GE 102 – READING IN PHILIPPINE HISTORY [BY: ERAZO, MAY]
LESSON 1: What is the Meaning and Relevance of
History?
What is HISTORY?
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The English word “history” is derived from the
Greek noun istoi’a meaning learning.
For the Greek philosopher Aristotle, history
meant a systematic account of a set of natural
phenomena, whether or not it was a
chronological account.
Overtime, the Latin word Scientia was used to
designate
non-chronological
systematic
accounts of natural phenomena – thus the
English word science.
The word history was usually reserved for
accounts of phenomena, especially human
affairs, in chronological order.
By its common definition, history means the
past of humankind.
Adaptation to classical Latin:

Historia became known as the past of the
account of a person or of a group of people
through written documents and historical
evidences
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Historicity is the authentication of characters
in history, as opposed to legend or myth
Historiography is the writing of history, and
the understanding of how the interpretations
of historians change over time
History vs. Herstory
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History is etymologically unrelated to the
possessive pronoun ‘his’
It has nothing to do with the author
(“his” “story”)
Why study history?
- Looking at the past teaches us to see the world
through different eyes – appreciating the diversity of
human perceptions, beliefs, and cultures
- Different and new perspectives will enable us to
analyze critically the present contexts of society and
beings.
The Uses of History
“Those who have employed the study of history, as
they ought, for their instruction, for the regulation of
their private manners, and the management of public
affairs, must agree with me that it is the most pleasant
school of wisdom.”
History Differentiated:
▰ The past is not the same as history
– JOHN DRYDEN
Nature of History: History as Reconstruction
▰ History is the process of interpreting evidence or
records from the past in a thoughtful and informed
way. It gives meaning, sense, and explanation to the
past in the present.
History vs. Prehistory
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Prehistory is the period of human activity prior
to the invention of writing systems.
History is the record of significant events that
happened in the past.
History vs. Other Disciplines
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No discipline is an island
History stands with social sciences and
humanities and vice versa.
History, Historicity & Historiography
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History is a narrative account used to examine
and analyze past events
1. “Past-as-it-actually-happened”
- History in the first sense
2. Historian’s Accounts
- “Useful and accurate” glimpses of the
contours of the past
What is History?
a) Chronological Storytelling
b) Interpretive
c) Revisionist
d) Constant Process of Questioning
e) Integrative
f) Inclusive
g) Historiography
h) Relevant
GE 102 – READING IN PHILIPPINE HISTORY [BY: ERAZO, MAY]
Approaches:
Arnold Toynbee (1884-1975)
Oswald Spengler (1880-1936)
- Believed that civilizations rise and fall, each new one
rising to a new level
LINEAR VIEW of HISTORY

Issues Among Historians:
“Belief Based On Consensus”
- Just because a majority believes in something
doesn’t make it valid.
- Accurate Reporting of History
 Perception & Interpretation
- Evidence should be able to hold up to scrutiny.
- In History, proof is not always available.
Theories of History
CYCLICAL VIEW of HISTORY
- The ancient Greeks thought that events occurred on
regular a basis
Herodotus (484-424 BCE)
This view implies the acceptance or
subscription to linear time. It views that history
is progressive, moving forward, and not having
a cyclical return
Augustine (350-430 BCE)
- Saw history as being the unfolding of the plan of God,
a process that would end in the Final Judgment
Voltaire (1694-1788)
- Saw history as cyclical but in a more secular way
- Envisioned four great ages of man culminating in the
scientific enlightenment of Newton
Marxist historians
- Saw history as a series of class struggles that
inevitably ends in a workers’ revolution
-Histories: story of men & states as recurring cycles
H.G. Wells (1866-1946)
Thucydides (460-404 BCE)
-Envisioned time as recurring in a cyclical fashion, a
process beyond the control of men
Petrarch (1304-1374)
-Revived cyclical concept of history
-Basis of history: actions of people
- Described history as a race between education and
disaster, either as a world cataclysm or a world state
GREAT GOD VIEW of HISTORY
- It is the theological version of history which asserted
that divine beings directed human affairs together with
the rest of the cosmos
- Elaborated by the Sumerians, Babylonians, Egyptians,
Greeks, Romans, and further expounded in Israelite
scriptures (Christian & Mohammedan religions)
Machiavelli (1469-1527)
-Suggested that history could be seen as a casebook of
political strategy
GREAT MAN VIEW of HISTORY
- Suggests that dominant personalities determine the
course of history
- Rulers, warriors, statesmen are the decisive forces of
history & history is the record of the deeds of great
people
GE 102 – READING IN PHILIPPINE HISTORY [BY: ERAZO, MAY]
BEST PEOPLE VIEW of HISTORY
Believes that some elite, the Best Race, the favored
nation, the ruling class alone make history
*Old Testament: Israelites – Chosen People
*Ancient Greeks regarded themselves as apex of
culture
*Hitler thought that the Aryan race was superior
GREAT MIND VIEW of HISTORY
*The conditions that create history are created or
changed by ideas
OTHER VIEWS of HISTORY
*History: result of geographic factors
*Wars determine history
*Religion, race, & climate determine history’s course
Friedrich
Nietzsche
(1844-1900)
History has no beginning or end
Michel Foucault (1926-1984)
The victors of a social struggle use their
political power to suppress their adversary’s version of
historical events in favor of their own propaganda.
Anaxagoras: reason governs the world
Aristotle: God – prime mover of the universe – is a pure
mind engaged in thinking about itself
LESSON 2: Distinction of Primary and Secondary
Sources
HUMAN NATURE VIEW of HISTORY
*History has been determined by the qualities of
human nature, good or bad
Thucydides: human nature & human behavior are the
same in one century and another
David Hume: mankind is so much the same in all times
and places
ECONOMIC VIEW of HISTORY
*Economic factors are the most important
determinant of history
Karl Marx (1818-1883): foremost proponent
- it was not the ideas that created the material
conditions but the reverse
GENDER HISTORY
*Looks at the past from the perspective of gender
*Considers in what ways historical events &
periodization impact women differently from men
Joan Kelly: “Did Women Have a Renaissance?”
POST-MODERN VIEW of HISTORY
*History is “what we make of it”
*The historian is left to his own imagination &
ideological bent to reconstruct what happened in the
past
Jacques Lacan & Michel Foucault: each historical
period has its own knowledge system
UNDERSTANDING SOURCES
(Primary Sources VS Secondary Sources)
What are Sources?
- It is from historical sources that our history is studied
and written.
- But in analysing them, several methodologies and
theories were used by historians to properly study
history and glean from the sources what is, for them, a
proper way of writing history to enhance and
disseminate national identity.
Primary Sources
- Are materials produced by people or groups directly
involved in the event or topic being studied.
- These people are either participants or eyewitness to
the event. These sources range from eyewitness
accounts, diaries, letters, legal documents, official
documents (government or private), and even
photographs.
FIGURE 1. Map Showing the Katipunan Movement by
D.A. Navarro
In his work, Understanding History, Gottschalk (1950)
discusses the importance of SOURCES for the
historian’s work
“The historian, however, has to use many materials
that are not in books. Where these are archaeological,
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epigraphical, or numismatical materials, he has to
depend largely on museums. Where there are official
records, he may have to search for them in archives,
courthouses, government libraries, etc. Where there
are private papers not available in official collections,
he may have to hunt among the papers of business
houses, the monument rooms of ancient castles, the
prized possessions of autograph collectors, the records
of parish churches, etc. Having some subject in mind,
with more or less definite delimitation of the persons,
areas, times, and functions (i.e. the economic, political,
intellectual, diplomatic, or other occupational aspects)
involved, he looks for materials that may have some
bearing upon those persons in that area at the time
they function in that fashion. These materials are his
sources. The more precise his delimitation of persons,
area, time, and function, the more relevant his sources
are likely to be. (52-53)”
Examples of Primary Sources:
1. Photographs that may reflect social conditions of
historical realities and everyday life;
2. Old sketches and drawings that may indicate the
conditions of life of societies in the past;
3. Cartoons for political expression or propaganda;
4. Old maps that may reveal how space and geography
were used to emphasize trade routes, structural buildup, etc.;
5. Material evidence of the prehistoric past like cave
drawings, old syllabaries, and ancient writings;
6. Statistical tables, graphs, and charts;
7. Oral history or recordings by electronic means of
accounts of eyewitness or participants; the recordings
are then transcribed and used for research; and
8. Published and unpublished primary documents,
eyewitness accounts, and other written sources.
FIGURE 2. Front page of THE SUNDAY TRIBUNE
published February 10, 1935 featuring the approval of
the Constitution of the Philippine Commonwealth
Secondary Sources
 Gottschalk simply defines secondary sources
as “the testimony of anyone who is not an
eyewitness – that is of one who was not
present at the event of which he tells” (p.53).
 These are books, articles, and scholarly
journals that had interpreted primary sources
or had used them to discuss certain subjects of
history.
To sum: the main emphasis in historical research is on
interpretation of documents, diaries and the like.
Historical data are categorized into Primary or
Secondary sources.
A primary source give firsthand, original, and
unfiltered information. It is prepared by an individual
who was a participant in, or a direct witness to, the
event that is being described. Primary sources includes
firs-hand information, such as eyewitness reports and
original documents.
A secondary source is a document prepared by an
individual who was not a direct witness to an event, but
who obtained his or her description of the event from
someone else. It includes secondhand information,
such as description of an event other than an
eyewitness, or a textbook author's explanation of an
event or theory.
Note:
Primary sources may be harder to find but are generally
more accurate and preferred by historical researchers.
Secondary sources are one step removed from the
topic. While they can be just as valuable as primary
sources, one must remember that secondary
information is filtered through someone else's
perspective and may be biased.
CRITICAL EVALUATION OF SOURCES
“IF YOU DON’T KNOW HISTORY, THEN YOU DON’T
KNOW ANYTHING. YOU ARE A LEAF THAT DOESN’T
KNOW IT IS PART OF A TREE.” – MICHAEL CRICHTON
HOW DO YOU KNOW IF IT IS A PRIMARY SOURCE?
1. First pay attention to when the source was
created. Can you determine if it was created
within the time period under study?
2. Did the creator witness the event or
participate in the event when it happened?
3. Did you find this primary source at a
reputable information unit such as a library,
museum or on the website of a library,
GE 102 – READING IN PHILIPPINE HISTORY [BY: ERAZO, MAY]
museum, educational institution,
government organization?
or
EXTERNAL CRITICISM
- REFERS TO THE GENUINENESS OF THE DOCUMENTS A
RESEARCHER USES IN A HISTORICAL STUDY
o
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
GARRAGHAN (1946) PROVIDES A SERIES OF
QUESTIONS TO ESTABLISH THE GENUINENESS
OF A DOCUMENT OR RELIC:
WHEN WAS THE SOURCE, WRITTEN OR
UNWRITTEN, PRODUCED (DATE)?
WHERE WAS IT PRODUCED (LOCALIZATION)?
BY WHOM WAS IT PRODUCED (AUTHORSHIP)?
FROM WHAT PRE-EXISTING MATERIAL WAS IT
PRODUCED (ANALYSIS)?
IN WHAT ORIGINAL FORM WAS IT PRODUCED
(INTEGRITY)?
INTERNAL CRITICISM
- REFERS TO THE ACCURACY OF THE CONTENTS OF A
DOCUMENT.
o
GARRAGHAN (1946) ASKS THE QUESTION
BELOW FOR INTERNAL CRITICISM:
1. WHAT IS THE EVIDENTIAL VALUE OF ITS
CONTENTS (CREDIBILITY)?
o
o
GOTTSCHALK (1950), “FOR EACH PARTICULAR
OF A DOCUMENT THE PROCESS OF
ESTABLISHING CREDIBILITY SHOULD BE
SEPARATELY UNDERTAKEN REGARDLESS OF
THE GENERAL CREDIBILITY OF THE AUTHOR.”
Even if an author is trustworthy and reliable,
still, each piece of evidence extracted must be
weighed individually.
GENERAL PRINCIPLES FOR DETERMINING RELIABILITY
- OLDEN-JORGENSEN (1998) AND THUREN
(1997) HAVE FORMULATED THE FOLLOWING
GENERAL PRINCIPLES IN DETERMINING
RELIABILITY
1. HUMAN SOURCES MAY BE RELICS SUCH AS
FINGERPRINTS; OR NARRATIVES SUCH AS A
STATEMENT OR LETTER.
2. STRONG INDICATIONS OF THE ORIGINALITY OF
THE SOURCE INCREASE ITS RELIABILITY.
3. THE CLOSER A SOURCE IS TO THE EVENT
WHICH IT PURPORTS TO DESCRIBE; THE MORE
ONE CAN TRUST IT TO GIVE AN ACCURATE
HISTORICAL DESCRIPTION OF WHAT ACTUALLY
HAPPENED.
4. AN EYEWITNESS IS MORE RELIABLE THAN
TESTIMONY AT SECOND HAND.
5. IF A NUMBER OF INDEPENDENT SOURCES
CONTAIN THE SAME MESSAGE, THE
CREDIBILITY OF THE MESSAGE IS STRONGLY
INCREASED.
6. THE TENDENCY OF A SOURCE IS ITS
MOTIVATION FOR PROVIDING SOME KIND OF
BIAS.
7. IT CAN BE DEMONSTRATED THAT THE
WITNESS OR SOURCE HAS NO DIRECT
INTEREST IN CREATING BIAS THEN THE
CREDIBILITY IS INCREASED.
CONTRADICTORY SOURCES
o SEVEN-STEP PROCEDURE FOR SOURCE
CRITICISM IN HISTORY BY BERNHEIM (1889)
AND LANGLOIS & SEIGNOBOS (1898) MIGHT
BE HELPFUL:
1. IF THE SOURCES ALL AGREE ABOUT AN
EVENT, HISTORIANS CAN CONSIDER
THE EVENT PROVED.
GE 102 – READING IN PHILIPPINE HISTORY [BY: ERAZO, MAY]
2. HOWEVER, MAJORITY DOES NOT
RULE; EVEN IF MOST SOURCES RELATE
EVENTS IN ONE WAY, THAT VERSION
WILL NOT PREVAIL UNLESS IT PASSES
THE TEST OF CRITICAL TEXTUAL
ANALYSIS.
3. THE SOURCE WHOSE ACCOUNT CAN
BE CONFIRMED BY REFERENCE TO
OUTSIDE AUTHORITIES IN SOME OF ITS
PARTS CAN BE TRUSTED IN ITS
ENTIRETY IF IT [IS IMPOSSIBLE
SIMILARLY TO CONFIRM THE ENTIRE
TEXT.
4. WHEN TWO SOURCES DISAGREE ON A
PARTICULAR POINT, THE HISTORIAN
WILL PREFER THE SOURCE WITH MOST
“AUTHORITY” – THAT IS THE SOURCE
CREATED BY THE EXPERT OR BY THE
EYEWITNESS.
5. EYEWITNESSES ARE, IN GENERAL, TO
BE PREFERRED ESPECIALLY IN
CIRCUMSTANCES
WHERE
THE
ORDINARY OBSERVER COULD HAVE
ACCURATELY
REPORTED
WHAT
TRANSPIRED
AND,
MORE
SPECIFICALLY, WHEN THEY DEAL WITH
FACTS
KNOWN
BY
MOST
CONTEMPORARIES.
6. IF TWO INDEPENDENTLY CREATED
SOURCES AGREE ON A MATTER, THE
RELIABALITY OF EACH IS MEASURABLY
ENHANCED.
7. WHEN TWO SOURCES DISAGREE AND
THERE IS NO OTHER MEANS OF
EVALUATION, THEN HISTORIANS TAKE
THE SOURCE WHICH SEEMS TO
ACCORD BEST WITH COMMON SENSE.
CONTENT ANALYSIS
o IS A RESEARCH METHOD FOR STUDYING
DOCUMENTS
AND
COMMUNICATION
ARTIFACTS, WHICH CAN BE TEXTS OF VARIOUS
FORMATS, PICTURES, AUDIO OR VIDEO.
 GOALS OF CONTENT ANALYSIS:
1. WHICH DATA ARE ANALYZED?
2. HOW ARE THE DATA DEFINED?
3. FROM WHAT POPULATION ARE DATA
DRAWN?
4. WHAT IS THE RELEVANT CONTEXT?
5. WHAT ARE THE BOUNDARIES OF THE
ANALYSIS?
6. WHAT IS TO BE MEASURED?
CONTEXTUAL ANALYSIS
o IS AN ANALYSIS OF A TEXT (IN WHATEVER
MEDIUM, INCLUDING MULTI-MEDIA) THAT
HELPS US TO ASSESS THAT TEXT WITHIN THE
CONTEXT OF ITS HISTORICAL AND CULTURAL
SETTING, AND ALSO IN TERMS OF ITS
TEXTUALITY – OR THE QUALITITES THAT
CHARACTERIE THE TEXT AS A TEXT.
 HOW TO USE CONTEXTUAL ANALYSIS:
1. WHAT DOES THE TEXT REVEAL ABOUT
ITSELF AS A TEXT?
2. WHAT DOES THE TEXT TELL US ABOUT ITS
APPARENT INTENDED AUDIENCE(S)?
3. WHAT SEEMS TO HAVE BEEN THE
AUTHOR’S INTENTION?
LESSON 3: Identification of the Historical
Importance of the Text
“Let us study things that are no more. It is necessary to
understand them, if only to avoid them.”
- Victor Hugo –
Historical Significance
▰ Historical significance is the process used to
evaluate what was significant about selected events,
people, and developments in the past.
▰ Historians use different sets of criteria to help them
make judgments about significance.
GE 102 – READING IN PHILIPPINE HISTORY [BY: ERAZO, MAY]
▰ Significance has been called the forgotten concept
in history, no doubt because it can be challenging for
both teacher and students.
(Northern Ireland Council for Intergrated Education,
n.d.)
“Teachers often tell students what is important instead
of asking them to consider what is significant. The key
to understanding significance is to understand the
distinction between teaching significant history and
asking students to make judgements about the
significance.”
- Bradshaw, 2004 –
Criteria on Assessing the Historical Significance of
Sources:
There are a number of criteria that historians’ use that
can be applied to establish the significance of events.
These criteria are interrelated with each other.
the current writer of history deems
important/relevant.
 Historical significance is relative and varies
from location to location, generation or
sometimes to ideological orientation or
political affiliation of the one doing the
evaluation or assessment.
LESSON 4: Examination of the Author’s Argument
and Point of View
“Study history, study history. In history lies all the
secrets of statecraft.”
- Winston Churchill –
1. Determining the Author’s Purpose
What is Author’s Purpose? The Author’s purpose is the
REASON the sources was created. The author’s
purpose is his or her reason for or intent in writing a
text, a line, paragraph, an essay, a story, etc. There are
many reasons why people write: it may be to amuse
the reader, to persuade the reader, to satirize a
condition and a lot more.
Purposes in Writing
Issues on Assesing the Historical Significance
 Our views about historical significance are
often shaped by contemporary contexts and
can be dependent upon our own values,
interests and knowledge.
 History is written by the victor. Historical
significance is how we define past events that
GE 102 – READING IN PHILIPPINE HISTORY [BY: ERAZO, MAY]
As an Author, I can entertain you, while I persuade you.
The author’s purpose is not always clear. Sometimes,
the author intentionally states the purpose in the text
itself, sometimes, not at all. But the author’s purpose
is always reflected in the way he writes about the topic
or subject matter.
A Combination of Purposes
Sometimes a text has more than one purpose, but
a combination of two or more purposes.
Political cartoons both inform and entertain
o Newspaper editorials can inform and at the
same time persuade.
o A TV commercial might be very informative or
very entertaining, but its primary purpose is to
convince and persuade the viewers to
eventually buy the product.
However, the combination of purposes has its
limitations.
o The value of the information in a political
cartoon may be limited because it is made in
such a way to make it funny.
o The same can be true for the information in an
editorial – you can definitely learn something
from the editorial but take note that it was
written to persuade you to think or to believe
in a certain way.
The first thing to take note of when you are
determining the author’s purpose is the genre you are
reading. You can usually identify the purpose correctly,
if you are able to understand the genre.
You should be aware that the author’s purpose does
cross boundaries sometimes.
You need to think about the Author’s MAIN intent
overall.
Persuasive Texts
o The purpose of persuasive texts is to convince
you of something. Either to believe an idea, or
buy a product, or to do something.
o When you identify the purpose of the text as
persuasive, you have to be careful about what
you take away from it. The authors of these
texts may be leaving our information, or only
highlighting specific information, in order to
convince you of what they think.
Why Identify Purpose?
o When you understand why a source was
created, it helps you think critically about what
information is there, what information is
missing, and what you can expect to take away
from the source.
o As a reader, knowing the purpose or intent that
the writer has for creating the piece of works
help you EVALUATE better.
How to Identify Purpose
o Identifying the author’s purpose can at time be
challenging. There are a few questions you can
ask yourself as you read a text that will help
you identify purpose.
1. First, ask, “Why did the author create/write
this text?”
- Sometimes, the reason is very obvious. The
Author may state it or you may be able to tell
from the type of media used.
2. If the author’s purpose isn’t obvious, ask “How
did this make me feel?”
- Author’s usually try to elicit very specific
emotions from theire readers. Do you
suddenyly feel compelled to go but a product
that was mentioned? How you react to the text
is a great hint as to the author’s purpose.
3. Look for Clue words to find the author’s
purpose.
- The author’s intent may either be: to compare,
contrast, criticize, describe or illustrate,
explain, intensify or suggest. You can identify
GE 102 – READING IN PHILIPPINE HISTORY [BY: ERAZO, MAY]
the author’s purpose by looking out for clue
words.
Underline the Clue Words
 It helps to use that pencil in your hand when
you’re reading if you’re unsure what the
author’s purpose is. As you read, underline the
clue words in the text to help you get a better
idea. Then, either compose a sentence using
the key words (compare, explain, illustrate) to
show why the author wrote the piece or select
the best answer from the choices given. (Roell,
2011).
2. Determining the Author’s Main Argument
One of the most fundamental things we use language
for is argument. Arguing means claiming that
something is tru and trying to persude other people to
agree with your claim by presenting evidenve to
substantiate it. An argument is statement with three
components:
1. A point of view, a claim, something we are
arguing in favor of
2. The actual argument, the evidence we are
using to argue with
3. A statement that links the initial claim to the
argument and ensures that we understand
how the argument functions, referred to as
warrant.
Stephen Toulmin’s Argument Model
Looking for argumentation in a text means asking the
text certain types of questions. Ask:
1. Claims (Thesis Statement/Conclusion)
The claim may also be referred to as
the Thesis statement. Sometimes the author
will direct an open discussion towards a claim.
The claim can therefore also be referred to as
the conclusion.
2. Arguments (Evidence)
An argument that substantiates a
claim is also known as evidence. What
evidence do the authors have for claiming
that? Under what underlying assumptions do
the arguments support the author’s claims?
Why do these arguments appear to be relevant
in this context?
3. Warrant (Research Method)
In scholarly texts, the warrants will
often point to a general assumptions, basic
principles or research methods in the relevant
field. Common to all fields are warrants along
the lines of “research builds upon previous
research”.
4. Counter Arguments/Objections
What are the possible counter
arguments or objections? Do the authors take
possible counterarguments into account? Do
they discuss both sides of the debate before
reaching a conclusion? Are the data sufficiently
representative? Or do the authors draw wider
conclusions than are justified by the scope of
the underlying evidence?
5. Backing (Foundation/Support)
Ask whether the use of a method is
adequately justified, analyze if the method
presented has sufficient backing. For each
argument, ask: “What is there to support this
argument? What is the backing for this
argument?” The term “backing,” however, is
often reserved for questions about the backing
that exists for the warrant.
6. Qualifiers
What type of qualifiers are used by the
authors when presenting the claim? Look for
qualifiers in the formulation of the argument.
GE 102 – READING IN PHILIPPINE HISTORY [BY: ERAZO, MAY]