B3U11-Why-Historians-Disagree

WhyHistoriansDisagreeAllenF.Davis&HaroldD.WoodmanReinforcementTextAnalysisWhyHistoriansDisagreeBackgroundWarmingupUnit11WarmingupWhyHistoriansDisagreeUnit11Questions/ActivitiesCheck-onPreviewObjectivesWhatkindofwritingisthis?Howdoesthelanguagestrikeyou?•Academicwriting?•Formalwordsorinformalwords?•Impersonalstructures?•Longorshortsentences?•Clearpresentation?WarmingupQuestions/ActivitiesWarmingupCheck-onPreviewWhydohistoriansdisagree?Tickthereasons.A.Theygetwrongfacts.B.Theyselectandusedifferenthistoricalfacts.C.Theydifferontheimportanceofthesamefacts.D.Theyconsiderdifferentlevelsofcauseandeffect.E.Theyviewtheeventfromdifferentperspectivesandanalyzeitindifferenttheoreticalframes.F.Theyareoftenrevisingtheirideas.Objectives1.Learnwhyhistoriansdisagree.2.Reflectonwhathistoryis.3.Practicereadingskills:•readingforthegist•readingacademicarticles4.Analyzethestructureofanexpositorywritingtoseehowthemainideasarecleverlyorganizedandconnected(transition).5.Applywhatyouwilllearntoyourstudyandlife.WarmingupBackgroundViewsonHistoryUnit11WhyHistoriansDisagree“TheEndofHistory?”(FrancisFukuyama)–A.NewHistoricists:historyandliterature–B.FrenchAnnalSchoolandtotalhistory–C.Bigtraditionandsmalltradition–D.GrandnarrativeandrejectionofsuchanarrativeInall,theTEXTUALITYofhistory.BackgroundViewsonHistoryA.NewHistoricismIt’sareactiontodeconstructionistviewofhistorywhichamountstohistoricalnihilism.Yetit’sradicallydifferentfromtraditionalhistoricism.Historyisnotaseriesofeventsthathavealinear,causalrelationship.Theself-claimedobjectiveanalysisisimpossible.Traditionalhistoriansask,“Whathappened?”and“Whatdoestheeventtellusabouthistory?”Newhistoricistsask,“Howhastheeventbeeninterpreted?”and“Whatdotheinterpretationstellusabouttheinterpreters?”BackgroundViewsonHistoryB.TheFrenchAnnalSchoolAradicalshiftofperspectiveinthestudyofhistoryfromtheSIGNIFICANTevents—political,economic,personal—totheDAILYandROUTINEhappeningsinthelifeofthecommonpeople.Ashiftoffocusfromthecourtandbattlefieldtothefolkandteatableofthecommon.BackgroundViewsonHistoryC.BigtraditionandsmalltraditionAnideaparticularlyimportantinthestudyofculturalanthropology.Bycomparingthestate-sponsoredreportsonandrecordsoftheexploitsofChineseThreeGorgesProjectandthemovieStillLifebyJiaZhangke,wecanseetheincompatibilityofbigandsmalltraditions.BackgroundViewsonHistoryD.His-storyandher-storyWomenhaveeitherbeenexcludedfromthehistoryorbeendenigratedinthehistoricalaccount.Whentheywereincluded,theyweremarginalizedorsubordinatedbythemale(notnecessarilymale)historians,orusedasscapegoatstoexplainthemisfortunesinthehistory.BackgroundViewsonHistoryDetailedAnalysisStructureUnit11TextAnalysisWhyHistoriansDisagreePartITheintroduction(paras.1-5)A.Misconceptionsaboutthestudyofhistory(paras.1-3)B.Definitionofhistory(paras.4-5)PartIIThebody(paras.6-11)A.Selectionofdifferentfactsaboutthesameevent(para.6)B.Useofthesamefactsfromdifferentpremises(paras.7-10)C.Analysisofdifferentlevelsofcauseandeffect(para.11)PartIIITheconclusion:inevitabilityofdisagreement(paras.12-13)TextAnalysisStructure1.Howwashistorytaughtinyourhighschool?Whatwereyouusuallyrequiredtodo?Howwereyouevaluated?2.Whatarethebasicassumptionsandimplicationsofthisapproach?3.Whatistheproblemofthisapproach?Dohistoriansusuallyagreeintheirdescriptionsandexplanationsofthesamehistoricalevents?Doesthismeanthatsomeofthemarerightwhilesomeofthemarewrong?Doesthismeanthattheyhavetheirfactswrong?Whyorwhynot?4.Howwouldyoureactwhenyoufoundhistoriansdealingwiththesameeventoftendisagree?TextAnalysisPartI(A):DiscussionDetailedAnalysis•beintroducedto…bywayof•immerse•reactto•thestateofaffairs•presumably•contendinghistorians•amatterofmemorizingfacts•amatterofpersonalpreferenceTextAnalysisPartI(A):Words&ExpressionsDetailedAnalysis1.Isitarecordofthehumanpast?2.Isitinsomewaysimilartoliterature?3.Isitacollectionofinterestingandinstructivestories?4.Isitatoolofpropaganda?5.Isitonlyaboutfacts?6.Whatdoesthejobofhistoriansinvolve?7.Isitascience?Isitpurelyobjectivescience?•Afurtherquestion:Ifhistoryiseasilyusedasatoolforpropaganda,ifhistoryisbasedpartlyonguesswork,doesthismeanthatthestudyofhistoryandhistoricalworksarenotreliable?Howcanhistoriansachieveanycredibility?TextAnalysisPartI(B):Whatishistory?DetailedAnalysis•base…on•restrictedvs.limited•remainsn.•conclude•Differentwaysofgivingadefinition–Initsbroadestsense,AdenotesB.–MorerestrictedisthenotionthatAis…–Amaybedefinedas…TextAnalysisPartI(B):Words&ExpressionsDetailedAnalysisPartII(A):Discussion1.Butthisdoesnotsayenough.(para.6)Butthisisstillaninadequateanswertothequestionwhyhistoryisnotsimplyarecordofthepast.Why?Dohistoriansjustgiveusallthefactsabouttherecordedpast?TextAnalysisDetailedAnalysisPartII(B):Discussion1.Whatisthispartabout?2.Historianscometodifferentconclusionsbecausetheyviewthepastfromadifferentperspective.(para.2)Whatdoes“perspective”mean?Howwilldifferencesinperspectiveleadtodisagreements?3.WhydotheauthorstalkaboutWilson’snewhatandthesinkingofAmericanmerchantships?4.Whydotheauthorsmentionawholeseriesoffacts