Here’s my collective feedback. Some about the format, some about the content. These 5-15 reports are due every week, so I can keep track of how you’re progressing on your journey through Korean history and your development as a budding historian.
Remember you can always look at the basic requirements for the 5-15 post here: http://tdh.bergbuilds.domains/5-15-reports/ (linked in the description of the assignment on the weekly page). Remember most weeks you’ll have a Reading Journal, so you’ll spend a bit more than 15 minutes on your post, but if you keep good notes during the week it should go pretty quickly.
Format
Hyperlinks:
Please remember to go the extra mile with your blog posts and include hyperlinks, references etc: anything that will make it easier for people to help them locate information easily so they can follow up. If you need to know more, I think William is a great classmate to ask, who’s mastered the art of the hyperlink.
Ask yourself:
- how would I respond to a blog post that gives me easy access to further information?
- do I live in 2022 where the (html) hyperlink has been in existence for nearly thirty years?
- should I maybe embrace this “new old” technology?
(Almost there, Serena! Special mention for effort! And Eva’s bibliography at the end is another good example to follow.)
Bibliographic references:
Tip: For the bibliographic references (author, title, etc) of texts in the Reading Journal component, you can just copy-paste from the course schedule page.
Genre:
Remember to include what the type of text is (by your best guess, or perhaps you managed to find out!) → this has an influence on what type of information is included, how it is presented, and (important for you), how difficult it may be to understand. We can discuss this some more in a class session.
Some of the genres, e.g. within a primary source, can be: myth, legend, poem (with many different subgenres), letter, report to the throne, Court History,… For secondary sources and beyond, there are for instance: monograph (or chapter from a monograph) academic article, chapter in edited volume, encyclopedia article, …
Content
Jenny’s post reminds us that although our focus is on how bad Chinese-Korea relations are (which is a new aspect for her), the relations between Korea and Japan are also very tense. And we can see that in the way history is written –there is a really big episode unfolding right now with Japanese nationalists cyber-bullying historians of Japan and Korea (including US-based historians) and it’s not pretty… Let me know if you want to know more, I will build some of it into the course.
When looking at sources, Abe reminds us that looking at the author is often a useful way to establish if you’re dealing with a reliable source, and Anna points out that there are a lot of other small things that you can take into account when judging how useful an article may be but above all: that finding the correct article for your needs requires some skill! I would like to add: all the sources we looked on Wednesday at have some use. In some cases, it may be a very good introduction (easy to read, nice pictures, good leads to more reliable materials,…) but you can then use that as a stepping stone to a more scholarly source next.
Eva makes the valuable point that it’s really hard to let go of the idea that history has to begin somewhere. Korean history defies the easy narrative with a clear starting point. Kaya points out that the number of names in one of the texts was overwhelming, and indeed: some materials are a barrage of names. My suggestion is to keep a little list, maybe even color-code (who’s on which side?), with a keyword, so you can refer back to them easily.
In conclusion: if you’re feeling a bit confused about early Korean history, you’re in good company and it’s a normal reaction to the way this part of the world is not easily boxed into a single national narrative.
As we progress, it will be easier to impose a forward-pointing narrative on the past events of the Korean peninsula, but I hope this early period (confusion and all) will always make you stop and wonder “Wait, is it really that straightforward?” And let me assure you: that’s the historian’s instinct, and the answer is: it rarely is that simple. Welcome on board the good ship History!
