APUSH

INTRODUCTION TO THE STUDY OF HISTORY

DIRECTIONS: Read Historians and Their Publics by Alan Brinkley. Answer the following questions on a piece of
lined paper, and attach the paper to this handout.

1. Summarize the story of the Enola Gay exhibit at the Smithsonian. [i.e., what happened? Why was it
controversial?]
2. According to Brinkley, what is the difference between history and memory?
3. How does the story of Brinkley seeing Hitlers home site connect to the relationship between history and
memory?
4. How does the story of Caen, Normandy connect to the relationship between history and memory?
5. Who owns the past? What is it used for?
6. What do historians bring to history that the average person does not?
7. Why does Brinkley criticize academic historians?
8. What do you think Brinkley means when he says historians are used to dealing with ambiguity, complexity,
and uncertainty?
9. What does Brinkley mean when he says that history is used as a tool of power? Explain.
10. What is the significance of the story written by Milan Kundera?
11. Brinkley argues that history enables individuals to resist power, to make independent judgments, to
evaluate for themselves the claims and counterclaims about the past that form much of public discourse.
How does this statement relate to YOU?