NATIONS AND THEIR PAST

The Uses and Abuses of History

Published: The Economist; economist.com http://www.library.boun.edu.tr/en/veritabanlari.php#E
 http://www.highbeam.com/doc/1G1-18975942.htm

Level of Difficulty:****

1.       The religiouslconflict in Northern Ireland is stated as an example to prove that………………………

2.       Why was the Irish potato famine and the treatment of the Irish by The English at the time made a part of the curriculum of New York schools?

3.       The author states that “the carcass of plague- ridden horse catapulted over the city walls” would not have been out of place in many a Bosnian town. Why does he say this?

4.       Why is the fact that “June the 28^th can puff out more chests in Serbia as no other date” a little surprising?

5.       State one example from the text proving that an exaggerated sense of history may be a little hard to understand.

6.       Why did Begin agree to give back Sinai but not the West Bank?

7.       Britain is provided as an example of a nation that…………………………………………………………………

8.       Why does the writer criticize The Serbs?

9.       What makes history open to abuse acc. to the text?

10.   The writer states various views concerning history in paragraph 15. Why are they unrealistic?

11.   Germany is contrasted with Austria, Japan, Italy and France in that………………………………………

12.   A. China is an example of a state which………………………………………………………………..................  B. What is the reason for the above attitude of The Chinese officials?

13.   What is meant by the phrase “Many Russians fell hungrily on the facts”? What, exactly did The Russians hope to achieve?

14.   Ukraine is provided as an example of a country that…………………………………………………………..

15.   After reading on until the end of paragraph 29, could you state briefly why The Canadian prime minister and Massimo D’Azeglio lamented the lack of history?

16.   Why would Mohammed Ali Jinnah, Pakistan’s founding father be surprised acc. to the text?

17.   What does the writer praise Ernesto Zedillo for?

18.   Why is it unfortunate that Britain is obsessed with the Second World War?

19.   Read from paragraph 26 to the end of paragraph 40 and find proof to support the writer’s – Trevor Ropper – claim that “the whole concept of a distinct Highland culture and tradition is a retrospective invention. Consider the following: the bagpipe, the kilt, clan tartans and Whiskey.

NATIONS AND THEIR PAST / KEY

This brilliant essay on the disadvantages of too strong a sense of history was published in The Economist on December 21^st, 1996. Due to its subject matter, it is pretty much timeless. The text really comes alive with a teacher with a good knowledge of history who can fill in the gaps so I do suggest homework for the teachers. The text has the potential for some wonderful discussions. Therefore, I would suggest covering the vocabulary while examining the text in sections and answering the questions. Too much emphasis on vocabulary in the form of extended vocabulary exercises would take the joy out of reading and kill any enthusiasm students may feel for the subject matter. Again you are going to have to locate the text: economist.com.

1. It is possible to have too much of a sense of history
2. There are votes to be won.
3. It had medieval ferocity or the war in Bosnia was, after all, a strangely primitive affair.
4. Because the entire Serb nation was cast into 500 years of Muslim subjugation.
5. The tearing down of The Babri Mosque in the town of Ayodhya.
6. The West Bank holds Biblical significance.
7. They have the stuff and get stuck into it.
8. For dwelling on their defeats and wallowing in self pity.
9. History is a matter of interpretation as well as evidence; of judgment as well as knowledge.
10. It is too easy to use history for disreputable purposes.
11. Germany has been self critical whereas the others have not (or something similar).
12. Wrote its own version of history. / Busying giddy minds with the humiliations of history to show that the world is still out to get them and thus justify The Communist Party’s hold on power.
13. What had really happened…. / They wanted to get at the truth.
14. Acquired history through self delusion.
15. It is one of those things that every young country has to have in order to give its people a national identity.
16. Because the history of Pakistan has been rewritten from an Islamic point of view.
17. For revising textbooks to reveal the uglier aspects of his nation’s history.
18. Because it has given rise to a national myth that encourages some Britons to believe that they alone have a morally respectable history.
19. The bagpipe was developed after the 1707 act of union with Britain; the kilt was invented by an English Quaker by the name of Thomas Rawlinson, clan tartans owe their existence to the Allen brothers and claret was the national drink of Scotland.