FAQ: Significance Activity

Lined paper with a penciled word: "why?"

Great work so far!

Thanks for plowing through those textbooks during Classes 3 & 4, y’all. I’m excited to see what insights the spreadsheets give us next week!

In the meantime, a compilation of the Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ) from Class 4.

FAQ

How much detail should I include in the examples?

  • Not much. A word or short phrase (3-4 words) will do the trick.
  • If you want to note more detail for future use, you can add a new column (“description”) in the spreadsheet.

What if I can’t find examples for all of the things in the spreadsheet?

  • If you looked, but couldn’t find as many examples of a category as you needed, write “no example” in the cell.
  • That shows me you looked for an example, but couldn’t find it.

Can I add more rows if I have extra examples?

  • Please don’t.
  • Instead, jot down a note somewhere that you had an abundance of options for specific categories + use that insight for the reflection questions.

Is this person real?! Should I include them if they aren’t?

  • Don’t sweat it; include them if you want. “Historical figure” can include people/figures whose existence is not a sure thing (including deities mentioned in the texts).

If I can’t find the answer in my textbook/resource, should I go find the date, name, or more information?

  • Nope. Just write “n.d.” (no date). This is a good absence/gap to notice.

Does this count as…?

  • History is an act of interpretation. When we write or talk about history, we make judgment calls about what counts in specific categories or geographical regions.
  • So – your example could count as the category you’re thinking of, but it’d be great if you showed me why you think so.
  • Ditto to geographical regions – sometimes an empire spans more than one region.
  • Leave a comment or note somewhere to tell me why you made the decision you did.

Odds & Ends

Please include date designations – BCE and CE or BC and AD if that’s what your resource uses.

Take note of anything that interests you. You might want to come back to it for the project.

As always feel free to email me (Heather) with any questions.

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