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Bias is Ubiquitous

Spiro Bolos
November 19, 2021

Bias is Ubiquitous

3 strategies to introduce students to the discipline of history, including bonus content featuring Alexandra Bell's "Counternarratives" project.

Spiro Bolos

November 19, 2021
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  1. BIAS IS UBIQUITOUS
    3 strategies to introduce students
    to the discipline of history
    Spiro Bolos, New Trier High School
    Jeannie Logan, Glenbrook South High School

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  2. BEGINNER
    “Trivial Pursuits”

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  11. “bias of inclusion”
    “bias of exclusion”
    “bias of coverage (length)”

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  12. INTERMEDIATE
    [prep]

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  13. SOURCE

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  18. ART ANALYSIS
    Counternarratives by Alexandra Bell

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  21. “Charlottesville”, 2017

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  23. 5:15

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  24. INTERMEDIATE
    “Secret Messages”

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  28. “bias of diction”

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  33. “bias of
    inclusion/exclusion”
    “bias of diction”
    “bias of voice:
    active vs. passive”

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  34. Indians Fight Back.
    The Indians fought on and off from 1862 to 1890.
    Leaders in the struggle against the encroaching
    Americans were the Sioux and the Cheyenne.
    The struggle began in 1862 when a small band of young
    Sioux, while searching for food, killed five whites near a
    reservation in Minnesota. The white farmers in the area
    promptly fled for their lives. Equally frightened, the Sioux
    split into two groups. One fled the vicinity, but the other,
    afraid of retaliation, decided to attack first. Hundreds of
    settlers were killed and their farmhouses burned before
    the state militia succeeded in defeating the Sioux.

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  35. Indians Fight Back.
    The Indians fought on and off from 1862 to 1890.
    Leaders in the struggle against the encroaching
    Americans were the Sioux and the Cheyenne.
    The struggle began in 1862 when a small band of young
    Sioux, while searching for food, killed five whites near a
    reservation in Minnesota. The white farmers in the area
    promptly fled for their lives. Equally frightened, the Sioux
    split into two groups. One fled the vicinity, but the other,
    afraid of retaliation, decided to attack first. Hundreds of
    settlers were killed and their farmhouses burned before
    the state militia succeeded in defeating the Sioux.

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  36. Most of the Indians who were taken prisoner were later
    pardoned by President Lincoln, but thirty-eight were
    hanged “at a great hanging-bee” the day after Christmas,
    1862. In 1863 the remaining Minnesota Sioux, defeated,
    were forced to yield their land and leave the state.

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  37. Most of the Indians who were taken prisoner were later
    pardoned by President Lincoln, but thirty-eight were
    hanged “at a great hanging-bee” the day after Christmas,
    1862. In 1863 the remaining Minnesota Sioux, defeated,
    were forced to yield their land and leave the state.

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  40. Chivington Massacres the Cheyenne.
    Farther south, in the Colorado Territory, the situation
    was quite different. There, miners had forced the
    Cheyenne into a barren area known as the Sand Creek
    Reserve. Short of food, bands of Indians began raiding
    nearby trails and settlements. Colorado Governor John
    Evans immediately called out the militia. At the same
    time, he urged those Indians who did not want to fight to
    report to Fort Lyon where they would be safe from harm.

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  41. Chivington Massacres the Cheyenne.
    Farther south, in the Colorado Territory, the situation
    was quite different. There, miners had forced the
    Cheyenne into a barren area known as the Sand Creek
    Reserve. Short of food, bands of Indians began raiding
    nearby trails and settlements. Colorado Governor John
    Evans immediately called out the militia. At the same
    time, he urged those Indians who did not want to fight to
    report to Fort Lyon where they would be safe from harm.

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  42. In the fall of 1864, some five hundred Cheyenne were
    encamped on Sand Creek. Two flags fluttered above the
    camp: the Stars and Stripes, and a white flag — both
    symbols of the Indians’ desire for peace. In the meantime,
    General S. R. Curtis, United States army commander in
    the West, had sent a telegram to the head of the
    Colorado militia, Colonel J. M. Chivington: “I want no
    peace till the Indians suffer more.” So at daybreak of
    November 29, Chivington and his troops fell upon the
    sleeping Indians and killed about four hundred fifty of
    them.

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  43. In the fall of 1864, some five hundred Cheyenne were
    encamped on Sand Creek. Two flags fluttered above the
    camp: the Stars and Stripes, and a white flag — both
    symbols of the Indians’ desire for peace. In the meantime,
    General S. R. Curtis, United States army commander in
    the West, had sent a telegram to the head of the
    Colorado militia, Colonel J. M. Chivington: “I want no
    peace till the Indians suffer more.” So at daybreak of
    November 29, Chivington and his troops fell upon the
    sleeping Indians and killed about four hundred fifty of
    them.

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  44. Summative Assessment:
    Focusing on the six paragraphs under the subheadings,
    “Indians Fight Back” and “Chivington Massacres the
    Cheyenne” (pp. 415-16), rewrite the history textbook
    selection without changing the factual aspects of it.
    Meaning, after identifying the bias of the current text,
    think about how you might use diction, voice, and
    inclusion/exclusion to create a different bias in your
    own version.

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  45. You may confine your writing to any three contiguous
    paragraphs for this assessment. In a fourth and
    separate paragraph, you will need to explain which
    method(s) you employed (inclusion/exclusion, diction,
    voice, or other) to substantively change the bias, citing
    specific examples (i.e., quotes) from the text.

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  49. FINAL EXAM
    “Which Stories Will Become History?”

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  53. Summative Assessment:
    The narrative paragraph (short) is to be written in the
    stylistic voice (past tense) of your textbook. Pretend as
    if you are writing one hundred years in the future. The
    strongest essays will incorporate multiple sources and
    perspectives and communicate the kinds of nuances
    that characterize the complexities of the event, as well
    as its consequences.

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  54. The rationale paragraph (longer) should reference
    specific ideas, values, approaches and lessons from our
    course applied to the literal writing of a history, such as
    (but not limited to) “Trivial Pursuits”, “Secret Messages”,
    “The Death of Mr > Bolos”, as well as principles of
    media literacy, etc.

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  55. CRITERIA STRONG OK
    NEEDS
    WORK
    Clarity, coherence, and tone:
    How easy is it for the lay reader to understand the historical
    narrative — is there empathy employed? How well does the
    writing transition from sentence to sentence? Past tense?
    Dispassionate tone? 100-year perspective?
    Rationale:
    How effective and convincing were the choices made to include
    various details and use class content/skills to frame the event?
    How specific were the references? Did you quote your own
    writing for examples?
    Breadth:
    How many different sources were utilized accurately,
    significantly, and cited correctly? How effectively did the
    selections inform the viewpoint expressed by the writer?

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  56. ADVANCED
    “The Death of Mr. Bolos”

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  57. The Death of Mr Bolos:
    An Exercise in Analyzing Artifacts

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  60. Task:
    In a group of no more than 3-4 students, you will be
    writing a biography (or personal history) about the
    late Mr. Bolos. Somewhere in this essay, you should also
    speculate as to the cause of his death. Your essay
    should be well-structured, cohesive, and coherent. It will
    be based on the following sources:

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  61. • Personal artifacts (from the provided box)
    • Interviews with his colleagues/friends/enemies/
    former students
    • Other types of information (including the Internet)

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  62. What is an artifact?

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  63. What is an artifact?
    How old?

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  64. Primary vs. Secondary

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  65. 1) Artifacts

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  67. 2) Interviews

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  69. 3) Other

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  71. Collaboration and Corroboration

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  73. and

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  78. Debriefing

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  87. Why Day 1?

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  88. Know me

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  89. Know them

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  90. A reason to work together

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  91. Class Climate

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  92. A “disciplined mind”

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  93. A bookend of inquiry

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  94. BIAS IS UBIQUITOUS
    All materials available
    at www.spirobolos.com
    Spiro Bolos, New Trier High School
    Jeannie Logan, Glenbrook South High School

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