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Year 11 History · Introduction to historiography

Name: ______________________

Date: ____________

1. What is historiography?
- ☐ (a) The study of maps
- ☐ (b) The study of how history has been written and interpreted
- ☐ (c) A list of dates
- ☐ (d) The study of ancient languages only
2. Which factor can change historical interpretations?
- ☐ (a) New evidence becoming available
- ☐ (b) Changing font size
- ☐ (c) Printing more copies
- ☐ (d) The weather
3. Who coined the phrase the 'Great Australian Silence' in 1968?
- ☐ (a) Henry Reynolds
- ☐ (b) Manning Clark
- ☐ (c) W. E. H. Stanner
- ☐ (d) Geoffrey Blainey
4. Contestability means…
- ☐ (a) all interpretations are equally valid
- ☐ (b) history is just opinion
- ☐ (c) nothing can be known
- ☐ (d) interpretations can be challenged and must be judged on evidence
5. Re-examining an established interpretation in light of new evidence is called…
- ☐ (a) revisionism
- ☐ (b) propaganda
- ☐ (c) plagiarism
- ☐ (d) chronology
6. The public debate about Australia's frontier history in the late 1990s and 2000s is often called the History ____.
7. A historian's argument or explanation about the past is an ____.
8. Which historian's research from the 1970s focused on frontier conflict and Aboriginal resistance? (surname)

Answer sheet

1. The study of how history has been written and interpreted — Historiography examines interpretations of the past.
2. New evidence becoming available — New archives and discoveries often prompt reinterpretation.
3. W. E. H. Stanner — Stanner used the phrase in his 1968 Boyer Lectures.
4. interpretations can be challenged and must be judged on evidence — Interpretations are debated, but evidence and reasoning determine their strength.
5. revisionism — Revisionism is a normal part of historical scholarship.
6. Wars — It is commonly called the History Wars.
7. interpretation — Interpretations are evidence-based arguments.
8. Reynolds — Henry Reynolds's work includes The Other Side of the Frontier (1981).