The Great Gatsby

I believe that on the first night I went to Gatsby’s house I

was one of the few guests who had actually been invited.
People were not invited – they went there. They got into
automobiles which bore them out to Long Island, and
somehow they ended up at Gatsby’s door. Once there
they were introduced by somebody who knew Gatsby, and
after that they conducted themselves according to the
rules of behaviour associated with an amusement park.
Sometimes they came and went without having met
Gatsby at all, came for the party with a simplicity of heart
that was its own ticket of admission.

F. Scott Fitzgerald, The Great Gatsby (London: Penguin, 1990), p. 43.

Lottie Jones was appointed as a teacher in Ontario (1923)
on the following conditions. She agreed that she would:

1. Not get married;

2. Not ride in a carriage or automobile with any man
except her brothers or father;
3. Not leave town without permission;
4. Not smoke cigarettes, or drink beer, wine or whiskey;
5. Not dye her hair or dress in bright colours and wear at
least two petticoats;
6. Keep the school room clean and scrub it with soap and
water at least once a week;
7. Not use face powder or mascara, not wear dresses
more than 2’ above the ankles, and finally, not loiter in
ice cream parlours.

(Seixas & Morton, 2013, p. 151)

Entertaining the beliefs, goals, and values of other people or
– insofar as one can talk in this way – of other societies, is a
difficult intellectual achievement. It is difficult because it
means holding in mind whole structures of ideas which are
not one’s own, and with which one may profoundly disagree.
And not just holding them in mind as inert knowledge, but
being in a position to work with them in order to explain and
understand what people did in the past.
(Ashby and Lee, 1987, p. 63)
 t

Literary
Difficulties Invention
with Historical
Empathy
Sympathy

(Lee and Shemilt, 2011, pp. 39-40)

Ashby and Lee (1987)
1. The past as stupid – learners see the past as stupid
because people’s actions were unlike our own;
2. Generalised stereotypes – learners believe that all
individuals from particular backgrounds held similar values
and acted in similar ways;
3. Everyday empathy – learners understand the past
through the prism of current-day values and attitudes;
4. Restricted historical empathy – learners understand
actions in the past through the prism of their own
knowledge and beliefs;
5. Restructured and contextualised empathy – learners
understand the past through a range of perspectives.

(Taylor and Young, 1983, p. 19).

 Historical Thinking Project

Establish
Historical
Significance

Understand
Use Primary
Ethical
Source
Dimensions
Evidence
of History

Historical
Thinking
Concepts

Take Identify
Historical Continuity
Perspectives and Change

Analyse
Cause and
Consequence

http://historicalthinking.ca/
Take Historical Perspectives
Taking historical perspective means understanding the social,
cultural, intellectual, and emotional settings that shaped
people’s lives and actions in the past. At any one point,
different historical actors may have acted on the basis of
conflicting beliefs and ideologies, so understanding diverse
perspectives is also a key to historical perspective-taking.
Though it is sometimes called “historical empathy,” historical
perspective is very different from the common-sense notion of
identification with another person. Indeed, taking historical
perspective demands comprehension of the vast differences
between us in the present and those in the past.
Guidepost 1
An ocean of difference can lie between current worldviews
(beliefs, values and motivations) and those of earlier periods
of history.

Guidepost 2
It is important to avoid presentism – the imposition of present
ideas on actors in the past. Nonetheless, cautious reference
to universal human experience can help us relate to the
experiences of historical actors.

Guidepost 3
The perspectives of historical actors are best understood by
considering their historical context.

Guidepost 4
Taking the perspective of historical actors means inferring
how people thought and felt in the past. Valid inferences are
those based on evidence.

Guidepost 5
Different historical actors have diverse perspectives on the
events in which they are involved. Explaining these is key to
understanding historical events.
(Seixas & Morton, 2013, p. 148)
What are the event(s) and time period you are investigating?

List the various groups and people involved, and circle the one that
you are recording on this page.

Describe their position/role in Evidence?

society.

How is their position/role Evidence?

different from a similar person
or group today?

Compared to what we face today, what relevant circumstances

were different for them in the past?

How do you think the above factors influenced their thoughts

and/or actions?
What are the event(s) and time period you are investigating?

Group 1 Group 2

Motivations

Actions

Responses
 Contextualization

Knowledge of Network of
Significant Colligatory
Historical Events Concepts

Knowledge of
Periodization &
Narrative
Structures
 Asking good
questions to
propel a study

Taking the Analyzing

Context into Available
Consideration Sources

(Seixas & Morton, 2013, p. 63)