1. (A) Choose the correct option from the given options and complete the sentences.
(1) It may be said that ……………… was the founder of modern historiography. (July ’19; March ’20; Nov. ’20)
(a) Voltaire (b) René Descartes (c) Leopold Ranké (d) Karl Marx
Ans. Voltaire
(2) ………… wrote the book entitled ‘Archaeology of Knowledge’. (Sept. ’21)
(a) Karl Marx (b) Michel Foucault (c) Lucien Febvre (d) Voltaire
Ans. Michel Foucault
(B) Identify the wrong pair in the following, correct it and rewrite. (March ’19; Sept. ’21)
(1) Georg Wilhelm Friedrich Hegel – ‘Reason in History’
(2) Leopold von Ranké – ‘The theory and Practice of History’
(3) Herodotus – ‘The Histories’
(4) Karl Marx – ‘Discourse on the Method’
Ans. Wrong Pair : Karl Marx – Discourse on the Method.
Correct Statement : Discourse on the Method was written by Rene’ Descartes.
2. Explain the following concepts.
(1) Dialectics
Ans. (1) In order to understand the true nature of an event, one needs to know its opposite for e.g. True – False, Good – Bad, etc. A German philosopher, Georg Wilhelm Friedrich Hegel had put forward this method of analysis of history. (2) A theory called Thesis’ is proposed at the beginning. It is followed by another theory called ‘Antithesis’ which is, contrary to ‘Thesis’. (3) After a thorough logical discussion of both new thesis is proposed having gist of both (Thesis and Antithesis). This process of arriving at a new thesis is called Synthesis. This method of analysis of history which is based on opposites is known as ‘Dialectics’.
(2) Annales School (July ’19: Nov. ’20: Sept. ’21)
Ans. At the onset of the twentieth century a new school of historiography arose in France, which is known as ‘Annales School’. Annales school gave a new direction to history writing. It was recognised now that history is not only about the political events, kings, great leaders and accordingly politics, diplomacy and wars but also about the climate, local people, agriculture, trade, technology, means of communication, social divisions and their collective psychology, etc. in the historical times. The Annales School was started by French historians.
3. Explain the following with its reason.
(1) Historical research was driven to focus in depth on various aspects of women’s life.
Ans. (i) The writings of Simone-de-Beauvoir helped in establishing the fundamentals of feminism.
(ii) The feminist historiography emphasised not only on the inclusion of women in history but also on the rethinking of the male dominated perspective of history (iii) As a result historical research was driven to focus in depth on various aspects of women’s life, such as their employment, their role in trade unions, institutions working for their cause, their family life, etc.
(2) Foucault called his method, ‘the archaeology of knowledge’. (Nov. ’20)
Ans. (i) Foucault , in his book, ‘Archaeology of Knowledge’, argued that the prevailing practice of arranging historical events in a chronological order is not right. (ii) He drew attention to the fact that archaeology does not strive to reach the ultimate historical truth but attempts to explain various transitions in the past. (iii) Foucault felt that explaining the transitions in history is more important. (iv) Thus, he called his method, ‘the archaeology of knowledge’.
4. Answer the following in 25-30 words.
(1) What is historiography?
Ans. (i) The writing of critical historical narrative is known as ‘Historiography’. (ii) A scholar who writes such a narrative is a historian.
(2) What did René Descartes insisted upon ?
Ans. (i) René Descartes insisted on verifying the reliability of historical documents by critically examining them.
(ii) He also made a rule, ‘Never to accept anything for true till all grounds of doubt are excluded’.
(3) Why is Voltaire said to be the founder of modern historiography? (March ’19 – ’20)
Ans. (i) Voltaire opined that along with objective truth and chronology of historical events considering social traditions, trade, economy, agriculture, etc. was also equally important in historiography. (ii) It gave rise to the thought that understanding all aspects of human life is important for history writing. (iii) Thus, it is said that Voltaire was the founder of modern historiography.
5. Complete the concept chart.
Ans. 
6. Answer the following in detail.
(1) Explain Karl Marx’s ‘Class Theory’. (March ’19; July ’19)
Ans. (i) Human relationships are shaped by the fundamental needs of people and the ownership as well as nature of prevalent means of production to meet those needs. (ii) The accessibility of these means to different strata of the society may not be equal. (iii) This inequality causes a division of the society into classes, leading to class struggle. (iv) According to Marx, human history is the history of class struggle, as the class that owns the means of production economically exploits the rest of the classes.
(2) What are the four characteristics of modern historiography ?
Ans. Following are the four characteristics of modern historiography:
(1) Its method is based on scientific principles. It begins with the formation of relevant questions. (2) These questions are anthropocentric. It means that these questions are about the deeds of the members of ancient human societies of a particular period. History does not suggest any interrelation between the Divine and human deeds. (3) Answers to these questions are supported by reliable evidence. (4) History presents a graph of mankind’s journey with the help of past human deeds.
(3) What is feminist historiography?
Ans. (1) Feminist historiography means the restructuring of the history from the perspective of women. (2) The feminist historiography emphasised not only on the inclusion of women in history but also on the rethinking of the male dominated perspective of history. (3) It drove historical research to focus in depth on various aspects of women’s life such as their employment, their role in trade union, institutions working for their cause, their family life, etc.
(4) Explain Leopold von Ranké’s perspective of history?
Ans. (1) Leopold von Ranke put emphasis on the utmost importance of information gathered through original documents. (2) He also stated that all types of documents associated with a historical event need to be examined with greatest care. (3) He believed that with this method it was possible to reach the historical truth. (4) He criticised imaginative narration of history.