500-words

Gobbets Made Easy Vital Information for your AMH life

What the heck is a “gobbet”?

A "gobbet” is a concise analytical comment on a short extract from a textual documentary source, or an image. It is an exercise in de-construction, aimed at extracting the maximum historical understanding from the source in question. The answer should be brief and sharply focused on the issues arising from the source.

Notes on How to Write Gobbets

The primary documents,normally an extract of text (especially a quotation) or image,is provided as a context for analysis,discussion,or translation.

A well written gobbet should have the following elements:

§ 500 to 800 words. § Avoids an over-lengthy introduction and gets to the point quickly. § Does not simply rephrase the wording of the gobbet; but analyzes it.

§ It will identify the document and context, including: § Its language

§ Whether the text provided is a translation or not

§ The place where this document was done

§ Its purpose

§ The main characters involved

§ It will comment on the particular point or points raised in the extract (ask yourself, why was this extract set?).

§ It will explain any distinctive words or phrases. § It will then, towards the end, comment more discursively on some of the broader issues

involved. § Is this a true or accurate narrative of events? § Are the hopes of the protagonist ultimately realized? § Where does this extract fit into the wider context of what we know from our sources?

To explore a gobbet adequately you will need to consider a number of areas: content, context, and authorship. The following slides should help to get you thinking along the right lines.

The questions listed are not intended to be exclusive or prescriptive, or to be learnt by heart and applied to every gobbet.

If a question is not relevant to a particular text, do not waste time on it.

If other questions occur to you, answer them instead.

Authorship

§ What is the text or image?

§ If it is a text, what sort of text is it (history, poem, inscription, political pamphlet etc.)? Who wrote it?

§ Why?

§ Where and when? What was happening when the text was written?

§ How good was the author’s knowledge of the events (s)he describes?

§ Is the author biased? If so, which way? How is this shown in this passage?

§ Is the author trying to persuade the reader/listener of a particular point? If so, what? How?

§ Can anything be said about the author’s attitudes from the passage? Does the author’s attitude reflect or conflict with general attitudes at the time?

These points are important because they affect the interpretation of the text. Different genres of text (history, tragedy, epic, etc.) will present very different views of the past, and it makes a difference if the author wrote at the time of the events (s)he describes or centuries later. It will help you if you know the biographies of the authors, but do not simply write all the details out at the beginning of each answer. Use the information where it is relevant to the interpretation of the passage.

For example, if Roosevelt is talking about American warfare, the fact that he was an American general is relevant. If he is talking about Chinese warriors, it is not. If something you know about the author leads you to read the text differently, mention it. Otherwise, leave it out.

Historical Content and

Context

§ What does the text describe?

§ Where and when do the events in the text take place?

§ Why did they take place there and then?

§ Who is involved? Who were they? Where did they come from? What else did they do? What happened to them afterwards?

§ Why are they doing it?

§ What happened before?

§ What happened afterwards?

§ What were the consequences of the events described in the passage?

§ What is the larger historical picture into which these events fit (e.g. class conflicts, conquests overseas, the lives of women)?

§ How do the events fit into the larger historical picture?

When dealing with the historical content, do not simply paraphrase the passage. If your commentary says nothing that is not already in the passage, your grade will suffer.

When putting the passage into its historical context, stay close to the passage itself – do not write a general essay on the bigger picture. You can say how the passage influences our understanding of the bigger picture, or how the passage says something different when it is placed in its proper context.

Textual Context

§ Where is this passage located in the text from which it is drawn?

§ What happens before and after it in the text?

§ How does this passage fit into the overall structure and argument of the text?

§ Why does the author introduce this story, discussion or description there?

§ How does the presentation of the people or events described affect the Impression you form of them?

§ These points also affect the interpretation of the passage, mainly by raising questions about the literary and rhetorical artistry of the author and the way (s)he has presented the subject material.

When you have worked through a passage with the questions above in mind, you should be able to say what its significance is:

§ What does the text tell us and about what?

§ Why should your reader be interested in the passage?

F.Y.I § Gobbets are designed to assess your ability to comment critically upon

source material, whether a text or an object.

§ Each gobbet will have at least one specific point that should be addressed/analyzed, so always consider why a particular passage/image has been chosen.

§ For those of you also taking literature modules in other Schools, please note that history gobbets are less an exercise in textual criticism and much more an attempt to get to the heart of the issues contained within a document, and the issues concerning the nature of the document itself.

§ For your assignment you are required to write on two topics. Only one can be chosen from a particular week. If you have any questions – please ask!

EXAMPLE GOBBETS Can be found in the Module folder on Canvas