The study of past events have been a common practice of mankind since the verbal telling of stories by our ancestors. William Cronon, in his article “Why the Past Matters,” asserts that the remembrance of the past “keeps us in place.” Our individual memories and experiences shape how we act in our daily lives. In addition to influencing us at an individual level, our collective history binds us together as a society. Without knowing where we have been or what we have experienced, it is nearly impossible to judge progress or know which courses of action to pursue. The goal of the historian is to analyze and explain past events, of which they rarely have firsthand memory of, and apply the gained knowledge to make connections with current and future events. …show more content…
To Jimmie, he is still living in 1945 while the rest of world has advanced through the years creating new memories and life experiences. Jimmie’s condition leaves him unable to create context between his life and society around him, detached. The same principle should be applied to the rest of society and our collective past so that we do not lose our place. Cronon proposes that the way to avoid this situation is to keep the past alive through primary sources, like Wau-Bun, to remind us where we have been and what life was like for
LITERACY EXPLICATION. Analysis of how the poet (May Swenson) uses poetic elements in the poem ‘ALL THAT TIME’. 1. Personification.
“There is in fact no such thing as an instantaneous photograph. All photographs are time exposures, of shorter or longer duration, and each describes a discrete parcel of time.” -John Szarkowski
Being the “dominant discourse” in your family Wideman’s essay is different from the rest between his essay is about him and his brother and the struggle of the dominant discourse and the “other” in their relationship. Wideman is the dominant discourse and his brother Robby is the “other”. The problem is that Wideman is trying to understand his brother but he is having difficulties because him and his brother are two different people and they don’t have a common issues that they share. They are truly like those siblings that is no way are like each other. Wideman is successful and Robby is in prison.
“Why Western History Matters” is an essay adapted from a speech Donald Kagan delivered to the National Association of Scholars, and was reprinted in the December 28, 1994, issue of the Wall Street Journal. Throughout Kagan’s essay, he describes the essential need for the college course, Western History. He does so by examining older cultures and explaining why they were quintessential to the past and to our future development as a society. I strongly concur with Kagan’s standpoint of the necessity of history, and the realization of how exactly our flourishing society came about. History is a key constituent in determining who we are; for to determine who we are one must first know from whence they came. In the words of George Santayana, “Those who cannot remember the past are condemned to repeat it”.
The author turn to books in order to attract girl. After realizing at thirteen year old that he did not have the standard of the type of boys girls was seduced by. Richler did not let his lack of self-esteem and confidence depress him instead he used the strength of reading he had to develop a character to draw attention to himself. Since he was not tall like a basketball player, he find loophole in reading book he was good at.
The world is living histories. For instance, communities speak the languages that are inherited from the past and, practice cultural and religious traditions that have not been created on the spur of a moment. In this sense, acknowledging history is essential for rooting people in time. Nonetheless, sometimes a dreadful past can inhibit a country to undertake its own history. For example, the United States has long been telling
The importance of the past is proclaimed here. One should never forget those that came before him to pave the way. Not only should one not forget but one should learn from it and use the knowledge gained to push into the future.
Changes in the Land by William Cronon depicts the changes in New England brought upon by the European settlers in the 1600s. What was once only occupied by Native Americans, New England’s resources were sustainably consumed by the indigenous people of the land. However, in Cronan’s perspective, the arrival of the settlers brought upon drastic and detrimental consequences that would go on to affect the ecology of New England today. An apparent theme brought up in Changes in the Land is adaptation. Cronan arrays the theme of adaptation by displaying how the natives had to adapt to a sporadically changing lifestyle that the colonists attempted to assimilate into the land and its people.
A man named Bilal Nasir Khan once said, “The most painful goodbyes are the ones never said and never explained”. In the poem “Changes” by D. Ginette Clarke, the speaker is eager to understand the reasoning behind the end of his friendship with someone who he seems to have been very close with. As one reads through the poem, the strong connection that the persona feels between him and his friend becomes quite obvious. Granting the persona’s endeavour to express his feelings towards his failed friendship in a calm manner, he essentially comes off as a curious, eager, and desperate man. Clarke represents these specific characteristics of the speaker through the use of repetition, word choice, and punctuation.
The patterns of living that the world witnesses today are greatly influenced by history. This is because of the fact that history plays an immense role in forming one’s future; the abundant interactions socially, economically, politically, result in repercussions that can hardly be unraveled. However, this does not in anyway mean that one cannot trace today’s state of affairs back to its roots. Tracing today’s occurrences back to their origin is possible due to the fact that the agents’ (nations) origins are known.
Introduction The past is another country, where it is only possible to go as a tourist, and which we will never fully understand. We can describe what we see, but it is far more difficult to know why people acted in the way they did, or what they believed, and why they believed it.
“Those who cannot remember the past are condemned to repeat it.” –George Santayana. This quote was carved into the top of the time capsule I discovered. My ancestor’s name was not placed within the capsule, so I will refer to him as King, since that is our last name. He believed history was a vital source of history that we all could learn from. Personally, history has been a rather boring subject, so I do not understand the importance King seems to have placed on it. None the less, life from 500 years ago does seem to be a mildly interesting topic since it is coming directly from someone who lived way back then. This essay will explore what my ancestor put into this time capsule, what he believed we should know, and what items best represent
As Berger says, “the art of the past is being mystified because a privileged minority is striving to invent a history which can retrospectively justify the role of the ruling classes, and such a justification can no longer make sense in modern terms” (157). The upper class mystifies us to stay in control; without being able to see things in our own way, we are being deprived from our right to understanding ourselves and placing ourselves in a role of society.
The study of history depends heavily on the way it is written. Events in history have been conveyed in many different forms, some being more factual, while others contain a story within the facts in order to spark an interest for the reader. The different styles of writing and the way you retain the information can facilitate or debilitate the quality of the information remembered and the quantity of information remembered.
History is not the past, history is constantly being updated and depends on the extent of the perspective from which it is studied. Try to imagine what it would be like to live in a society where there was absolutely no knowledge of the past. Everything that is written is based on past evidence. Differences in historical interpretations can also be influenced by contextual changes over time. It can be argued that we are able to look back on events and re-evaluate them objectively. As Reuben Abel stated,"History is far from being exclusively scientific or factual; it is also in large part creative...The historian, like the novelist, tells a story..." (174). Each historian assembles concrete sets of evidence, such as primary sources written by relevant people of the time. Each historian assembles a theory linking documents together with the events that are supposed to have occurred. I have seen first hand generations and their differences influen...