HIST 100: Engineering The Past

Competing Interpretations of the First Thanksgiving

by Leave a Comment

1.

“The Pilgrims and America’s First Thanksgiving” was the basic elementary school lesson according to most of the “My First Thanksgiving” posts that I have read. The basic understanding that for a brief moment in history, all was well between the pilgrims and Native Americans. There is a lot of factual information in this but there is also lots of facts missing.

2.

I think that it would be hard to not find the differences in how the articles were written interesting. People these days usually thrive on drama and this is a very dramatic argument even in today’s politics. However I find that with reading upon any topic it is important to check other sources and try to weed out the hard facts and create your own opinion on the topic.

3.

I find these articles much more interesting than those in part 2. They provide a first person feeling to the story. I can remember sitting down next to my great grandfather and listening to his story about WW2. Now his opinion played a huge part in these stories so not everything that he said about the European countries can be taken for the truth, but it sure helps you build a good idea of what happened in the eyes of someone that was there for the event.

4.

I think that it would be hard not for a historian to create an opinion on the “First Thanksgiving”. That is how our minds work as people. The trick is to put your opinion aside and search for the truthful facts. I think that it easy to see that historians have changed the common persons knowledge of the past. They are the ones writing school books and when they leave parts of history out or only telling part of the story, it is equivalent to being completely biased. There are countless historic events that are left out of school books. And the youth learning from these books have no idea of the full story.

My First Thanksgiving

by 1 Comment

I vaguely remember my first Thanksgiving  in elementary school. I remember that we made paper pilgrim hats and Indian head bands. We talked about the importance of this gathering and how the pilgrims would have never survived without the lessons learned from the Native Americans. We also put a great deal of importance towards Squanto, who was a Native American that tried to bridge the gap between the two cultures. It was because this act of kindness the celebration of Thanksgiving began.

I also remember that our teacher at the time was a Native American, and she told us of the sufferings that her people faced because of the pilgrims. This was extremely biased, but what she taught was very true (just had a few other details missing). As this was my first impression of what the meaning of Thanksgiving was, I remember that I thought for a long time that this holiday was to pay your respects to Native Americans and the cruelties that they endured. Rather than taking the time to look at your life and all that you are blessed to have.

Prownian Analysis

by Leave a Comment

Step 1: Description

This object is very skinny and about 10″ long. It is half white and half black. There are buttons on the top of it. On the back there is a cover with a clip that can be easily removed.

Step 2: Deduction

This object uses energy from batteries to operate. It can be used for many different devices but this object is used to control a television.

Step 3: Speculation

This is used by virtually everyone with a television. But does this object control every function that a television is capable up? Is this the best way to control your television?

Step 4: Research

Hurd, Jonathan. “Is The TV Remote Headed for Extinction?” Weblog post.Research Now. Web. 07 Sept. 2011. <http://www.researchnow.com/en-US/PressAndEvents/InTheNews/2011/9/Is-the-TV-Remote-Headed-for-Extinction.aspx>.

 

This excerpt talks about the new innovations that may be taking over the TV remote. With the rise of smart phones and the want from society to control everything from a centralized device, there is only a matter of time where TV remotes will be a thing of the past. The article investigates how fast smartphones are advancing and the growing popularity for these devices.

Nielson, Jakob. “Remote Control Anarchy.” Nielson Norman Group. 07 June 2004. Web. 25 Jan. 2016. <https://www.nngroup.com/articles/remote-control-anarchy/>.

 

This article describes the different reasons why remotes are not the best way to control a television. It explains that they are full of buttons that don’t even have a function for your TV. And that the amount of remotes you need to control your different devices is getting a bit ridiculous. It also shows how to use these remotes correctly.