Crafting Historical Arguments and evidence(DBQ): During this year,one aspect of what we learned was the use of DBQ"s or document based questions. Through using DBQ"s we also learned as a class of a way to simplify document analysis by using a method called soapstone. SOAPS -TONE stands for speaker,occasion,audience,purpose and subject. In a DBQ essay we are usually given from five to ten documents in which we need to analyze and compare by grouping in order to state a claim about that time period. DBQ's give insight on a certain topic that is being questioned,however some documents may be one side or negative while others are unbiased and give complete information. Documents differ from the fact that they are written by a historical figure from a certain time frame in a certain position and can be used to create an inference of the time frame. Documents have different meanings aspects and purposes, while some documents may have affected history others are unknown, but could possibly help guide you towards an answer.The skill of analyzing a document is useful since it is not necessary only for DBQ's but for a wide array of topics.
For example, if you are writing a compare over time essay on the Haitian Revolution you would want to know that it was the first successful slave revolt that sparked the creation of many other revolutionaries world wide. But to give a better example on this you would also want to know what was actually going on durig this time , so you could give an additional document from the perspective of a Haitian slave. This is a way of analyzing documents to find the meaning of a group of documents and interpret them in my own words to create a better understanding and a reasonable argument. By stating the previous this shows that i am able to interpret documents and write a thesis based on historical facts to provide a reasonable argument.
Chronological Reasoning(COT): Historical thinking involves the ability to identify certain aspects of a period in time and evaluating similarities and differences from then and now as well as the interpretation of long-term and short-effect caused by and creating history as we know it. If you are able to recognize a certain point in time and effectively compare it side by side with several others this is a key aspect of the way a historian would think.Further on, being able to analyze a time frame by studying it and creating an idea of what would be possible. From that point an evaluation would be giving and reassessing what you know by thinking back to certain time periods and making chronological connections.
Comparison and Contextualization: Historical thinking in this aspect is through the involvement of the ability to describe, analyze, evaluate and give a detailed interpretation of the past. The comparison will involve similarities between regions, nations , societies and how they work and in which ways they can relate to on another. The contextualization aspect involves the knowledge of a topic in which similarities have already been found and as well as the connection to specific historical developments.
Comparison and contrast would be used to show the similarities between two particular places in time regions or etc. The use of comparison and contrast is effective in showing specific traits of a particular region or person.By using contextualization, however that is interpreting an occurence and then using it in relation to another idea ofr for comparison.
Historical Interpretation and Synthesis:Historical thinking involves the ability to describe, analyze evaluate and create diverse interpretations of the past.Interpretation is a key aspect of analytical synthesis, since reasonings for a certain time period as well as the points of view of historical figures and characters that play a role in the development of history as we know it.Synthesis of different fields of understanding apply to the reasons for the use of historical thinking.
An example of the use of historical thinking in a learning environment would be through the use of a flow chart.A flow chart is used to organize and list occurrences or ideas of a certain topic or moments in time by first stating why an event happened and the gradually elaborating into something such as who caused the event to happen? , what the outcome couldv'e been if the odds were in the opposers favor. This is what i have learned on historical Interpretation and synthesis.