A Different Mirror

Use these questions or activities to help gauge students’ familiarity with the content and spark their interest in the context of the work, giving them an entry point into the text itself.

Short Answer

1. What is meant by the term “revisionist history”? What, specifically, is being “revised”? In coming up with a working definition, consider examples of “revisionist history” in your own personal life (e.g., one family member remembers a piece of family lore happening one way, another member remembers it another way) alongside larger social and cultural examples (e.g., Columbus Day being changed to Indigenous Peoples’ Day). Why is “revisionist history” important?

Teaching Suggestion: “Revisionist history” is generally defined as a historical narrative that rejects and upends a culture’s dominant one. In this Oxford Reference entry, “revisionism” is defined as “any scholarly practice dedicated to revising an established position.” This conversation should get students thinking about the Struggle for Equality within any given society, but particularly within modern America. This discussion should also encourage students to consider why it’s important for social justice initiatives to rethink and “revise” common patterns of racist ideology embedded within our histories.

• What Is Revisionist History? – This is an article in Contingent Magazine that offers a definition.