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TOWARDS HISTORIOGRAPHY

TOWARDS HISTORIOGRAPHY. Simon Hughes McKinnon Secondary College. Having an understanding of what the text is saying. Being aware of the context which prompted the production of the text. Understanding that an account of an historical event is but one interpretation.

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TOWARDS HISTORIOGRAPHY

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  1. TOWARDS HISTORIOGRAPHY Simon Hughes McKinnon Secondary College

  2. Having an understanding of what the text is saying • Being aware of the context which prompted the production of the text

  3. Understanding that an account of an historical event is but one interpretation • Understanding that multiple interpretations are required to be studied before a ‘true’ picture of the past can be constructed

  4. Understanding that there is no such thing as a true picture of the past, only a version of a possible past • Understanding that there is no such thing as an absence of bias

  5. Understanding that bias is a misused word and should not be confused with an interpretation • Understanding the differences between a traditional, a revisionist and a post-revisionist interpretation of an historical event

  6. Being aware that an interpretation of an historical event is also trying to persuade us of that interpretation Being able to analyse the ways a text is attempting to persuade us through language choice and techniques and selection of evidence

  7. IT’S A CAN OF WORMS!

  8. IT ALL BEGINS WITH THE HUMBLE DOC STUDY

  9. DOCUMENT CHECKLIST Who is writing this and when? What is the context? What is being depicted? (oops) How is the event being portrayed? What is being emphasised? Any exaggeration? What is missing?

  10. 6a. What is the message? 7. What is the author’s intended effect? 8. Who is the target audience? 9. What evidence is there to support the author’s perspective? 10. How useful is the document in understanding the event?

  11. YEAR 9 HISTORY DEPTH STUDIES: Making a Better World?:Progressive Ideas and Movements Making a Nation World War I

  12. HISTORIOGRAPHICAL EXERCISES Step 1 Match the statement to an appropriate quote

  13. Step 2 Successfully incorporate quote into students’ writing

  14. Step 3 Making sure the quote is apposite

  15. THE GALLIPOLI LANDING FOUR PERSPECTIVES

  16. TASK 1 IDENTIFY THE FOCUS OF EACH SOURCE

  17. Bean – focuses on mix-up in landing sites; intent on setting the scene; emphasises that there was still the order to go forward despite the mix-up Ashmead-Bartlett – intent on highlighting the bravery of the ‘colonials’; emphasises imperialistic/nationalistic spirit; glorifies war

  18. Loch – makes certain we understand that death is integral to war; the disorder is emphasised as is the lying Usher – again death is the focus emphasising that it is a waste of life; the confusion is a feature

  19. TASK 2 ISOLATE A SENTENCE OR PHRASE WHICH SUMS UP BOTH THE FOCUS AND THE AUTHOR’S CONTENTION

  20. BEAN ‘The men were ashore and mostly alive, but the place was clearly the wrong one.’ ‘Anyone who depended upon a set plan for the next move was completely bewildered.’ ‘Everything seemed wrong…The country was unrecognisable.’ ‘“Everything is in a terrible muddle.”’ ‘“You must get on, whatever the opposition.”’

  21. ASHMEAD-BARTLETT ‘They were happy because they knew they had been tried for the first time and not found wanting.’ ‘The scene at the height of the engagement was sombre, magnificent and unique.’

  22. LOCH ‘There seemed no regimental order here.’ ‘there were many liars creating disturbing rumours on that beach that day’

  23. USHER ‘You’re only looking after yourself, you couldn’t worry about the other bloke’ ‘they weren’t prepared for it, for the slaughter’.

  24. TASK 3 IDENTIFY STRENGTHS AND LIMITATIONS

  25. BEAN: Strengths Quotes from eye-witnesses Identifies cause of confusion Assessment of quality of command Insight into importance placed on the demeanour of the soldiers

  26. BEAN: Limitations The literary element Nothing about context of conflict in terms of empires Nothing about Australia’s reasons for being there

  27. ASHMEAD-BARTLETT: Strengths Glorification of war and the Australian soldiers suggests that the war effort was in need of bolstering The glowing assessment by an English writer was valued in Australia Glorification of war was a natural thing

  28. ASHMEAD-BARTLETT: Limitations Propaganda designed to encourage recruitment Facts are tailored to desired patriotic response

  29. LOCH: Strengths Based on personal experience Not coloured by patriotism or bellicosity Reminds us war is all about killing

  30. LOCH: Limitations No political or strategic context for the action Author appears to have chip on his shoulder about the treatment of soldiers

  31. USHER: Strengths We start to appreciate that soldiers were not privy to military strategy but given limited objectives

  32. USHER: Limitations Heartfelt and dramatic but limited to what the soldier himself experienced Based on an interview many years after the event

  33. TASK 4 • WRITE A SUMMARY OF KEY ASPECTS OF THE GALLIPOLI LANDING • THE LANDING • THE MEN • WAR

  34. APPLYING ENGLISH SKILLS TO HISTORIOGRAPHY

  35. LANGUAGE ANALYSIS Introduction * Identify ISSUE that prompted the texts * Identify TEXT TYPE (letter to the editor, opinion piece, blog etc.) and its PROVENANCE (author and where published) * Identify the CONTENTION of the texts including the TONE

  36. Body Paragraphs * WHAT is being portrayed (in a discussion of law and order, for example, it might be the police) * HOW it is being portrayed (the portrayal is CONSTRUCTED through language choice, evidence presented and techniques including appeals to the reader) * WHY the portrayal has been constructed in this way (what is the intended EFFECT with the target audience)

  37. INFERENCE He watched the orchestra through stupid tears. VIEWS AND VALUES

  38. Identify three portrayals • Identify how these portrayals are constructed through language choice and techniques • Decide what effect the portrayals are designed to have on the reader

  39. * appeal to patriotism • * appeal to nationalism • * the use of direct quotes • * connotations of key terms (esp. Ashmead-Bartlett) • * tone

  40. * to encourage enlistment • * to bolster belief in the cause of the British Empire • * to remind us of the futility and ugliness of war • * to suggest that war is the making of a country

  41. they know how to identify apt quotes • they can incorporate these quotes into their own writing • they are twigging to the idea that history is not just facts but the interpretation of those facts • they are beginning to understand that all historians have an agenda • they are able to synthesise multiple sources to produce their own narrative of an event

  42. www.answers.com/topic/world-war-ii-1939-45-changing-interpretationswww.answers.com/topic/world-war-ii-1939-45-changing-interpretations www.macgregorishistory.com/english/ib/WWII/causesww.html

  43. Historical revisionism ‘is the reinterpretation of orthodox views on evidence, motivations, and decision-making processes surrounding a historical event.’ Wikipedia

  44. ‘History is a continuing dialogue between the present and the past…The unending quest of historians for understanding the past – that is, “revisionism” – is what makes history vital and meaningful.’ James McPherson

  45. Who are the traditionalists? ‘historians who work within the existing establishment and who have a body of of existing work from which they claim authority’

  46. Who are the revisionists? Revisionist history often derives from those who are in the minority ‘they have the most to gain and the least to lose in challenging the status quo’

  47. ‘revisionism is an essential part of the process by which history, through the posing of new problems and the investigation of new possibilities, enlarges its perspectives and enriches its insights.’ Arthur M. Schlesinger Jr.

  48. ‘each generation has a right to look upon and re-interpret history in its own way’ Karl Popper

  49. Who are the post-revisionists? They’re revisionists!

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