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READING INFORMATIONAL TEXTS: HISTORICAL DOCUMENTS

Overview

In this unit, you will learn about historical documents and the related questions that might appear on the AIR Assessment. At the end of the unit, you will review run-on sentences. Above you will find a list of key vocabulary for this unit.

*Download the attached pdf to take notes during the lesson.

Historical texts are informational texts that tell about people and events from the past. They can inform, persuade, or both. In addition to letters and newspaper stories, they also include speeches and government documents.

A speech is a formal address that offers information from the speaker’s particular point of view. Speeches often try to persuade the listener to think or act in a certain way, inform the listener of pertinent information, and/or provide reassurance (comfort).

Speeches rely on good diction. Proper diction, or word choice, is all about choosing the right words in a speech. A writer's word choice should be accurate, appropriate, and understandable.
A government document is informational material created by a government agency. These types of documents include forms, reports, court rulings, the Constitution of the United States, the Declaration of Independence, laws, treaties, and speeches by leaders.

Rhetoric
Speeches also employ the use of rhetoric. Rhetoric is a technique of using language effectively and persuasively in spoken or written form. It is an art of speech, which studies and uses various methods to convince, influence, or please an audience.

Rhetorical figures or devices are employed to achieve particular emphasis and effect.

EXAMPLES:

Parallelism: Parallelism is the use of components in a sentence that are grammatically the same; or similar in their construction, sound, meaning, or meter. This method adds balance and rhythm to sentences, giving ideas a smoother flow and thus persuasiveness, because of the repetition it employs. For example, “Alice ran into the room, into the garden, and into our hearts.” We see the repetition of a phrase that not only gives the sentence a balance, but rhythm and flow as well.

For more on practice on Parallelism, click on the link.

Repetition: Repetition is a rhetorical device that repeats the same words or phrases a few times to make an idea clearer and more memorable.

Sources
Historical texts can be categorized as primary or secondary sources. A primary source is a record, artifacts, or object that was written or created by someone who saw or took part in an event. These sources are usually created soon after the experience and are firsthand accounts, so they offer an inside view of what happened.

A secondary source gives information about a person or event from history but was likely written well after the events occurred. The author of a secondary source may study the events but did not witness them firsthand.

For more on practice on Primary & Secondary Sources, click on the link below.

Context

Historical context is essentially the details that surround an occurrence. In more technical terms, historical context refers to the social, religious, economic, and political conditions that existed during a certain time and place. It is all the details of the time and place in which a situation occurs, and those details are what enable the reader to interpret and analyze works or events of the past rather than merely judge them by contemporary standards.

To gain historical context, a reader should ask him or herself the following questions:

When was it published?
Where was it published?
For whom was it written?
Why was it written?

The rest of this unit will be based around the “Day of Infamy” speech by President Franklin D. Roosevelt.

“Day of Infamy” Speech
To gain historical context, begin by closely reading the text introduction.

Text Introduction

This speech was delivered after the bombing of Pearl Harbor.

Now read the rest of the speech and/or follow along with the video is it is read aloud.

'Day of Infamy' Speech PDF

Answering the Questions: Tips & Tricks
The reader is to identify the central idea. Remember, a central idea is a main idea or an underlying meaning of a literary work.

Remember: Rhetoric is a technique of using language effectively and persuasively in spoken or written form. Rhetorical figures or devices are employed to achieve particular emphasis and effect.

EXAMPLES:

Parallelism: Parallelism is the use of components in a sentence that are grammatically the same; or similar in their construction, sound, meaning, or meter.
Repetition: Repetition is a rhetorical device that repeats the same words or phrases a few times to provide emphasis and to make an idea clearer and more memorable.

A speech is a formal address that offers information from the speaker’s particular point of view. Speeches often try to persuade the listener to think or act in a certain way, inform the listener of pertinent information, and/or provide reassurance (comfort).

Grammar Lesson 14: RUN-ON SENTENCES

A run-on sentence occurs when two or more independent clauses (also known as complete sentences) are connected improperly.

Example: I love to write papers I would write one every day if I had the time.

There are two complete sentences in the above example:

Sentence 1: I love to write papers.

Sentence 2: I would write one every day if I had the time.

One common type of run-on sentence is a comma splice. A comma splice occurs when two independent clauses are joined with just a comma.

Example of a comma splice: Participants could leave the study at any time, they needed to indicate their preference.

Sentence 1: Participants could leave the study at any time.

Sentence 2: They needed to indicate their preference.

Some comma splices occur when a writer attempts to use a transitional expression in the middle of a sentence.

Example of a comma splice: The results of the study were inconclusive, therefore more research needs to be done on the topic.

Sentence 1: The results of the study were inconclusive

Transitional expression (conjunctive adverb): therefore

Sentence 2: More research needs to be done on the topic

To fix this type of comma splice, use a semicolon before the transitional expression and add a comma after it.

Revision: The results of the study were inconclusive; therefore, more research needs to be done on the topic.

Click on the following link for a video further explaining run-on sentences.