Lesson Plan: The Value of History?
By Eric W. Sager, History Department, University of Victoria
These questions can be given to students in advance. They should begin by reading the article Is history more than just getting the facts right?
1.Why Was The Movie Argo Controversial?
A scene from the movie Argo
- The movie is about the rescue of six U.S. citizens caught up in the 1979 Iran hostage crisis. The film portrays the rescue as a CIA operation, and suggests that the CIA allowed Canadians to get the credit. In fact the rescue was a Canadian operation, with CIA co-operation.
- Other sources: “History must reflect Argo was mainly a Canadian mission,” Globe and Mail, 24 February 2013.
- “Ken Taylor sets the record straight,” Globe and Mail, 25 February 2013.
Ken Taylor
2. Should Movies About Past Events Always Be Historically Accurate?
Cate Blanchett depicting Queen Elizabeth I of England
- Perhaps a film can remain true to the causes and consequences of past events, even while changing specific events for dramatic effect.
- See also: “What do students learn from historical feature films?” Teaching history.org.
3. If History Is Not Just Facts About The Past, What Is It?
A few definitions of History:
- “There is properly no history,only biography.” (Ralph Waldo Emerson)
- “History is past politics, and politics present history.” (Edward A. Freeman)
- “The history of all hitherto existing society is the history of class struggles.” (Karl Marx and Friedrich Engels, The Communist Manifesto).
- “History is ‘the memory of things said and done.’” (Carl Becker)
- “History is a dialogue between the present and the past.” (E.H.Carr).
- See also: “Why History – UVicResponds” at YouTube ( 2 minutes 50 seconds).
4. “history Is Also A Set Of Skills,” Says E. Sager In His Times-Colonist Article. What Skills?
See also “The Historical Thinking Project” at UBC
5. Who Is Tamara Vrooman?
Tamara Vrooman was a History student at the University of Victoria. She is now (2013) Chief Executive Officer of Vancity, Canada’s largest credit union.
Tamara Vrooman
Other prominent Canadians who studied history or wrote history books: Conrad Black, businessman; Lester Pearson, prime minister; Frank Leonard, mayor of Saanich; Mark Hill, co-founder of WestJet Airlines; Rear-Admiral Tyrone Pile, former Commander, Maritime Forces Pacific.
Rear- Admiral Tyrone Pile
6. The Quotation From L.P. Hartley Contains An Analogy. What Is The Analogy? What Do We Learn By Going Into The Past?
The past is said to be “a foreign country.” Thus doing history is like travelling to a foreign country.
London, 1929 (AP Photo)
Fernand Braudel, the great French historian, addressing French readers, wrote this: “Live in London for a year and you will not know much about England. But by contrast, in light of what has surprised you, you will suddenly have come to understand some of the most deep-seated and characteristic aspects of France, things you did not know before because you knew them too well. With regard to the present, the past too is a way of distancing yourself.” Braudel, On History (1981).
7. Who Is Andrew Preston? In His Article Sager Compares What The Film Lincoln Does, With What Preston Achieves. What Is The Comparison?
Andrew Preston
- Andrew Preston is Senior Lecturer in American History at Clare College, Cambridge University in England.
- The film is “entertaining,” and it portrays the Lincoln that Americans already know. By contrast, Preston shows us Lincoln in a new way – a Lincoln that was never before seen in this way. Preston’s book gives us “wisdom” – a much deeper knowledge of the religious roots of American politics. Thanks to Preston, we now know that even some presidents (Lincoln, Franklin Delano Roosevelt) previously thought to be non-religious, really were moved by religious influences.
- See Andrew Preston, “How God Shaped Lincoln’s War,” Huffington Post, 20 March 2013.
Abraham Lincoln
