By the End of the Unit, You Should Be Able to Respond to the Following

Unit 7: History

Introduction

This section gives you an overview of the AOK: History. The study of history helps us both to explain why things in the past happened as well as guide our future choices.

Essential Questions

By the end of the Unit, you should be able to respond to the following:

•  What makes history different from other areas of knowledge?

•  How does the historical process create meaning?

•  What are the functions and limitations of historical knowledge?

Related Prescribed Titles

2. “Only seeing general patterns can give us knowledge. Only seeing particular examples can give us understanding.” To what extent do you agree with these assertions?
3. “The possession of knowledge carries an ethical responsibility.” Evaluate this claim.
5. “That which can be asserted without evidence can be dismissed without evidence.” (Christopher Hitchens). Do you agree?
6. Can we know when to trust our emotions in the pursuit of knowledge? Consider history and one other area of knowledge.

Reading Guide

Directions:ReadHistory (pages 301-320). Based on the reading, respond to the following questions. For all but the last, you may use bulleted statements. Please submit to Turnitin.com by the due date.

1.  Key Terms: Primary Sources, Secondary Sources, Hindsight, “Great Person Theory,”

2.  What are the differences between the “past” and “history?” What makes something “historic?” What is meant by the phrase "history is a selection of a selection"?

3.  What WOK are typically used to create historical knowledge?

4.  What are the limits to historical knowledge? To what degree can it be called reliable?

5.  To what degree can multiple historical theories (e.g. Great Man/Economic Determinism) reliably explain the same event?

Rubric

Descriptors (Best Fit) / Points
All questions answered. All aspects of the questions completely addressed. Detailed, sophisticated responses. / 30
All questions answered but responses are limited in how completely they address the question or lack sufficient detailed. / 27
Partially completed. Responses may not give address all aspects of the questions and/or lack relevant detail. Possibly some incorrect information. / 25
Partially completed. Responses do not completely address questions and are significantly lacking in detail. Some responses have considerable errors. / 20
Missing
Late assignments are 10% point deductions per day / 0

Food for Thought

“The only thing we learn from history is that we learn nothing from history.”-Hegel

“A passage of history is worth a volume of logic.”-Oliver Wendell Holmes

“Who controls the past controls the future, who controls the present controls the past.”