Why Study History? - Chp. 8-B

Front

The decline of an agreed-upon national _____ being taught in schools and carried forward into public culture.

Back

story

Front

Our authors indicate that it is the responsibility of historians to perform a civic duty by contributing historical perspectives in the context of present political disagreement(s).

Back

This Statement is a Correct Summary of the Authors' Perspective

Answer explanation

What came first: the disagreement or the lack of a national story?

As our author's wryly observe, "Crafting an accepted national story becomes more difficult when liberals and conservatives are shouting at each other."

Front

According to our authors, nostalgia needs to be teased out for its implications because nostalgic arguments about the past often, and erroneously, point to a past that was "better" than the world today.

Back

Correctly Summarized from Authors' Work

Answer explanation

"Excessive nostalgia is often shoddy history, based on myths of a past golden age and used to justify a contemporary political or theological viewpoint."

Front

A crude and simplistic approach, per our authors, and it reminds us of another historical fallacy: _____

Back

teleology

Front

Our authors use the issue of voting rights in the United States to underscore the importance of knowing the history of a topic in order to develop stronger understanding and arguments of current problems.

Back

A True Paraphrase of Our Authors' Work

Answer explanation

"Debate surges over how electoral districts are defined and how groups are encouraged or impeded in the voting process.

A historical perspective is needed when considering these issues' roots in a Constitution written in the eighteenth century, the practices of gerrymandering and Jim Crow developed and named in the nineteenth century, and the civil rights struggles that led to the Voting Rights Act of 1965."

Front

When used to service overblown _____, history can distort and mislead.

Back

nationalism