"Our revels now are ended:" Looking Back on the Semester

As the semester draws to a close, it only seems fitting to look back on what I've learned. And there is so much to cover.

At the beginning of the semester, I came into my historical methods class not knowing what to expect. And now, I've realized, that was probably a good thing, because no expectation could have been equal to what I learned.

We started out discussing historiography, and what makes a historian who they are. And suddenly, I was able to say with confidence, Yes, I know what I'm going to do when I receive my degree, I can say what a historian does (although there are still plenty of jokes about history majors and historians out there that still make me laugh and sigh in recognition).

Sadly, it does seem sometimes that I'm swimming in papers...

We discussed primary documents and secondary documents, and read Mickey Mouse History, which enlightened me as to the plight of history in America (circa 1995, of course). And then, after a brief dalliance with Turabian and learning citation format, we entered into paper writing.

I think, if there was anywhere this semester where I learned the most, it was during this phase. Once again, I have realized the benefit of taking carefully labelled notes, and taking them long before I start trying to write my rough draft. I also learned to skim my sources' bibliographies, looking for sources that come highly recommended or that are repeated (since they're typically the major sources on the topic). Most of all, I learned to do my best to avoid bias while writing, avoiding formulating my thesis until after my research is completed.

But I learned more than just the nuts and bolts of writing a paper. I also began to view the Lincoln assassination from another viewpoint - that of Mary Surratt. Previously, I had only seen it from the perspective of an outsider looking in. I had always looked at everything that happened as bad - that John Wilkes Booth was an evil mastermind, that Lincoln was a martyr, that Surratt, while most likely innocent, was guilty by association. And, by looking at the evidence again - by actually sitting down and sifting through it - my views have been reopened. While Booth might not be the evil mastermind I thought he was and Lincoln may not be a martyr, Surratt still remains somewhat of a conundrum for me. Her possible guilt/possible innocence has made me only that much more interested in the Lincoln assassination, and rekindled my love for the Civil War.

Finally, I couldn't have made it through the semester without the amazing support of my classmates. Everyone in the class was so helpful and supportive that it gave the class a welcoming atmosphere. Even on the days where I didn't feel like I could deal with dragging myself to classes, I was always excited to see my classmates, and they definitely made the class what it was.

If anything can be said for this semester, it can be said that it has reminded me why I'm doing what I'm doing, and confirmed that, if there was any doubt that I wanted to work in history, it is gone.

Thank you for a wonderful semester. I look forward to sharing the next semester, and the next, and the next.

"Our revels now are ended. These our actors,

As I foretold you, were all spirits and

Are melted into air, into thin air:

And, like the baseless fabric of this vision,

The cloud-capp'd towers, the gorgeous palaces,

The solemn temples, the great globe itself,

Yea, all which it shall inherit, shall dissolve

And, like this insubstantial pageant faded,

Leave not a rack behind. We are such stuff

As dreams are made on, and our little life

Is rounded with a sleep."

 - William Shakespeare, The Tempest Act IV, Scene I