What is history?

Does our history make us who we are?

What is Canadian identity?
 History from Greek historia meaning:

“inquiry, knowledge acquired by investigation”

 Study of the past and how it relates to humans

 Historians interpret the past (through analyzing evidence)
 What evidence would historians analyze?
Prehistoric is from Latin prae and
historia

Means: before history

The time before written records.
 “Those who cannot remember the past are condemned to repeat it.”

George Santayana
 This is the BIG question!
 We will compose a response to this question and see how our view has changed
over the course of the semester
 What do you think?
 A stereotype is a widely held but fixed and oversimplified image or idea of a
particular type of person or thing.
 Where do they come from?
 …they are learned

TASK

 In groups brainstorm some Canadian stereotypes

 I am Canadian monologue
 Describe exactly what you see in the
cartoon. Include all details
 Analyze why de Adder included each
component of the cartoon, that is, the
names on the shirts, the way the
characters are standing, and so on.
 What was de Adder’s message about
Canadian identity?
 How does do Adder’s cartoon
represent ways that Canadian
identity has stayed the same over
time? What does it say about the ways
that Canadian identity has changed
over time?
 National identity – is the sense of a country or  Politics
nation as a whole
 Peacekeeping
 Diverse / Multicultural
 Science and tech
 Bilingual
 economics
 Polite
 Social change
 Huge
 Ideas are not static – change with
 Small population demographics AND social change
 Age
 Diverse geography - regionalism
 Immigration
 Shared experience  Urbanization
 Historical perspective – can change over time
 Aboriginal population growth/acknowledgement
 Women’s equality
 Civic nation – agree to live together according  Supporting people with disabilities
to shared political values and beliefs  Cultural trends (music, art, lit, food)
 Being “Not American”  media
 Our identity as Canadians is
most profoundly influenced
by…

 Complete the above statement in an

opinion paragraph by choosing the
factor above that you feel most affects
our national identity.

 A good paragraph has a topic sentence,

supporting details (minimum of 3) and
a concluding sentence.
 As we have now addressed 3 big
questions..
 What is history?
 Does our history affect who we are?
 What is Canadian history?

I want you to now think about your own

history – how has it shaped who YOU
are?