GE8 REVIEWER

CHAPTER 1
Lesson 1: The
Meaning of History
History from Greek word historia – learning by inquiry
systemic accounting of a set of natural phenomena, considering
chronological arrangement (Aristotle)
knowledge is derived through conducting a process of scientific
investigation of past events
Factual History plain and basic information vis-à-vis what, when, where, who
Speculative History goes beyond facts, concerned about reasons why and the way
how it happened; cause and effect
Historians individuals who write about history
seek to understand the present by examining what went before
Historiography practice of historical writing
traditional method in doing historical research – gathering of
documents from different libraries and archives to form pool of
evidences to make descriptive and analytical narrative;
archeology, geography

Limitation of Historical incompleteness of records

Knowledge
most human affairs happen without leaving any evidence or
records of any kind
History-as-actuality whole history of the past; can only be known through surviving
records
History-as-record surviving records; only a tiny part of whole phenomenon

History as the historians strive to restore the total past of mankind

Subjective process of
re-creation
Verisimilitude historian’s aim; truth, authenticity, plausibility about a past

Historical Method process of critically examining and analyzing records and

survivals of past
Historiography imaginative reconstruction of the past from data received by the
process of historical method
Historical Analysis important element of historical method
1. select the subject to investigate
2. collect probable sources of information on the subject
3. examine the sources’ genuineness, in part of in whole
4. extract credible “particulars” from the sources
The synthesis of the “particulars” thus derived is historiography.
Lesson 2: Sources of
Historical Data
Historical Data sourced from artifacts left by the past;
relics, remains, testimonies of witnesses
Historical Sources object from the past or testimony concerning the past historians
depend on to create depiction of the past
Historical result of the depiction
Work/Interpretation
Relics/Remains offer clue about the past
ex. Relics or remains of a prehistoric settlement
artifacts can be found where relics of human happenings can be
found
artifacts or documents are materials out of which history may be
written
Testimonies of oral or written; serve as records or might have been created for
Witnesses some other purposes; describe an event be it property exchange,
speeches, and commentaries
Historians deal with 1. dynamic or genetic (the becoming)
2. static (being)
3. aims at being interpretative (explain why and how things
happened and were interrelated)
4. being descriptive (what, when, where, who)
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Written Sources of
History
1. Narrative or chronicles or tracts presented in narrative form; written to impart
Literature message whose motives for composition vary widely; broader
than what is usually considered fiction
scientific tract – typically composed in order to inform
contemporaries or succeeding generation
newspaper article – might be intended to shape opinion
ego document/personal narrative – diary or memoir; might be
composed in order to persuade readers of the justice of the
author’s actions
novel/film – might be made to entertain, deliver moral teaching,
or to further religious cause
biography – might be written in praise of the subject’s worth and
achievement; panegyric (public speech or published text);
hagiography (writing of the lives of saints)
2. Diplomatic Sources those which document/record an existing legal situation or
create a new one; historians treated as purest, “best” source
charter – legal instrument
legal documents – usually sealed or authenticated to provide
evidence in a judicial proceeding in case of dispute
possess specific formal properties; hand and print style, ink, seal,
external properties and rhetorical devices and images for internal
properties
3. Social Documents information pertaining to economic, social, political, or judicial
significance; records kept by bureaucracies
government reports, municipal accounts, research findings,
parliamentary procedures, civil registry records, property registers,
records of census

Non-Written Sources of
History
1. Material or one of the most importance unwritten evidences
Archeological Evidence
pottery, jewelry, dwellings, graves, churches, roads, etc. that tell
a story about the past
can tell about the ways of life of people in the past and their
culture; can reveal socio-cultural interconnections of the different
groups of people; commercial exchange may be revealed by the
presence of artifacts in different places; any other traces of
former settlement
excavations of roads, sewer lines, big building structures; coins
or monies can provide historians with significant information
relating to government transactions; visual representations of the
past – drawings, etchings, paintings, films, and photographs
2. Oral Evidence told by tales or sagas of ancient people; folk songs or popular
rituals
modern oral evidence such as interviews

Primary Sources original, first-hand account of an event or period usually written

or made during close to the event or period
original and factual, not interpretative; key function is to provide
facts
diaries, journals, letters, newspaper and magazine articles
(factual accounts), government records (census, marriage,
military), photographs, maps, postcards, posters, recorded or
transcribes speeches, interviews with participants or witnesses,
interviews with people who lived during a certain time, songs,
plays, novels, stories, paintings,, drawings, and sculptures
Secondary or Indirect materials made by people long after the events being described
Sources had taken place; provide valuable interpretations of historical
events
analyze and interpret primary sources; interpretation of second-
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hand account of a historical event
biographies, histories, literary criticism, books written by a third
party about a historical event, art and theater reviews,
newspaper or journal articles that interpret
Lesson 3: Historical
Criticisms
Historical Criticism examines origin of earliest text to appreciate the underlying
circumstances upon which the text came to be
Important goals:
1. discover original meaning of text in its primitive or historical
context and its literal sense or sensus literalis historicus
2. establish reconstruction of the historical investigation of the
historical situation of the author and recipients of the text
has its roots in the 17th century during Protestant Reformation
and gained popular recognition in the 19th and 20th centuries
Various methodologies:
1. Source Criticism – analyzes and studies sources used by
biblical authors
2. Form Criticism – seeks to determine a unit’s original form and
historical context of the literary tradition
3. Redaction Criticism – regards the author of the text as editor
of the source materials
4. Tradition Criticism – attempts to trace developmental stages of
the oral tradition from its historical emergence to its literary
presentation
5. Canonical Criticism – focuses its interpretation of the bible on
the text of biblical canon
Two parts of historical criticism:
1. Determine the authenticity of the material – provenance of the
source; determine the origin of the material, its author, and
sources of information used; external criticism is used
2. Weigh the testimony to the truth – examine the
trustworthiness of the testimonies as well as determine the
probability of the statements to be true; internal or higher
criticism is used
External Criticism determines authenticity of the source
Authenticity may be tested in two ways:
1. By palaeographical – deciphering the dating of historical
manuscripts
2. Diplomatic Criticism – critical analysis of historical document
to understand how the document came to be, the information
transmitted, and relationships between the facts purported in the
document and reality
material must be investigated based on the time and place it was
written; critic must determine whether the material under
investigation is raw, unaltered, and exists exactly as the author
left it; content must be viewed in every possible angle
Internal Criticism determines historicity of facts contained in the document; facts
contained in the document must first be tested before any
conclusion pertaining it can be admitted
character or sources, knowledge of the author, influences
prevalent at the time of writing must be carefully investigated;
facts given by the author must be firmly established as having
taken place exactly as reported
Test of Authenticity to distinguish a hoax or a misinterpretation from a genuine
document to see whether they are not anachronistic
anachronistic – belonging to a period other than that being
portrayed
isographies – dictionaries of biography giving examples of
handwriting
seals – subject of special study by sigillographers, and expert can
detect fake ones
anachronistic styles – idiom, orthography, or punctuation; can be
detected by specialists who are familiar with contemporary
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writing
anachronistic references to events – too early, late, or remote;
dating of a document at a time when the alleged writer could not
possibly have been at the place designated (the alibi) uncovers
fraud