HIS 100 5-1 Discussion: Uncovering Bias and Missing Narratives

This Owlisdom How-To Guide will provide a descriptive and detailed overview of the HIS 100 5-1 Discussion: Uncovering Bias and Missing Narratives. As we explore the aspects of this discussion, it is essential to understand what we are to do here, as I mentioned in the previous section: 5-1 Discussion concerns the analysis of how historical context and bias inform the interpretation and narratives of history. We engage these aspects analytically through the use of historical and current dimensions. 

Reminder: All the assignments and tasks of HIS 100 are related. 

Discuss the brainstorming process you used to identify bias in your primary and secondary sources. How did you do it? Describe the strategies that were successful for you.

Identifying Bias in Sources

Let us delve into this section of HIS 100 5-1 Discussion: Uncovering Bias and Missing Narratives, describing how to analyze the sources searched for the previous activities. 

• Start Simple: Start with your assumptions about the topic, write down all the prior knowledge, and then ask yourself doubts.
• Seek Multiple Sources: For a broader view, search for different sources like books, articles, and documentaries.
• Compare Narratives: Notice how similar stories can look at the same event from different sources. It is important to find differences because differences can betray adversary prejudices.
• Check the Source’s Background: Understand the author of the data and the possible reasons for distributing this knowledge.
• Look for What’s Not Said: Whenever something is excluded from a list, the reasons for its exclusion may, in fact, tell a lot about bias.

Consider the challenges you encountered identifying the narratives about your historical event. What methods did you use to determine the absent voices in historical narratives? What perspectives need to be added to the narrative about your historical event?

Challenges in Historical Narratives

In HIS 100 5-1 Discussion: Uncovering Bias and Missing Narratives. It is now the time to discuss the issues encountered when studying historical discourses.

• Research Marginalized Groups: These are voices that are frequently silenced. Sources that are likely to give a different angle should be sought out.
• Ask Critical Questions: Whose story isn’t being told? Why might that be?
• Think Outside the Box: Look into views that are completely missing out. Is there another way of looking at the matter simply because of a person’s social class, gender, or ethnicity?
• Use Evidence to Support: Whenever you fail to see a perspective, support it by presenting your findings as evidence.

How might you use your peers’ strategies to uncover another absent perspective related to your historical event or expose a historical narrative bias? If you think you cannot apply your peers’ approach to your event or narrative, explain why.

Engaging in Discussion

To promote interaction and sharing of helpful information, it is important to respond to and address peers’ questions. However, there are times when we have to start answering questions more directly and formally. Some HIS 100 5-1 Discussion: Uncovering Bias and Missing Narratives posts might require using peers’ responses. As a result, here are guidelines on how to answer any question:

• Be Creative: One must begin with a sound and provocative point. Apply all you’ve learned so far to write a fresh post encouraging discussion.
• Include Examples: It is imperative that you use your research to back your points in your paper.
• Extend the Conversation: Put forward the development of the ideas of your peers, provide new perspectives or engaging questions.
• Be Respectful and Thoughtful: Please remember that the main purpose of the discussion is to share knowledge with one another regardless of our opinions.

Response 01

The way you have presented the research to identify the hidden agendas in the various consequences of the Great Depression on the U.S. banking system is very informative. This led me to begin to consider the established accounts of urban workers and rural farmers during this time (Boyd, 2002). Discrimination based on gender and race is important to cushion, but could you classify the impacts under a marginal group, and how urban workers were affected by bank failures differently from other rural groups? These workers had saved their money in banks and used it to transact daily businesses. At the same time, credit was a major source of funding for small businesses, which could give another perspective to the restructuring process of the banking system. It might uncover more regarding the social and economic consequences for various urban and rural groups and paint an even more detailed picture of the depression’s consequences.

References

Boyd, R. L. (2002). Urban unemployment, the rural labor market, and southern blacks in farm labor during the Great Depression: A research note. The Social Science Journal, 39(2), 295–299. https://doi.org/10.1016/S0362-3319(02)00170-2 

Response 02

According to the instructions of HIS 100 5-1 Discussion: Uncovering Bias and Missing Narratives, two or more peer responses should be written to the assignments. I have posted my response to the instructions in one response only. Following these instructions, you can quickly and professionally write your peer responses.

Closing

Following these guidelines, you can complete the task responsive to the discussion post and improve your understanding of how to learn more and give a richer meaning to the topic of bias and missing narratives in historical research. I hope you nail this HIS 100 5-1 Discussion: Uncovering Bias and Missing Narratives. Good luck!

You can also read our HIS 100 next module, 5-2 Activity of Historical Interpretations of Past and Present.