Read the articles below. There is a lot to talk about here, but for now focus on PASSIVE voice v. ACTIVE Voice. You should always strive to write in the ACTIVE Voice. Here is an example:
ACTIVE: John threw the ball.
PASSIVE: The ball was thrown by John.
This might seem easy, but many younger writers fall into the trap of Passive Voice without realizing it. Passive Voice is bad because it does not tell us WHO is doing the action. For example, you could say: “The ball was thrown.” That is a complete sentence, and it is grammatically correct, but it is PASSIVE because it doesn’t say who threw it.
When you use the Passive Voice, and don’t say WHO did the action, it can be one method of whitewashing a story. How about this example:
Active: “Police killed protesters.”
Passive: “Protesters were killed.”
Now, you could add “by police” to the second sentence if you want, but you don’t have to, because the sentence is already complete on its own. But either way, it’s PASSIVE. This is one way of avoiding placing blame on someone or something. You might hear politicians say this sometimes when they screw up: “Mistakes were made.” That is PASSIVE language; it doesn’t tell us WHO made the mistakes! We rarely hear politicians say: “I made mistakes.”
Now that you (hopefully) understand the difference between ACTIVE and PASSIVE voice, answer the following questions:
1. How do History textbooks use Passive Voice to whitewash certain aspects of history? Give some specific examples, especially from the NYT article by Rockmore.
2. Why do textbooks do this? Who benefits?
3. What are some solutions proposed by historians, particularly James Loewen in the Atlantic article by Wong?
4. How do you feel about the state of history education in the United States? What has been your experience with History classes?
5. Make up a PASSIVE sentence and an ACTIVE sentence to match it, similar to my examples above.
As always:
–Microsoft Word doc
–double-spaced
–300 words minimum (no maximum)
–TNR, 12-point, standard margins
–number the pages
–put your name on it
–don’t use the word STATES/STATED!!!
Articles
https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2020/01/12/us/texas-vs-california-history-textbooks.html
https://www.theatlantic.com/education/archive/2015/10/the-history-class-dilemma/411601/
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