Paige, Jordan and I met at Panera on Saturday to discuss the reading. We had a yummy meal and then got right on topic and talked about what we thought about the reading. We mutually agreed that this was one of our favorite readings thus far. We thought it was interesting and easy to understand for the most part. First of all, we discussed that history is what we create and it’s different for everyone based on their cultures and life. This simply means that each person has a different outlook on what history is.
History came from all the events that stood out and were documented, we also discussed that history came from when the first events were documented and recorded to be passed on and told to later generations.
On the bottom of 67 we found a quote that says, “Change in the present must surely change the past in ways that we may very well not understand only because we never stop to ponder them.” History may have been created in the past, but it gets changes every day. This is done by adding things to textbooks or leaving things out in order to make the readers believe one side.
When is an event is considered part of history? On Page 67 the author states that “No one that I have heard of has ever found a line between the present and the past. And a moment’s reflection shows that none is likely ever to be found. Where could that line be drawn? A second ago?” We talked about how interesting it was to think about when a person should distinguish between the past and the present. When the moment someone dies are they a part of history? Or do they have to be dead for a certain amount of time? We thought that a person or an event could be a part of the past, or history, when we would use past tense to describe it.
Past tense could have happened a second ago. We think of “the past” and history that same. On Page 81 the author states that, “I was already well aware that history only scrapes the surface of the past.” Meaning the past is everything, but history is what we record of the past.
Before reading this article, whenever I thought about what is considered a part of history I always thought that history was something that happened a long time ago…things we read in our textbooks that occurred years ago. After reading this article and thinking deeper about what “history” is. My mind set is much different. As stated above, I believe history is constantly occurring and changing.
I liked how all three of you mentioned the idea of creating history, or at least having a different perspective on history. I totally agree! Growing up in the same area as you guys, i see where you are coming from. The way we might view history is going to be very different than the way someone who lives in the cities or a more rural area. I had always thought that what we were taught in school "must" be right! But i dunno, high school was a while ago, who knows now?? :)
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