Hidden Interpretation

 Question:
Texts do not clearly state their goal or perspective but as we discovered in class the perspective or interpretation can be found in the selection of material and its arrangement in the text. What was striking to you about this exercise? What did you learn? Should textbooks come with a warning about 'hidden perspective'? Do we need to teach students how to 'read' these texts?

I found the exercise we did in class with the textbooks to be really interesting. I feel like people forget that textbooks, while they are presenting facts, also show a certain perspective. Just through the selection of the information the author decides to present and the way in which they present it is a form of perspective. The exercise in class definitely taught me the importance of realizing that even in textbooks there will be a “hidden perspective”. Comparing the textbook excerpts allowed me to see that while they did deal with the same subject, the authors focused their attention on different aspects of the Great Depression, for example some left out the international relations completely while others largely focused on it. I think it is important to teach students how to “read” textbooks because its important for the student to realize that there will be “hidden perspectives”, there is also a lot to learn from what the author chooses to omit.

 

Perspective in History

Interpretation and perspective, I think, play a large role in history. It’s difficult to present history as mere fact because our perspective, who we are and how we look at the world affects how we read history and write about history. In Eric Foner’s article “Changing History” he argues, “All history… is contemporary history”. We look to past events to understand the present and all events of the past are analyzed and interpreted through today’s perspective. Historical events of the past will always call our attention to be analyzed and interpreted so to understand our present. Foner also discusses the events of 9/11 as a way that will cause us to put emphasis on new ideas. September 11 has cause historians to put new emphasis on the United States relations with the larger world, in particular with the Middle East. It has also caused historians to look back at other issues brought up by 9/11. There has been increased interest on civil liberty and the infringements on them since 9/11. Historians have looked back at other periods in American history were civil liberties have been withdrawn for the supposed sake of public safety such as the internment of Japanese-Americans during World War II. “All history…is contemporary history” because current events will always cause historians to re-examine the past for understanding.

Second Post

Zinn, Becker and Stearns all raised good values and uses of history. Zinn raised an interesting point in his article when he said that we need to look at historical events such as wars from the standpoint of the enemy, this allows you to look at the evidence in a completely new light. It is important to understand both sides of a war, why each side was fighting and how each side responded to the wars outcome. Sara mentions in her blog a point brought up by Zinn that I also found important, that US history is being taught by isolating the Untied States from other countries. I think it's important to understand US history in relation to the rest of the world and especially from the view of regular people, not just the generals and presidents.

Personally, I found the Stearns article to provide the most uses of history. It allows us to understand people and societies and the changes that have occurred in those societies. He also says that history contributes to our moral understanding, “studying the stories of past individuals and situations allows a student of history to test his or her own moral sense”. Stearns also provides the many useful skills that a student of history develops, such as the ability to assess evidence, assess conflicting interpretations and to assess past examples of change. 

In Becker’s article I found his definition of history to be useful, “history is the memory of things said and done”. He shows that everyone is somewhat of a historian, that we cannot function without the knowledge of our own past and we use our memory of past events everyday.

Hi I'm Caroline, this is my third year at RIC and my last. I hope to get a lot out of History 200, I know it will be a lot of work but hopefully it will be worth it. Through out the semester and this class I hope to improve my critical reading and analytical skills along with my writing skills, with what I've heard about this class and all it's assignments I think that will happen. I'm obviously taking this course to complete the requirement for a History major but I hope that this class will better my understanding of history and the way that historians think. I hope to develop a more clear and concise way of writing, especially when writing long papers. Also through this class I hope to find a little more direction as to what exactly I'd like to do after college with my History degree.

I like the study of history because it give you a look back and shows a path as to how we got where we are today. I think it is important that people know about history because it is way that we can learn from mistakes in the past. I like several different areas of history such as political, military and women's history but the area of history that interests me most is American history.