Sherine Anne Vizconde

Readings in the Philippine History

Page 4
1. What is history? How is your understanding of history different from what is explained in this
lesson?
- History is knowledge about the past produced by historians. Before this lesson I think that
history is merely important events, dates, places, and list of names but as I go deeper I learned
that these can solve today’s situation and to the future.
2. What does a historian do? As a student of history, what do you think will be your “duties”?
- A historian has the job of studying and interpreting the past, as a student of history we have the
responsibilities to share the answers they discover and develop with others, and to explain the
relevance of those findings for the benefit of modern society.
3. What role does history take in the study off Philippine society, culture, and identity?
- By learning our history, we would know our origin. This would give us an understanding of our
own identity. History gives us the key to our culture. In that way, we would know how to
preserve it.
4. How did the word “history” come about? Discuss its etymology and evolution.
The word history came from the Greek word istoia which means learning but as time goes by the
equivalent Latin word scientia became used more often and the word history was reserved
usually for accounts of phenomena. But now the most common definition of history is “the past
of mankind”
5. How is history commonly defined according to Gottschalk?
- Gottschalk states that he has written Understanding History for the beginner and the amateur. It
provides the graduate student with the basic guidance he will need for his research as well as
information on the more theoretical aspects of history. The book is equally valuable, however,
for the established historian interested in history, for it suggests new views or fresh approaches to
old ones on the broad subject of historical method.

Page 9
1. What is the main distinction between primary source and secondary source?
- Primary source are the first hand information or the closest to the origin while secondary
sources involves interpretation and analysis of the primary source.
2. Why is primary source important in the study of history?
- Primary source is important in the study of history because it gives historian evidences.
According to Barnes (2020) Primary source are clues from the past.
3. What is the purpose of a secondary source?
Secondary sources which are the interpreted primary source had been used to discuss certain
subjects of history. It also explain the different view about the primary source and help people to
understand the meanings of different artifacts.
4. At present, how do you discriminate between contradicting reports of a single event from
different sources?
- First is, I identify which of the reports came from a credible source and that is when I judge
whether of the reports is reliable.
5. Why should official records of the government be made accessible to the public?
- It is mainly for transparency.