At the end of semester, after we had done two major assignments for interpreting historical sources, I think I finally have a grasp on what “doing” history is. For our final reading log, we had to write about what history is and how you do it. This was my response to that reading log:
History is the study of events and people throughout a certain period of time. It is analyzing documents, photos, government files, and many others in order to truly know what happened in that period. History is taking an interpretation of events that took place and exploring what people did, felt and etcetera during a certain event. Throughout this course, I have learned new techniques for analyzing sources in order to get a proper interpretation and understanding of the particular source. I have learned through this course that you cannot learn how to do history through a textbook. In order to do history, you must simply take an interpretation of a source, analyze other sources to make sure you are on the right track and take on the mindset of a person in that era.
Comparing this response to what I thought history was at the beginning of the semester, I have learned a lot about history and how you do it. My views have changed quite a lot as to what I believe history is and how it is done.