Chic, Virginia
and Mr. Lincoln:
Understanding
Historical Perspective
by Christine Adrian
June 2006
To download this lesson in PDF format, click here.
Title: Analyzing
Historical Quotes: An Insight into
Lincoln
Abstract: In
this lesson, students will examine the words of Lincoln and observations about
Lincoln from those who actually knew or met him. The students will compare and contrast the way people in his
time saw him and the way Lincoln actually acted and spoke.
Essential
questions/enduring understandings:
- Collected recollections of events
and people are truer than those of one person.
- Why do we analyze things that
have happened in the past?
- Analyzing multiple perspectives
over time gives us a truer picture of historical events.
Assessment: Students
will finish the He Said They Said Compare and Contrast Worksheet for teacher
evaluation and participate in a classroom discussion.
Setting
the Purpose: Students will examine the differences
between personal perspective and the perspectives of others. Students will then examine how history
is a collection of perspectives, both personal and historical.
Duration: One
class period.
Procedure:
- Write on board or overhead ÒDoes
everything you say accurately represent you? Is everything others say about you accurate?Ó Give students a moment to think of
their answers and write them down before discussing these questions as a
group.
- Discuss: How do we decide what a person is
truly like if we cannot rely on the validity of one separate statement,
either said by others or said by him or herself?Ó Students should get at that is
necessary to look at a history of quotes and actions to get a full picture
of what the person is really like.
- At this point, distribute the He
Said They Said Worksheet. Depending on how the teacher sees fit, he/she may
pull a number of quotes from a book and develop a handout of quotes, one
page said by Lincoln, one said about Lincoln. Another strategy would be to
have students actually investigate the sources listed below by themselves
or small teams. (This will largely depend on the amount of resources
available, and time constraints.)
- As students finish, discuss the
last question on the worksheet-do the students think that others
accurately saw Lincoln as he was?
Do students think that others saw Lincoln the way he saw himself?
- Can we rely only on someoneÕs
words to understand who they are, or do we need the observations of
others? Why?
- This question will lead to a wrap
up conversation about the upcoming project. Explain to students that tomorrow they will start their
own work on understanding Lincoln as he really was.
Analysis
of local primary sources: While students will not directly use
local primary sources, they will connect them to the local primary sources
analyzed in previous lessons.
Ties to
National primary source or sources:
Students will
examine a number of historic quotes from various famous figures and Lincoln
himself.
list of
Materials and resources:
Attachments: