REAPHIS

Full Name: VILLAFLOR, GABRIELLE VINCENT ARANTE

Program & Section Code: BSA-478
DIRECTIONS: in less than 600 words you will write a narrative about ways of debunking a historical fact and give ways
and tips on how to distinguish a fact to a fake information. Write your answer in the space provided below.

UNIT ACTIVITY #2: NARRATIVE PAPER

History can be said to be the bases of things that make up what we see in present. These are past events
that doesn’t necessarily define us as an individual, a race, or even as a nation. But we must remember that events
that happened in the past is what shaped us and that is history. For the years that every person had been living in
their whole lives, we heard and stumbled upon different stories. It may be a part of the history of a certain place
or even the nation. Learning history is relevant as it is, it is something that we must learn to engage into something
meaningful, to gain knowledge that basically our ancestors have left to us. History is a fountain full of information
that is waiting to be fed upon unto our brains, down to the stream, into our cradle of knowledge. But that doesn’t
mean that all these information were reliable and factual. History is fascinating and we tend to easily grip into
that piece of knowledge that is given to us especially if it’s given firsthand. But we must know on how to critically
examine these pieces of information that’s given to us. Our brain may be a piece of sponge that absorbs
knowledge, but we must ensure that what we absorb is something truthful, reliable, and factual in every aspect.
We must know how to properly examine it to debunk those that’s fake and to know what a factual part of history
really is.
Historical controversies persisted in our country till now. Many historical stories are spread on different
social media platforms which is why, we need to know how to debunk misinformation from historical facts. One
of the things that we must look at is the publisher or the author. We must check if the author is credible for his/her
works and of course we must look at his biography if he/she is a historian. If it isn’t a historian look at the book
that the author had publish. Identify whether it is a primary or secondary source. If it’s secondary source, then
you should look at its sources. “A good history book cites its sources.” Said by a Filipino historian and a professor
at La Salle, Xiao Chua. Remember to identify the credibility of the historian or the author. Since historical facts
are gathered from gathered evidences, one must carefully criticize and scrutinize its sources. Remember to look
not just one but from multiple sources. One must also know that it is more credible if the historian is presenting
the fact transparently by showing on how they found the evidence. These are simple ways to debunk historical
facts. When reading history there are also times that you would understand it differently, but it doesn’t mean that
it isn’t true. We just keep in mind that when reading presented data to identify facts, we must remember that every
individual has different perspective. It will differ on how will you interpret the presented data and conclude into
something factual.