Primary Sources Kenneth Walbert Summary

609 Words2 Pages
bulb-icon

Recommended: Importance of studying history to society

Upon reviewing the article Reading Primary Sources, there are several themes in which I, as the reader, have discovered present throughout. First and foremost, Kathryn Walbert consistently supports the theme: analyzing the past is an essential step to understanding why humanity is where it is today. History, by Google definition, is both "the study of past events, particularly in human affairs," and "the whole series of past events connected with someone or something." In essence, history is a connected stream of events that leads up to now. It is through primary sources that historians have been able to create factual records of the past. The question is, why? As a species, mankind is defined by where they come from; this is history. Walbert discusses the importance of primary sources, stating that "historians must rely on records left behind" to understand the people …show more content…

Opinions, ideas, and beliefs arise due to differences in various aspects including, but not limited to, one's culture, location, and environment. At one point within the article, the author asks the audience "how [he/she] would fee if [they] were in the author's shoes?" Walbert intends for her audience to realize that different time periods express different ideas, often ones that contradict today's. Furthermore, she goes as far to ask how others during a given time period would react to a source. Here she encourages readers to question how one's status would affect their outlook on an event. "Individual perspectives [give individuals] different views and therefore different accounts." It is completely about perspective, hence the importance of trying to gain a view similar to the author of a source. As a historian this skill allows one to dig deeper into meanings behind sources and connect what the author says to the bigger historical

Show More
Related

  • Over Here: How the G.I. Bill Transformed the American Dream, by Edward Humes

    1107 Words  | 3 Pages

    When it comes to learning about events and people in history, nothing beats a primary source. There is information directly from the event and there are no worries about incorrect data because the author was there to witness said event. But the main problem with primary sources is the fact that it only covers part of the story. So if a book is written about, say, the concentration camps of World War II, then all that it would be about would be that persons view of the camps, not what was happening during the actually war. This is where secondary sources come in. Secondary sources are written by authors who were not involved in the event, but rather did research on said event and wrote a novel covering what they believe to be all important aspects. Secondary sources are helpful when wanting to know more than just one aspect of an event, for example, you can know what was happening with the ally powers and axis powers, rather than just one or the other. Despite not being involved in the events, secondary sources still tend to contain bias. This essay will cover the bias of the novel Over Here: How the G.I. Bill Transformed the American Dream, by Edward Humes and how this either helped to prove or disprove his thesis.

    Read More

  • Nickel And Dimed by Barbara Ehrenreich

    1376 Words  | 3 Pages

    The critic would argue, “.They are baffled at the idea of fighting the class struggle of which. Ehrenriech appears to be the only person complaining about the situation.” In George’s case, he just moved to a new country and does not understand the way things work.... ... middle of paper ...

    Read More

  • Elie Wiesel Persuasive Speech

    533 Words  | 2 Pages

    Elie Wiesel not only spoke on his behalf but also on behalf of all the victims of the Holocaust. His words do not only pertain to his situation but to the situations of every world crisis that has been failed to be acknowledged. Elie’s words can be related universally and makes you question, where were these people that are supposedly suppose to be the voices for the silent? The world thrives for equality but how can a world grow and unit if the people are silent. Elie makes valid points throughout the novel that can be referred to other situations in the past and are to come in the future.

    Read More

  • The Houses of History, by Anna Green and Kathleen Troup

    965 Words  | 2 Pages

    A beginning group of historians to take a closer look at is the empiricists. The empiricists have a very strictly factual and logical view on history and how to examine it. They believe that past is both “observable and verifiable” and that through adherence to three strict principles, the past can be represented objectively and accurately. (Green, Troup 3) The three aforementioned principles can be summed up as: meticulously examining historical evidence and verifying the evidence with references, making sure the research is completely impartial and free of biases and prejudices, and using an inductive, or observational, method of reasoning. (Green, Troup 3) The empiricists seek to find universal historical truths through objective research and sticking to the facts.

    Read More

  • Analysis Of The Guy Who Makes A Mock Of Democracy

    246 Words  | 1 Pages

    A primary source is an unfiltered window into the past that gives students access to the artistic, scientific, social, and political beliefs of a specific time period. As a result, primary sources allow college students the chance to critically analyze said beliefs and form their own unique interpretation of a time period. An example of this would be the college student, Ellen Ackerman, who is currently analyzing the primary source, The Guy Who Makes a Mock of Democracy (an old World War Two political cartoon illustrated by Doctor Seuss and published by PM Magazine), in order to present her interpretation for the final project of her history class. Through the close analysis of this primary source, Ellen is able to conclude racial prejudice

    Read More

  • The Radicalism Of The American Revolution Gordon S. Wood Summary

    1214 Words  | 3 Pages

    The education of an author on their topic is the biggest contributor to their reliability; having enough prior knowledge and background information on a subject is crucial when providing a historical analysis. An author’s personal background is of great importance as well, because their personal heritage and beliefs may lead to bias and misrepresentation of information, which removes all credibility of them and/or their work as source. Partiality, favoritism, and/or prejudice towards a specific demographic can create a blurred line between what is fact and what is opinion, which in turn can allow for personal assessments to be presented as arguments and facts even though they have been influenced to a great extent by prior thoughts and opinions.

    Read More

  • Birmingham Jail Primary Sources

    977 Words  | 2 Pages

    A primary source is a piece written at the time of the event; in addition, they’re written by someone who witnessed or experienced the event. For example, In Dr. King’s “Letter from Birmingham Jail” he states, “16 April 1963…While confined here in the Birmingham city jail, I came across your recent statement calling my present activities "unwise and untimely." This would be an example of a primary document since Dr. King wrote it during the civil rights movement. While, secondary sources are not a first hand account of an event; equally as important, they analyze, summarize or evaluate a primary source. For example, in “America The Essential Learning Edition, Volume 2” written by David Shi and George Tindall it states, “The Montgomery bus boycott achieved remarkable unity. For 381 days, African Americans, women and men, used carpools…” (Shi and Tindall 987). This history textbook serves as a secondary source seeing that it’s written after this time period and is summarizing the accounts of the Montgomery bus boycott. When passing new laws or even in friendly debates, it is important to look at ways history is a part of secondary sources, while secondary sources are dependent on primary

    Read More

  • Conflicting Perspectives in Shakespeare's Julius Caesar and Aldous Huxley's Brave New World

    973 Words  | 2 Pages

    Conflicting perspectives are an innate corollary of the subjective human experience. Shakespeare's 'Julius Caesar' explores disparate representations of events and personalities to give rise to truth and the language in which it is expressed as innately unstable. Moreover, Julius Caesar and Aldous Huxley's 'Brave New World' offer disparate class perspectives to undermine the possibility of truth as anything but iridescent and personal.

    Read More

  • The Perspective And The Purpose Of History

    1099 Words  | 3 Pages

    History is a story told over time. It is a way of recreating the past so it can be studied in the present and re-interpreted for future generations. Since humans are the sole beneficiaries of history, it is important for us to know what the purpose of history is and how historians include their own perspective concerning historical events. The purpose and perspective of history is vital in order for individuals to realise how it would be almost impossible for us to live out our lives effectively if we had no knowledge of the past. Also, in order to gain a sound knowledge of the past, we have to understand the political, social and cultural aspects of the times we are studying.

    Read More

  • E. H. Carr Believes Everyone Draws Their Own Conclusions in His Book, The Historian and His Facts, and Causation in History

    620 Words  | 2 Pages

    In Carr’s article, The Historian and His Facts, and Causation in History, he states that the study and interpretation of history reflects our own position in time and what we can take out of it as a society. It’s all about the viewpoint of the individual researching or telling the event. Carr supports this idea by stating that, everyone draws their own conclusions. This idea of having your own conclusions is the case for writing and recording history as a historian from the beginning of human history. Every historian has a bias or a viewpoint on a historical topic and event. Some historians focus only on one side of the event while, others focus on multiple sides, but pick which one they believe is a bit better. Some historians only focus on the human aspects of an event and reach the conclusion that only humans drive history. On the other end of the spectrum a historian could only focus on the environmental factors of an event and reach the conclusion it was only that, that shaped history. Carr refers to this idea as “Necessarily selective” in which they pick what they want to write...

    Read More

  • Does History Matter?

    988 Words  | 2 Pages

    Millions of people have gone great lengths to record every part of the past. We may not know much about the future but we have more than enough information about the past. The knowledge about our past has helped us in many ways. Historians, teachers, doctors, students, lawyers and many more have relied on history books and researches on significant events in history to prove their point. The question why history matters has been asked many times. It has been asked by students, teachers and parents sometimes. Some people may see this question as ridiculously easy but I see it as one of the hardest ones yet asked. Does History matter? This question can’t be answered in one sentence. Try asking people why history is important and the answer is usually “It’s to learn from our mistakes”. It’s not right to summarize over 4 billion years of history in one sentence. This question can be easily answered in numerous ways. I would side with the numerous historians who say history holds huge significance. History is older than any object or human being we have ever come across. History has proved itself significance with the help of human beings. We, the people have used history and made it one the most significant thing in present. History holds itself significant because it has helped us understand human behaviors, change in societies, mistakes influential figures have made in past, the past events occurrence and many other reasons. The most important reason is that history protects us by preparing us for the incoming. This essay would analyze the importance of history today by using the past events for evidence.

    Read More

  • History is the Bridge that Connects the Past with the Present and Future

    608 Words  | 2 Pages

    History is the bridge that connects the past with the present. Without history, we have no future. The past gives value to our present. David C. McCullough stated, “History is a guide to navigation in perilous times. History is who we are and why we are the way we are”. I agree with McCullough, history gives us a purpose. History allows us to investigate and interpret the past in order to see how we developed and where we came from. We can get an idea of what has influenced our past and present, and also what will shape our future. We can see what previous generations did and whether or not t...

    Read More

  • It is Important to have Knowledge of History

    1106 Words  | 3 Pages

    Though our history may bring back horrible memories of the ?grimmest dimensions of human nature? (Limerick 472), it is necessary to have a good historical background. History gives us the ability to improve future outputs, satisfy our unending need for knowledge, and understand how many policies and regulations have come to be. Without history mankind would be very primitive and ununified. Our complete molding of the world today is almost completely dependent on the fact that we study our history. Without history present day humans would be nothing more than cavemen.

    Read More

  • Importance Of History Essay

    1255 Words  | 3 Pages

    Learning about history helps us learn about the humanities own reflection and what’s good or bad about it. This is just like a diary , people and by people I mean historians , just wrote what they saw and what seemed to cause a major change in society and we just happen to be reading it a couple of years later. I believe that historians actually wrote historical truth because it makes sense and it has been scientifically proven

    Read More

  • Essay On Historical Criticism

    1564 Words  | 4 Pages

    Historical Criticism is criticism that “considers how military, social, cultural, economic, scientific, intellectual, literary, and every other kind of history helps us to understand the author and the work” (Lynn 142). Simply stated, unlike the previously discussed criticisms, Historical Criticism connects a work to certain times or places, revealing its historical influences. Therefore, the reader is required to perform research in order to learn more about the author’s life, the author’s time period and culture, and the way of reasoning during that time. Accordingly, with a critical eye, the reader should relate the information back to the work which will provide the reader with a richer understanding of the reading as well as with author’s message to the reader (Lynn 29-31). Beyond “close reading”, the reader must research what establishes the foundation of the work. Although, below the foundation of a work there lies an even richer understanding of the

    Read More

More about Primary Sources Kenneth Walbert Summary

Open Document