Question

1. Which can help historians decide if a source is reliable?

Answer 1

1. The correct answer is: Determining the author's point of view on the subject

When reading or analyzing a source, it is quite helpful to understand where the author was born, to what context, in which time and the circumstances that forged his/her personality and opinions (ideology, religion, crucial events in his/her life, etc). This is crucial for determining if the source is completely biased or could be taken as a reliable source of information.

2. The correct answer is: A nonfiction book written by an expert on the USS Maine

Between the options, this is the most complete and reliable source of information for a paper. As it is nonfictional, it means every detail in the book is based on true events, which can lead us to know a lot of details on the matter. If it is an expert on the subject the one who wrote the source, it gives the book credibility and acceptance around the scientific community.

3. I understand there should be a photo attached here. But if this answer helps you: It could help them develop a better understanding of past ideas.

Accepting and contrasting different points of view enriches the source analysis. Depending on what is the source like, it could help historians understand the context in which this historic event happened, why, what ideologies helped the event to happen and its following impact on society.

4. The correct answer is: A historian primarily finds out the truth about events from the past.

A historian PRIMARILY finds out the truth about events from the past. It does not mean that part of his/her job does not include the other three options. A historian uses what he/she found out about the past (making sure it is the truth) and tries to explain present-day events based on happened in the past. This is the main reason why studying history is so important. A historian works to discover why a contemporary event occurred, and sometimes these answers rely on the past. Finally, a historian could also correct a mistakes of an investigators from long ago. Techiques to find new sources thanks to technological advance and the appearance of new witnesses or information through time, could sometimes debunk a previous conception or misinformation that had been taken as reliable until now. It is a historian's job to do all these things, but mainly and primarily first has to find out the truth about the events from the past before jumping to conclusions.

5. The correct answer is: Exaggerated the truth about the event.

Yellow journalists' job is sometimes to exaggerate the truth about events to attract people to buy their newspapers, magazines, TV shows, etc. It is part of the way they present things and it is taken as some kind of entertainment for some people. In this case however, they also distorted some facts about the USS Maine sinking, publishing fake sources and creating conspiracy theories in the minds of their readers.

Answer 2

1 "Determining the author's point of view on the subject" can help historians to decide whether the source is reliable or not. It shows the background of author, place and time in which he live.It clearly shows whether the author is influenced by any particular ideology and interests or not and whether the author is biased or not. Historians like Mortan define point of view " as attempting to see through the eyes of the people who lived in times and circumstances far removed from our present day lives".

2  A notification book written by an expert on the USS Maine is best choice as a source of information for Pillar for doing his research as it can provide him authentic and detailed information regarding the event. He can also use historical novel but with care and after cross-checking from other sources.

3  It could help them develop a better understanding of past idea.

4  The primarily finds out the truth about the events from the past. They use various kinds of sources like literary and archaeological and cross-check them in order to find the truth about the event. Besides they interpret the events and make the facts to speak which ultimately help us to know the reality of the past.

5.   After USS Maine sank, yellow journalists exaggerated the truth about the event. They began to distort facts and spread warmongering which ended in American-Spanish war. They published fake articles about a plot to sink the ship and Remember the Maine became a battle cry which increased the tensions between the two. The two main yellow journalists Joseph Pultizar and Wiliam Randolph were in the forefront in this propaganda.