POINT OF VIEW IN HISTORICAL INTERPRETATION & ANALYSIS

October 16, 2013

The Civil War

The War of Northern Aggression

The War of the Rebellion

The Freedom War

POINT OF VIEW/PERSPECTIVE

1.Definition: point of view Noun:

a. A particular attitude or way of considering a matter.

b. (in fictional writing) The narrator's position in relation to the story being told.

HISTORICAL THINKING SKILLS:

Research, Evidence, and Point of View 1. Students frame questions that can be answered by historical study and research.  2. Students distinguish fact from opinion in historical narratives and stories. 3. Students distinguish relevant from irrelevant information, essential from

incidentalinformation, and verifiable from unverifiable information in historical narratives andstories.  4. Students assess the credibility of primary and secondary sources and draw soundconclusions from them. 5. Students detect the different historical points of view on historical events anddetermine the context in which the historical statements were made (the questionsasked, sources used, author’s perspectives).

Common Core

Reading 6: Assess how point of view or purpose shapes the content and style of a text.

Analyze how two or more texts address similar themes or topics in order to build knowledge or ot compare the approaches the authors take.

Interpretation: Perspective in Secondary Sources

“War of Northern Aggression” Slavery according to master Slavery according to slave

Depends on evidence Filtered through lens of the worldview

Often shaped by contemporary interest “God cannot alter the past, but

historians can.”

TYPES OF HISTORY

 

Political History: focuses on the actions of the government, voting patterns, political protest 

Economic History: looks at production, the social class structure, business types and growth, and trade 

Labor History: examines the role of workers in US History, especially the fights for better working conditions

Constitutional/Legal History: analyzes the impact of laws and Constitutional decisions and debates on history

Social History: focuses on the actions and interactions of “average” people

Religious History: looks at the ways belief systems influence the actions of people and governments

Military History: focuses on the impact of wars, battles, military spending, and new military technologies

Diplomatic History: examines the interactions of different nations, with a focus on leaders

Women's History: concentrates on women’s impact on history, from working women to the upper classes

African-American History (or Chicano/Latino History, or Asian-American History…): analyzes the importance

of racial and ethnic minorities in impacting the course of US history

Immigration History: looks at the lives of immigrants and the ways in which immigration has changed US

history

Intellectual History: focuses on the history of ideas, and how ideas can influence people

Cultural History: examines leisure time and entertainment and what people’s choices in these areas say

about US history and people’s values 

Environmental History: focuses on the impact of natural resources (or their lack) and land use on the course

of history

Vs. Textbook

“Textbooks dominate history classrooms…are often written “as if their authors did not exist at all, as if they were simply the instruments of heavenly intelligence transcribing official truths.”

Wineberg p.77

U.S. History Textbooks

Students see as “Straightforward”

& “Trustworthy” No evidence of

research/interpretation Assertive language:

no “perhaps, might, maybe”

No footnotes

Textbook

How was industrialization both good and bad for the nation?

Consider what perspective (if apparent) is underlying text?

Primaries

Reconsider: How was industrialization both good and bad for the nation?

How does this evidence change/affirm/complicate your answer to question

Consider what perspective (if apparent) is underlying text?

What kind of history might such evidence support?

Teaching Point of View

Primary Source Analysis: Evidence reflects the personal, social,

political, or economic points of view of the participants

students bring to the sources their own biases, created by their own personal situations and the social environments in which they live.

Exercise: Have students read same document as different people

6 C’s

Common Misperceptions

“Bias”= bad Elusive pursuit of “objectivity” Evaluating reliability of sources

Name Nationality, state

affiliation Social Status, Age Profession Religion Time of writing Language used

LESSON DEVELOPMENT: TEACHING STUDENTS POINT OF VIEW

Complicating Textbook Narratives

Creating Perspective

Assignment A

Assign students textbook excerpt addressing historical event.

Ask them to consider “What story does the textbook tell of this event?”

Provide students three additional excerpted sources (primary or secondary) providing an alternate point of view.

Ask students to consider the following questions: What do these sources add to the textbook story? What story do they tell that is not told by the textbook? Encourage students to back up assertions with evidence

from sources. Ask students to record their observations to complete

the “Opening up the Textbook” worksheet. Ask students to write one paragraph evaluating the

statement “There are multiple stories and perspectives in history.”

Assignment 2: Teaching Perspective through Historical Fiction

Historical fictions can engage students to deeper understanding of historical perspectives.

Writing journals, letters, poetry, debates and scripts from the perspective of historical figures can illuminate how point of view colors our understanding of historical events.

Consult guidelines for “On Writing Historical Fiction” to develop assignment appropriate to subject and grade level.