Page 42 - 2024-bfw-wiesner-hanks-ahws14e-proofs

SKILL 4: CONTEXTUALIZATION

Historians know that any historical event can only be understood in
Historians look for major context. Context refers to the historical circumstances surrounding a
developments in any era to help particular event. Historians look for major developments in any era
determine context, and then use to help determine context, and then use that context to help explain
that context to help explain a
specific historical process. a specific historical process. They typically think in terms of two
levels of context: an immediate (or short-term) context and a broad
(or long-term) context.
The easiest way to begin thinking about context is to figure out when a particular event took place and
then brainstorm the major developments of the era. Ask yourself, how might these larger events have
shaped this event?
For example, as Chapter 4 explains, the Protestant Reformation in the early sixteenth century was
this sample.
propelled by the personal religious struggle of Martin Luther, a German university professor and
Bedford, Freeman & Worth Publishers.
Worth Publishers.
priest. In 1517 Luther wrote a letter to the archbishop of the territory in which he lived, protesting the
sale of indulgences, pieces of paper signed by a church official that promised forgiveness of sins.
For review purposes only. Not for redistribution.
Luther’s letter was printed, first in the Latin in which he wrote it and then in German translation, and
Uncorrected proofs have been used in
widely read. This letter is often seen as the triggering event of the Protestant Reformation, but to un-
derstand why it had such dramatic effects, you need to consider the larger context. That context in-
cludes both the immediate context of the political and social situation in Germany in the early
sixteenth century and the long-term context of calls for reform of the Christian Church that stretched
by Bedford, Freeman &
back centuries. The context sometimes includes factors that might at first seem unrelated. In this case,
the invention of the printing press with movable metal type, which had occurred in Germany in the
middle of the fifteenth century, allowed Luther’s ideas to be communicated far more widely and
quickly than they would have been without it. Many scholars argue that the Protestant Reformation
would not have had the dramatic effects it did without printing.

Copyright ©
EXERCISE: “AP® Claims and Evidence in Visual Sources” in Chapter 19 is an
advertisement for Sainsbury’s supermarket in England from around 1960. Look at
Distributed
the images and read the text accompanying them; then read the section “The
Affluent Society” on the preceding pages, which provides context. What social
groups became more affluent, and how does Sainsbury’s seek to reach them in this
ad? Why do you think the shopper is portrayed as female and dressed the way she
is? Consumer culture expanded people’s choices of goods and services, but the
chapter notes that it also made the choices more uniform. How does the
advertisement capture both of these effects? Thinking about the broader context,
how might the changes in social relations in postwar Europe discussed in Chapter
18 have shaped the “supermarket revolution”?

SKILL 5: MAKING CONNECTIONS

Some historical developments can best be understood by making connections with other times, places,
or issues to help identify larger patterns and achieve a coherent understanding. In order to make con-
nections, you will need to draw on other historical thinking skills and reasoning processes, such as
analyzing evidence or making comparisons. You may need to draw on evidence outside the field of
history. This might come from the social sciences, such as archaeology, anthropology, economics, or

HTS-6

01_howsap14e_48443_fm_i_HTS-18.indd 6 17/10/23 3:16 PM