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 incidental information, and verifiable from unverifiable information in historical narratives and stories. 4. Students assess the credibility of primary and secondary sources and draw sound conclusions from them. 5. Students detect the different historical points of view on historical events and determine the context in which the historical statements were made (the questions asked, 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/interpretati on  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.