...a2008 GP Paper 2 AQ 12 Anna Banatvala thinks an understanding of history is essential, whereas Lee Min Yen thinks history has no value. How important is an understanding of history for you and your society, and how far has your view been challenged or confirmed by these two passages? The importance of an understanding of history is severely weakened in countries where the history is distorted. Hence, my view has been largely confirmed by Lee Min Yen , the author of passage 2. Banatvala asserts that since similar causes produce similar results, the benefit of history is that it can teach us how to avoid our ancestors’ mistakes and emulate their successes. While it seems logically correct that we can learn from our past, the author has made a sweeping assumption about human character. If people are eager and able to avert their forefathers’ failures and repeat their successes, this may be plausible. However, in reality, people are influenced by a multitude of factors and circumstances that they have no control over. For instance, in my society, China has an undisrupted history of more than 5000 years and the causes and effects that account for a government’s success and failure are studied extensively. Undoubtedly, corruption was one of the primary factors that caused a dynasty to fail. Yet, in today’s China, corruption is still prevalent, if not more. Although many government officials are aware of the adverse impact of corruption, they are either unwilling or unable...
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...Lin Manuel-Miranda: A Progressive Voice for History History is frequently the bane of many students’ academic careers. To some, history is arid, nothing more than the tedious repetition of events long passed. The somniferous lectures and dense readings found in the history classroom further serve to perpetuate the myopic perception of history as stale and purposeless. Through the medium of the stage, Lin-Manuel Miranda challenges this attitude with an impeccable tone of drama, introspection, and spontaneity, breathing new life into the carcass of historical narratives by grounding Hamilton’s story in the universal aspirations and struggles of mankind. Lin weaves together his boundless excitement for telling Hamilton’s story with...
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...The word “history” is a term defined as the study of past events, associated with someone or something. With it comes an overwhelming amount of documents, records, and physical artifacts collected and housed for society to dig through, in order to properly evaluate and learn from the past. Many times when written history is presented, it has been edited and re-edited by a secondary source writer, rather than composed by actual witnesses, which proposes a problem; that of the interjectory of the writers own interpretation. Lost is the authentic perspective or narrative from an actual person of a past event. Recorded oral history preserves the viewpoints of individual voices, whether wealthy or poor, having personal knowledge of past events through spoken assessments, recollections and...
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...gate and one other related text of your own choosing represent history and memory in unique and evocative ways. The interplay of history and memory combine to provide greater insight into events. Through the manipulation of textual forms and features, Mark Bakerʼs hybrid text “The Fiftieth Gate” expands and humanizes oneʼs understanding of the Holocaust in unique and evocative ways. A unique feature of the text is clever fusion between personal accounts and documented history using mediums such as, interviews, official documents, poetry and song. This enhances the stories of the authorʼs parents, Yossl and Genia, whilst evocatively capturing the atrocities of the Holocaust. The relationship between history and memory is further explored in Kevin Ruddʼs “Sorry apology to Stolen Generations”. Bakerʼs “The Fiftieth Gate” suggests that memory humanises historical events, juxtaposed by the emotionless discourse of history in unique and evocative ways. Baker provides insight into the historical events associated with the Holocaust,emphasising number of deaths that occurred during the genocide. In Gate 26, Baker explores the deaths Geniaʼs parents witnessed in the lines, “Among 1380 people, one family survived by chance. They were Leo Krochmal and his wife Rosa who witnessed the shooting,” The impersonal tone and simple language in the lines underscores the straightforward and detached nature of history. In contrast, the recount of Genia hiding from Germans in Gate 6...
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...In Lies My Teacher Told Me: Everything Your American History Textbook Got Wrong, James Loewen, writer and sociology professor, details the way in which high school curriculums are distorting reality. He focuses heavily on the Pilgrims and the first European settlers of America. He gives copious details about the factual history of Plymouth Rock and compares it to the innocuous fables of the history textbooks. The consolidated, America-can-do-no-wrong revisions of Social Study curriculums give students an incomplete and misinformed historical perspective. To say that the American history textbooks are misrepresentative would be a gross understatement. In an attempt to promote unquestioning nationalism, history books have robbed students of the most valuable aspect of learning about America’s past, the means to not repeat the folly of our progenitors. Loewen presents his thesis with effective elegance: “Whether one deems our present society wondrous or awful or both, history reveals how we arrived at this point. Understanding...
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...Every American student learns in school the patriotic accounts that formed this country. Although these stories reflect real events, the truth has been stretched in some of the more famous tales. The most famous patriotic stories all contain common myths the American public believes. The signing of the Declaration of Independence, Betsy Ross’ design of the American flag, and Paul Revere’s midnight ride all contain factual inaccuracies or exaggerations. When learning American history, students typically believe that all fifty-six delegates at the Second Continental Congress in Philadelphia signed the Declaration of Independence on July 4, 1776. Americans celebrate this date as Independence Day. The actual date, however, that America declared independence from England was July 2, 1776. The next couple days were spent going over the original draft written by Thomas Jefferson. The confusion of the two dates is because...
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...MODULE C – History and Memory Sample 1 How has your understanding of events, personalities or situations been shaped by their representations in the texts you have studied. Refer to your prescribed text and at least TWO other related texts of your own choosing. History can be defined as “the methodical record of public events” where memory is defined as “the faculty by which events are recalled or kept in mind”. Thus history and memory interrelate as history can be seen as the contextual justification for memory. “The Fiftieth Gate” is a poignant interweaving of history and memory. The text follows protagonist, Mark Baker an historian, son of Holocaust survivors Genia and Yossl (Joe), on an historical journey through memory, to uncover the origins of his past and act as a catalyst for future generations to also connect with their history. Mark Baker’s journey through history and memory is also executed through his conventional ideas that memory is biased and less valid than history. There are numerous references to the discrepancies between the personal memories of his parents and the documented history Mark as an historian believes. In this way it is apparent that Mark is on a quest for verification, “my facts from the past are different”. This displays the flaw Mark traditionally notes in memory and his need for historical evidence. As responders accompany Mark on his journey, they also encounter the complexity of simultaneously being a son and an historian. This...
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...I have never been one that had much interest in history. While it serves its purpose in providing insight it always repeats itself as often stated. George Santayana described history as “nothing but assisted and recorded memory,” as well as something “condemned to [be] repeat[ed]” if past mistakes were not taken into account for future dealings. For the most part, humans have learned a great deal from the past but pick and choose when to properly utilize that knowledge, when to remain stagnant, and when to forget lessons learned entirely. Reading William Bradford’s history of Plimoth Plantation however, helped me remember the incredible endurance God imparted in the human spirit and reaffirmed how He always leads His people to victory after...
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...Supported by the texts “The Way to Rainy Mountain”-N. Scott Momaday, “Chief Joseph Speaks”- Chief Joseph, “American Progress”-John Gast, I believe that there is no true history to westward expansion. In John Gast’s picture called the “American Progress” there are so many different things happening in it. Showing that he nor anyone knows really the true history of westward expansion. We’ve all gone off what we have heard about history, but what we’ve heard are all people’s opinions about it. Therefore, we have no clue as to what actually happened during westward expansion.In John Gast’s picture, there were indians and animals running, going in a different direction that the white men.There was also an angel going in the direction of which...
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...‘The Fiftieth Gate’ successfully projects how memory gives history an emotional context. Baker keenly represents this within his memoir through consistent motifs. The most predominant feature is conveyed with the textual layout; the 50 gates. This circulates the idealisms of ‘Jewish Mysticism’ and creates a link to images of gates being unlocked. This unveils a truly compelling and unexpected insight. This is that, the past can hinder a blessing or curse as contrasted in the prologue: “The darkness or the light” symbolic for the juxtaposing outcomes. Such turbulent emotions are relevant in the memoir as history triggers memory but can encourage perhaps painful recollections. For example, Genia: “ruins, ruins” contemplating the atrocities of the Holocaust and “what I could have been if I had your life”. These unexpected and compelling insights of positive and negative portrayals of history and memory in terms of emotions are clear on the September 11 site. Memory giving history emotional context is represented in terms of hope from Lisa Lefler- a World Trade Center survivor “I have found one thing to help me get through day by day. I have been telling my story to anyone who wants to hear it.” Thus being optimistic in the most tragic times of humanity unlike Genia who wishes to hide. Conclusively supporting how Baker’s masterful work should definitely be part of your exhibition. When ‘Re-viewing the past’ it is critical to be observant of differing versions of the truth. Baker...
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...History is the view of the world through a certain set of eyes. This is usually biased in accordance with the writer’s beliefs, thoughts, and feelings on the subject. As time continues to move and history recorded, the reader has the distinction of translating the information to figure out what happened and why. It is with their own biased mind the reader must translate history for them self. The west has had a particular problem with history of the Muslim world. In general its view of Arabia and Muslims comes from antiquated tales and biased media coverage. Favorite Tales from the Arabian Nights’ Entertainments, translated by Richard F. Burton, is one of those books that the west got many of its ideas from. Set in the time of the Caliph Harun al-Rashid (r.786-809), the book tells wondrous tails of adventure in the heart of the Arabian empire. While not meant to be a book of historical facts, the reader can gleam into the world of the Muslim, at the height of their power and see how they felt and what they believed in. Through these stories the reader can translate the Muslim version of their world, and how they depict life in that time period. Through each...
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...The study of past human activities is paramount in understanding human nature as well as structure and cultures of various communities in the world. To many historians and individuals, history is one of the important assets that a country or a community can ever possess because it differentiates it from other communities or countries. Often, history provides an account of past events of a community or a country and can be very useful in predicting the future. According to historians, history should never be pursued for the sake of just collecting information and data to add more knowledge about the past, but rather it should be part of human being to be carried with them each and every single day. Despite the fact that most people believe that...
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...This essay will review Peter Boag’s Re-Dressing America’s Frontier Past (2011). This book highlights the missing histories of cross-dressers all across the American frontier, and gives readers a look into the lives of such individuals and how they were regarded and treated in society. Consequently, this paper will discuss the geographic and chronological scope of the book, and analyze the extent of the history of cross dressing practices and how they challenged heteronormative culture and myths about the Western frontier. Lastly, this essay will critically assess the effectiveness of sources used by the author and how they contribute to his arguments. The geographic and chronological scope of the book focuses on the era between 1850 to 1920,...
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...In our beloved country America, we are taught many historical events that are distorted or flawed about our country. Ray Raphael’s book “Founding Myths: Stories that Hide Our Patriotic Past,” proves how easily people get confused with what is fiction and what is fact. This essay will discuss how the background of founding myths developed over time, the consequences as a result of the myths being unexplored, the impact of the myths, and whether or not these myths serve as a useful purpose. Since we have grown to the age to go to school we begin to learn our countries history. These myths have developed over time through the historians who tell or write about them. Historians tend to change the perspective or history the way they want you to view it. The founding myth of the Founding Fathers is a great example. The author Ray Raphael gives us a reason that the Founding Fathers became developed over time. Several framers and signers did not have normal names in the past and the author believed that people would not be able to remember all the confusing names. For Americans to recite a good myth Ray Raphael believed that...
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...That history contains errors, will not come as news to a person who has reflected on the topic. The very first history, a Greek one, History of Herodotus, written around 450 BC, likely had quite a number of fictional details so as to effect its purpose.1 Those parts of our history which are suspected to be fiction are, at least, through research and comparison, salvageable. What, however, is possibly more disturbing than the realization that, in general and throughout, our history is wrong (a sub-topic which I shall treat to a greater extent further on, herein) is the realization that there are great gaps in it. We have failed to record and gather together the little human events which make up the fabric of history: it is little events, strung together and accumulated over time, which account for our place in history. Though it may have been, in certain of its parts, reconstructed incorrectly and small shards are missing here and there, history, by a well-read and descriptive author, like a Grecian urn, is a spectacle to behold; like man himself -- fascinating, seductive, intriguing, and spectacular. Maybe most are like me, I enjoy observing, at a safe distance, the follies and misfortunes2 of my fellow men. An author of history must adopt a method to gratify the natural curiosity that most of us have about the bloody events of times past. History, like all literature, must be written in a lively and descriptive manner. This is necessary, so to grip and hold the reader, in an...
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