASK QUESTIONS. What does this mean? Why is the author drawing
that conclusion? Why is the class reading this text? How would this happen? Where have I heard of this idea
before? When will it happen? Who would it affect? Write the questions down in your margins, at the beginning or
end of the reading, in a notebook, or elsewhere.
WHEN READING, STOP-THINK-REACT. (STRategy) I wonder…
Develop your own symbol system. Asterisk a key idea in the text, for example, or use an exclamation point
for the surprising, absurd, bizarre, or question marks for unclear passages or straight lines or crooked lines beside
certain passages… Like your margin notes, your hieroglyphs can help you reconstruct the important observations
that you made at an earlier time, and they will be indispensable when you return to a text later in the term, in search
of a passage, an idea for a topic, or while preparing for an exam or project.
Some annotation ideas: When I annotate, what do I write? Sometimes I…
Record a REACTION to the reading.
Ask a QUESTION of the reading. What do I WONDER about?
Give an OPINION of the reading.
Make a CONNECTION to my own experiences, or local, national, or global situations, or other readings.
PARAPHRASE or SUMMARIZE sections of the reading—a line or two of summary per paragraph, perhaps.
Respond to how I would RELATE if I were in that situation.
Record the “WHAT and WHERE and HOW and WHY and WHEN and WHO.” Describe what is significant
about the process and what conditions make the event or situation possible, where it happens, how it happens, where
else it could happen, and speculate about why it happens…
Record an ANALOGY. Compare the reading to something that is already understood. (For example, lines of
military defense compared to the lines of the immunity system’s defense)
Circle WORDS that I need to define. Keep a list of new words.
Ideas adapted from Harvey Daniels, Stephanie Harvey, and Cris Tovani
15
Name:
Due Date: August 25, 2014
STEP 2
List all the things the
task asks of you.
Record your
evidence
for each element
of the purpose.
STEP 4
EVIDENCE
STEP 3
PURPOSE
STEP 1
P.O.E.T. = 4 Steps to Be a Better Writer
Determine the method
of organization that
suits your evidence
and purpose.
ORGANIZATION
Review your evidence
and purpose. Write 1-2
sentences that answer the
purpose WITH INSIGHT.
THESIS
P = Purpose…Every strong essay has an unwavering commitment to the purpose. Weak essays deviates
from purpose, often veering down the path of plot summary. To make sure that your purpose is strong,
underline and record the verbs of the prompt (analyze the relationship, connect the devices, distinguish
between) to fully grasp their purpose. Every sentence written in the essay must somehow relate to that purpose.
O = Organization…The best essays have a system of organization. They possess a deliberate and preordained plan of progress. Their body paragraphs develop in one of the following ways:
 Chronologically: from the beginning of the piece to the end.
 Cause and effect: showing the events that happened and the effects they created.
 General to specific: look broadly through a telescope, then focus under a microscope, noticing the small
details contributing to the big picture.
 Compare and contrast: start with what unites works and move to appreciating differences between them.
E = Evidence…Weak essays make claims—and that's it. They leave the reader unfulfilled, because they
neglect the evidence needed to substantiate those claims. Well-written essays have an abundance of evidence
in their body paragraphs. Good writers list ALL evidence before they write.
T = Thesis (with insight!)…Repeating the prompt is the refuge of students that lack either originality or
confidence. They are afraid that their opinion is wrong, so they just state what's given. To avoid this, answer
the question "with insight." Focus on what you infer, what you perceive. Here's a good example of the
difference:
Prompt (from the 2012 APWH exam—Comparative Prompt): “Compare demographic and environmental
effects of the Columbian Exchange on the Americas with the Columbian Exchange’s demographic and
environmental effects on ONE of the following regions between 1492 and 1750: Africa / Asia / Europe.” The
intent of this question was for students to identify and explain similarities and differences in the demographic
and environmental effects of the Columbian Exchange from 1492 to 1750 on two regions: the Americas and
either Asia, Africa, or Europe. Students were required to choose one of three regions (Asia, Africa, or Europe)
to compare and contrast with the Americas.
 Weak thesis: “The Columbian Exchange had its positive and negative effects on regions such as the
Americas and Africa. Demographic and environmental changes emerged with the Columbian Exchange.
Being large continents Africa and the Americas forced the effects of the Columbian exchange.” This thesis
lacks overall specificity and any insight. There really is no thesis; the statements do not qualify any specific
similarities or differences.
 Strong thesis: “Between 1492 and 1750, Africa and America experienced similarities in introduction of
new crops, movement of natives, and disease, while having differences in shift of gender population, amount
of death, ethnicity change, and environment.” This thesis both specifically qualifies similarities and
differences and addresses both demographics and environmental effects.
16
Name:
Due Date: August 25, 2014
AXES
An approach to expository body paragraph writing
 A = Assertion: the claim, statement, of main idea of your paragraph,
which relates to your thesis statement
An assertion is your claim for the paragraph. It should be a statement that uses key words
from your writing prompt. Although sometimes it is referred to as a topic sentence, an
assertion goes beyond stating a topic; an assertion takes a stand or makes a claim about an
issue. An assertion should be clear.
 X = eXample(s): 3-4 examples which support your Assertion
An example is the evidence required to support your assertion. These should be specific
ideas and/or examples from the readings/what we’ve learned that proves or confirms your
assertion. You can use a quote, if appropriate.
*Xs and Es may be repeated until all the information given in your claim is proved!
 E = Explanation: How your Example(s) relate(s) to and support(s)
your Assertion
The explanation reveals how the example actually supports or proves the assertion. The
explanation should be clear and specific. Explanations should never repeat or “translate”
the example.
*Xs and Es may be repeated until all the information given in your claim is proved!
 S = Significance: The “why”—expands on the paragraph and states
how the paragraph is relevant to the subject matter and the thesis
Significance is shown through insightful statements that tell the reader what makes your
assertion important. It should connect your assertion to real-life human experience or the
world/society at large. As part of an essay, the significance reveals how the paragraph
supports the paper’s thesis.
17