Unit7Rewriting_American_History.docVIP

Unit 7 Rewriting American History Frances FitzGerald Teaching Tips “Rewriting American History” is an exposition. Fitzgerald is making an argument, so it is important for the students to find out 1) what the author’s arguments are; 2) on what evidence the author bases her arguments; 3) how the author makes these arguments. After understanding the author’s arguments, the students can then evaluate these arguments: 1) are they convincing? and 2) how can I connect these arguments to what I already know about the subject matter? The essay is taken from FitzGerald’s journal articles/book America Revised: History Schoolbooks in the Twentieth Century, so draw your students’ attention to techniques of comparison and contrast and the ways in which FitzGerald assesses current (i.e. 1970s) history textbooks. As FitzGerald is writing about the rewriting of American history, the text contains quite a number of references to U.S. history. Give the students just enough information to enable them to understand the text, but ask them to focus more on how FitzGerald makes her argument. Here are a few suggestions for handling the essay. Ask your students to keep these in mind while scanning the essay: 1) state what the essay is about in one or two sentences; 2) enumerate its major parts in their order and relation and outline these parts; and 3) define the problem or problems the author is trying to solve. In class, you can ask your students to 1) identify and interpret the author’s key words, for example, “rewriting”, “change”, “problems”, “patchwork”, “diversity”, etc.; 2) grasp the author’s leading propositions by dealing with her most important sentences; 3) know the author’s arguments, by constructing them out of sequences of sentences; and 4) determine which of the problems she presents the author has solved, and which she has not. At the end of the week, you can ask your students to assess FitzGerald’s writing and present good reasons for any critical judgments they m