The Study of History

1. BloomingstarBloomingstar
Syiem,Syiem,
N.E.H.U.N.E.H.U.
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What is History?
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2. History is a record of the past!
 The record may take
many different forms,
such as: memories; first
hand accounts; artifacts;
and myths.
 From the past, something
is left behind. These
remnants are sometimes
found in bits and pieces,
or all at once. Until then
history will remain a
mystery. The Iceman
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3. History is a record of the past:
memories
 What do we know about
memories?
 We know that as time
goes on memories
become clouded and
vague.
 When this happens
history is lost or distorted,
and with the passing of
time becomes a mystery.
Stonehenge
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4. History is a record of the past:
memories
 Stonehenge is an example of a memory
that has become clouded and vague.
 At the time of its construction
everyone knew what purpose the
stones served. Now these memories are
lost. There have been many guesses
about its purpose – from the absurd (a
landing for space ships) to the probable
(an agricultural tool).
 There have been many guesses about it
purpose, some absurd like it is a
landing pad for space ships to the not
so absurd idea that it was used as an
agricultural tool. If a person from then
was alive today they could tell us the
purpose, but instead we have to settle
for a voice fading in and out.
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5. History is a record of the past:
memories
 Sometimes history is voices the
fade in and out. These voices may
be from the people who witnessed
the events or some family story
passed on.
 The picture on the left is an artist’s
depiction of the continent Atlantis.
The only record we have of this
city was from Plato. According to
historians it is believed to have
been a story passed down to him.
 In this instance the memory of a
place was passed on but with no
proof that it ever existed. This
story has become a legend.
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6. History is a record of the past: first
hand accounts
 First hand accounts are the words
from someone who was actually
there.
 The clip you just saw was from
the movie Gladiator. How do we
know that the crowds’ thumbs up
would keep the slaves alive and a
thumbs down would mean certain
death? From firsthand accounts.
 A person actually at a real
gladiatorial battle witnessed these
events and recorded them.
 First hand accounts give the
historian an idea about the past
through the eyes of the people
who actually lived during the
events being told!

7. History is a record of the past:
first hand accounts
 When history is written down
someone could read it, right?
Not always as we saw and
heard in the clip. Sometimes
the language it is written in
hasn’t been spoken in
hundreds or even thousands of
years.
 If there is no way translate the
language into one that we use
in modern times this
civilizations’ history could be
lost forever.
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8. History is a record of the past:
first hand accounts?
 Here is an example of a first hand
account that was distorted for
personal gain.
 In this clip they talked about the
Battle of San Juan Hill and Teddy
Roosevelt’s Rough Riders. In
actuality Roosevelt’s unit fought
at Kettle Hill.
 Even today you’ll find that some
history textbooks still have this
battle as San Juan Hill. In fact in
the new Wahg book purchased
over the summer the writers have
Roosevelt at San Juan Hill rather
than Kettle Hill.
 What does this say about first
hand accounts?
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9. History is a record of the past:
discovered all at once
 There are times when historians get
lucky and make one discovery that
answers their questions. The Rosetta
Stone did that for the world.
 For years historians and archeologists
tried to crack the mystery behind the
Egyptian hieroglyphics with no
success.
 It wasn’t until the discovery of the
Rosetta Stone that we had a key to
learning about Egyptian hieroglyphics.
 The Stone is carved in 3 languages –
hieroglyphics, Latin, and demotic.
Archeologists thus used the other
languages as a key to decipher the
Egyptian writing.
Rosetta Stone
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10. History is a record of the past:
discovered in bits and pieces!
 The clip just shown is from the
movie Titanic.
 Originally it was thought that
when the Titanic sunk it was in
one solid piece.
 It wasn’t until the 1980’s that the
Titanic was found and the world
discovered that the Titanic broke
into two pieces like you saw here!
 Also it was discovered that, when
Titanic sank, a series of holes
were punched in the Titanic and
not one huge hold as had been
thought.
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11. History is a record of the past:
Its from the point of view of the teller
 Perhaps the most famous
photograph made during the Civil
War, this gripping image conveys
the horror of all the conflict in an
unforgettable manner.
 Here the teller is a picture.
Unfortunately, to get this
“gripping image” the body of the
dead solider had to be moved.
 So in order to get the desired
effect from the picture things had
to be distorted a bit.
Rebel Sharpshooter at Gettysburg
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Does this mean history could beDoes this mean history could be
nothing but lies?nothing but lies?

12. History is a record of the past:
interpretation
 The clip just seen shows how
things are embellished for
personal gain.
 The speech that Mel Gibson gave
in the movie Braveheart was
actually made up. The writer of
the story put his creative flare to
work for that speech. To this day
no one knows what was said
before this battle. Also, this battle
was fought on a bridge and not in
an open field like was shown in
the movie.
 This distorted image without any
background in the subject could
become history.
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13. History is a record of the past:
interpretation
 Interpretation can also
lead to distorted images
about a people and their
customs, such as we saw
in this last clip.
 These images can leave
an impression on people
that may not be favorable,
such as the idea of
dragging a dead child
across the land to find his
killer.
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14. History is a record of the past:
artifacts and myths
 Sometimes discoveries are
made that give us a new look
at history. For example, the
Trojan War was thought to be
a myth until Henrich
Schliemann discovered
artifacts at the ancient city of
Troy. With the discovery the
Trojan War was no longer a
legend but fact!
 So, what becomes of history?
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15. History is a record of the past:
artifacts and myths
 Answer: Sometimes the myth
becomes history.
 Fortunately myths can
sometimes lead us to history.
 Sometimes these myths help to
make the people proud of their
heritage or of their people.
 Remember the clip we saw
earlier in Gladiator. To keep
the people alive the audience
gave a thumbs up, however in
reality to a thumbs up meant
death to the participants.
Thumbs down meant the
participants would live.
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16. History is a record of the past:
artifacts and myths
 Another example used earlier
is the continent of Atlantis.
 According to the myth the
entire continent disappeared
overnight.
 Plato is the only one who ever
mentioned this continents
possible existence, yet to this
date nothing concrete has been
found to support his statement.
 For the time being, Atlantis
will remain a myth with a bit
of mystery attached to it.
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17. History is a record of the past:
mystery
 The clip shown here is from
the documentary on the
Iceman.
 Little was known about this
time period until his discovery.
 Paleolithic people were
thought to run around naked or
half naked and had little
technology.
 After his discovery we realize
that his remains tell a different
story.
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18. History is a record of the past:
mystery
 A controversial discovery was
made a few years ago concerning
the Egyptian Sphinx. For years it
was believed that the great
Egyptian civilization built the
Sphinx and the pyramids.
 Recently the Sphinx.was observed
to have erosion on it. The erosion
was not caused by the wind but by
water.
 It stopped raining heavily in this
area about 10,000 years ago when
this erosion would have had to
occur.
* This means that the Sphinx could be older than 10,000 years and this
could change history forever although many people disagree.
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19. What is history:
Summary
 A record of the past
 Memories of things once said and done
 First hand accounts
 Discovered in bits and pieces or all at once
 Told from the point of view of the teller
 Lies told to stir patriotism, make money, etc….
 Open for interpretation
 Artifacts and myths both founded and unfounded
 Mystery because we may never discover the things we want to know
about an civilization, artifact, etc…
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20. What will future generations say
about us?
 Imagine someone finds
the clip you just saw?
What would the future
think of us, what would
you think of the events
that unfolded?
 Imagine seeing MTV, the
3 stooges, or listening to
rock and roll two to four
thousand years from now.
Imagine the stories they
invent to explain us!
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21. What is History bibliography
 Chevron, dir. What is History?. 1984
 “Ren and Stimpy.” Wave Central. 22 Feb 2001 <http://www.wavcentral.com>.
 “Iceman.” Discovery Channel. 17 Feb 2001<http:// www.discovery.com>.
 Video Braveheart
 Video Titanic
 Video Gladiator
 Discovery Channel. “Iceman.” Discovery Channel. 1998.
 “Rebel Sharpshooter.” Carole Thompson Fine Photographs. 11 May
2001<http://www.southernphotos.com/rebel.html>
 “Stonehenge.” BBC NEWS. 23 May 2001
http://news.bbc.co.uk/hi/english/uk/newsid_1235000/1235214.stm
 “Sphinx.” Guardian’s Sphinx. 25 May 2001 http://guardians.net/egypt/sphinx
 “Atlantis.” Atlantis 26 May 2001 http://www.angelfire.com/ri/allfantasy/atlantis.htm
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