Literature and History
Examining the Marriage Between Literature and HistoryThe fundamental barrier between a work of literature and a history book is simply that of fact and fiction. Literature reserves the luxury of blurring that line for dramatic effect. An historical text is obliged to follow a strict guideline known as the facts. But how do teachers successfully convey what history is attempting illuminate about the human condition? Turgid facts, dots on a map, or statistical charts provide no emotional connection to the humanity that must exist in any responsible senior history course. The responsibility of illuminating the human condition has always been up to the writer, poet, artist etc. Can the history co-exist with fiction in a successful course? My mentor has made a 35-year career as multi-disciplined English and History teacher. He encouraged me to delve into why we must create a successful marriage between the two in our history classrooms (of course, it is a two way street, history is equally important in understanding fiction). I also chose this topic because I have yet to teach a full course in history (only some supply teaching here and there), so I felt it important to write from a place I was somewhat fam
One of the most jarring examples of an historical novel blurring the line between fact and fiction is The Things They Carried by Tim O'Brien. Stories are for joining the past to the future. The English teachers were more forgiving when structuring the curriculum the other way. I have distilled the responses throughout this paper. Gas! Gas! Quick, boys! An ecstasy of fumbling, Fitting the clumsy helmets just in time,But someone still was yelling out and stumblingAnd flound'ring like a man in fire or lime. Does my chosen piece really fit in with the unit? Or am I just forcing the piece of literature into the unit because I like it?iv. Englewood Cliffs, NJ: Prentice Hall, 1988. All five were either currently teaching senior level courses. I must move away from the world of the abstract and into the world of the concrete. Always draw up a list of inquiry questions that compare the historical fact with the literary workvi.
Common topics in this essay:
English History,
Gas Quick,
Short Story,
History Rationale,
History Department,
Decorum Est,
Story O'Brien,
Line Fiction,
Civilization XXV,
Senior Student,
human condition,
literature history,
history literature,
history classroom,
historical novel,
line fiction,
blurring line,
specific time-,
melds history art,
dulce et,
subject matter,
blurring line fiction,
dulce et decorum,
illuminate human condition,
et decorum est,
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Acceptance Essays
