“You Be the Historian!”An examination of what it takes to be an historian.

What is an historian?

• An historian is a person who studies and writes about past events.

• Historians are typically considered the authority in regard to specific historical events.

• Historians provide historical context for prior events by discovering information, examining it and finally organizing their research into scholarly submissions.

“The Three Hats of Historians”

• Detective (Hat #1): Historians look for or research evidence (sources).

• Scholar (Hat #2): Historians use their evidence or research to understand the historical context or framework.

• Writer (Hat #3): Once Historians have found evidence, analyze or understand it, then they put it all together in a final draft.

• All three hats are necessary to wear in order to be considered credible.

Historical Context

• The who, what, where, when, why and how of histories (framework).

• Historians use various primary and secondary sources in order to provide context of historical events.

• What is an example of a primary and secondary source?

• Without historical context, events may not be understood completely nor may they be considered valid.

• Gaps in historical context are open to be argued against by opponents of theories or research.

The Scholarly Method

• A way to make sure your statements are valid and trustworthy.

• Three steps: research (detect), analyze (understand), and develop your own original framework or historical context (report).

• These three steps may be done in the order above or in any order that may make more sense to you.

Step #1: Research (Detect)

• During this step, you are a detective who is asking questions (who, what, where, when, why, and how).

• You have to find sources whether it is online or through books.

• These sources need to be researched to find information to make your framework.

• As you research or detect, you need to make sure the sources you use are creditable or trustworthy.

• Be careful if you use Wikipedia, it is great to fact check but academically it is not a creditable source.

Step #1 Cont. . . (Primary and Secondary Sources)

• Primary sources - first hand accounts from the exact moment in history being studied like: personal diaries, speeches, interviews, original photograph or film, and official records

• Secondary sources – secondhand accounts that are a step or two removed from the actual event. So not an original thought like: textbooks, movie or book reviews, and encyclopedias.

• Take useful notes! (record page numbers, save webpages, underline passages or information).

Step #2: Understand (Analyze)

• Research leads into understanding or analyzing your research.

• Your research should answer: who, what, where, when, why and how.

• In this step, you learn what sources are more useful than others.

• Understanding your research is important and if you take great notes while you research you should understand: who, what, where, when, why and how more easily than before.

Step #3: Develop (Report)

• The first two steps allow for you to begin to develop a framework of history.

• By this time, you should already have a rough draft by having solid notes to refer to when you write your final draft.

• The third step is used to polish or perfect your final draft.

• Make sure you give credit where it is deserved. Using anyone else’s work without giving them credit is plagiarism. Plagiarism is a terrible habit to get into and it will lead to academic problems.

Plagiarism and Citation

• Plagiarism – taking someone’s work and passing it off as your own work.

• Tips to avoid plagiarism: take great notes, put a date on any notes or work you do, cite sources (give credit to other people’s work) and double check to make sure your sources are valid or trustworthy.

• Citation – a way to give credit to someone else’s work you use in your work.

• Only used when it is not your own original thought. You do not need to cite someone who states the sky is blue or a river has water. Only cite some else’s thought that is not yours.

Citation

• At this time, we will only use citations when we do our weekly current events assignments.

• Three ways to cite: direct quote, paraphrase and bibliography citation

• May use a citation website called easybib.com to help you properly cite.

• Basic formula: author’s last name, Title of work. date used. page number/website. = (snell, powerpoint. 8/8/15).

Examples of Citations

• Direct quote citation (author’s exact words): “Muslim Arab tribes entered the Jazirah from the north (Ochsenwald, The Middle East. P.39).”

• Paraphrased citation (author’s ideas but in your own words): The Jazirah was invaded by Umar’s Muslim Arab forces (Ochsenwald, The Middle East. P.39).

• Bibliography citation (full citation from a source used that is on a separate word cited page): Fisher, Sydney Nettleton, and William Ochsenwald. The Middle East: A History. 6th ed. New York: McGraw-Hill, 2004. Print.

• For direct quote or paraphrased citations: after you use a source once, you just need the author’s last name and the page number or website).

• Example: (Ochsenwald, P.39). Or if using a website: (Steiner, www.daytondailynews.com).

Historical Framework While Using Timelines

• B.C. = Before Christ

• B.C.E. = Before Common Era

• Both are the same exact way to date time BEFORE Christ’s birth in year 1 A.D.

• A.D. = anno domini (Latin) “in the year of Lord Jesus Christ”

• C.E. = common era

• Both are the same exact way to date time AFTER Christ’s birth in year 1 A.D. or 1 C.E.

How Does B.C. or B.C.E Work?

• B.C. or B.C.E. timelines go from larger to smaller in numbers.

• Example: 3000 B.C.E. or B.C. is later in history than 2000 B.C.E. or B.C. 3000 B.C.E. happened before 2000 B.C.E.

• B.C.E. or B.C. works left to right and the end of B.C.E. or B.C. is year 1 A.D.

• There is no year 0!

Take a minute or 2… put these B.C.E. dates in the correct order from oldest to newest

• REMEMBER! B.C.E. goes from larger to smaller. The larger the number the oldest it is and smaller the number the newest it is in history.

• 539 B.C.E

• 2000 B.C.E.

• 3500 B.C.E.

• 626 B.C

• 1792 B.C.

How Does A.D. or C.E. Work?

• A.D. or C.E. works left to right but it goes smaller to larger.

• The smaller the A.D. or C.E. year the oldest it is to 2015.

• 1000 A.D. or C.E. is older than 1900 A.D. or C.E.

• We are currently using A.D. or C.E. Our date currently is the summer season of 2015 A.D. or C.E.

Once again, take a minute or 2 to place the following dates from oldest to most recent.

• REMEMBER! A.D. or C.E. goes from smallest to largest numbers in history.

• 1500 C.E.

• 300 A.D.

• 2200 C.E.

• 2015 C.E.

• 1796 A.D.