Posted: June 1st, 2015

What is History

What is History

Directions

1.      Read the articles “What is History” and “How to Read a Secondary Source” on Module Three.  These articles will give you some guidance on how to conduct research on historical writing.
2.      Read the two articles assigned to your group carefully.  Take notes, using as a guide the “Three important questions to ask of secondary sources” at the end of the reading “How to Read a Secondary Source.”
3.      Using the Wiki Tool on Blackboard, prepare a study guide for your classmates.  You will be asked to add content for the following sections on your Wiki Page:
a.       Historical Background: offer some historical context for this debate.
b.      Ernest Renan: “Teaching and Learning”:  Write a short 2-3 paragraph summary of the first text, using the “STAMP It” technique on “How to Read a Secondary Source.” (STAMP = Structure, Thesis, Argument, Motives, and Primaries)
c.      Jamal al-Din al-Afghani, “Reponse to Renan”: Follow the same steps as in Source #1, but find a way to draw contrast between the two sources wherever possible.
d.      Conclusions: Having analyzed these two sources, what final concluding points can you offer on the state of historical studies as it relates to the question debated here.  Remember to begin your conclusion with a strong TOPICAL SENTENCE and offer your own THESIS STATEMENT that tell us “how” the two writers you are covering differ in how they write about this topic.