History Still Matters Questions
1.) Moyers compares the study of history to “the view in the rearview mirror.” In what ways is this quote an apt comparison?
I don’t know how to drive, but I’ve heard that your rearview mirror is extremely important, as is history. It’s like looking behind you, or that phrase, “How do you know where you’re going, if you don’t know where you’ve been?” History can be boring, but generally when it’s boring, it’s probably being told wrong. People and stories are interesting and they make up who we are, and we need them. If we toss out that mirror (our history), we’re likely to back-up into something nasty or get rear-ended. The moral is, if we know our history we can avoid making some large mistakes, because we’ll be able to see a little better what could happen.
2.) Give two contemporary or personal examples of Christopher Lasch’s quote on page one.
In Hispanic culture it is traditional for women to do the cleaning, and the cooking, and to marry before you get too old. The better the job done on the cooking and the cleaning, the more attractive you’ll be to men, and the more likely you’ll be to catch a husband who won’t cheat on you. I cannot deny this, and the fact that every time I have met a boy I like, I immediately scheme for a way to make him try my cooking. “Taste how delicious this is, see how clean the kitchen is too, I’d make the perfect wife.”; this ideology has been passed down and it affects me every day. Another example is my boyfriend and college. He learns very differently and tends to have a very negative fixed mindset about his capabilities. This is due to getting constantly pressured to do well in school by his parents, who had his older brother when they were still in high school. They now do very well, but due to their past and the difficult time they had to get where they are, they push their sons a bit too hard. Their history impacts all of their lives on a daily basis, even though now they could easily be considered and average
I don’t know how to drive, but I’ve heard that your rearview mirror is extremely important, as is history. It’s like looking behind you, or that phrase, “How do you know where you’re going, if you don’t know where you’ve been?” History can be boring, but generally when it’s boring, it’s probably being told wrong. People and stories are interesting and they make up who we are, and we need them. If we toss out that mirror (our history), we’re likely to back-up into something nasty or get rear-ended. The moral is, if we know our history we can avoid making some large mistakes, because we’ll be able to see a little better what could happen.
2.) Give two contemporary or personal examples of Christopher Lasch’s quote on page one.
In Hispanic culture it is traditional for women to do the cleaning, and the cooking, and to marry before you get too old. The better the job done on the cooking and the cleaning, the more attractive you’ll be to men, and the more likely you’ll be to catch a husband who won’t cheat on you. I cannot deny this, and the fact that every time I have met a boy I like, I immediately scheme for a way to make him try my cooking. “Taste how delicious this is, see how clean the kitchen is too, I’d make the perfect wife.”; this ideology has been passed down and it affects me every day. Another example is my boyfriend and college. He learns very differently and tends to have a very negative fixed mindset about his capabilities. This is due to getting constantly pressured to do well in school by his parents, who had his older brother when they were still in high school. They now do very well, but due to their past and the difficult time they had to get where they are, they push their sons a bit too hard. Their history impacts all of their lives on a daily basis, even though now they could easily be considered and average