Interpreting Written Sources Flashcards

Flashcards to help review lecture notes on interpreting written sources in history.

How is history related to society?

History is to society as memory is to the individual.

What is history, according to the lecture notes?

History is what historians tell us about the past, based on their interpretation of surviving evidence.

What is historiography?

The writing of history, where historians approach a topic with a question and examine the historical record to answer it.

What introduces distortion of the truth in historical accounts?

Historians' interpretations of sources introduce distortion.

What is one of the reasons Historical sources may leave major gaps in the record?

Lost sources.

Why are most surviving records not representative of the population?

They usually reflect the history of a very small group (e.g., nobility, kings).

What questions should you ask when critically reading a document?

Where was the document written? What is the main idea? Why was it written? What do I know about the author? What is the tone?

How can understanding an author's background and purpose help you?

It helps you understand their frame of reference, point of view, and potential biases.

How can you figure out unfamiliar words or phrases?

Use context clues, parts of speech, substitute words, related familiar words, or bypass the word.

What is 'historical context' when examining a document?

When the document was written and what was going on at that time.

Define 'frame of reference' in the context of historical sources.

Assumptions under which a source must be understood.

How can you detect bias in a source?

Consider what the author chooses to write about, the words they use (positive or negative), what they leave out, their sympathy towards the subjects, and similarities between the author and those described.

What effect do biases have?

Biases are points of view unsupported by facts and can prevent us from understanding the true nature of events.

According to lecture notes, is distortion avoidable when reviewing historical evidence?

It is not clearly stated whether distortion is avoidable, but that historical evidence distorts our view of the past.