FFS, Rick.

I was struck with an overwhelming sense of "for f*ck's sake" upon coming across the exchange in act IV, scene two regarding Richard’s wish to kill the two boys, specifically lines 20-22: (Richard to Buckingham) “Shall I be plain? I wish the bastards dead, And I would have it suddenly performed. What sayst thou now?”. Which, to me, sounds like “Hey, kill those kids. Ok? Ok.” And when Buckingham offers his hesitations about the matter (lines 26-27: “Give me some little breath, some pause, dear lord, Before I positively speak in this”) Richard says, in short, “Lame. I’ll get someone else that’s not a wuss.”

I find it so outrageously bold and somewhat comical of Richard, though not completely out of turn for him, being that the play has sort of been prepping us all along for his general outrageousness- and I do remind myself that it is indeed a play- but to me it’s so silly that it takes me out of the moment and makes me hyperaware that it is really just a play.

This all brings me to that overarching theme of this course so far: the embellishment of historical tales and the degree thereof. We know already that the facts are skewed, but I wonder (my own disbelief aside) that, if they weren’t, would it or could it have happened so casually? Clearly, I haven’t the real answer to this, but what I do know  is this: there are more layers to this conundrum than just skewed facts- that is, their depiction that brings people to be so misinformed. If Shakespeare is going around saying this untrue thing happened in this absurd manner, then things get extra funky (and not in a good way).

I couldn't find an image with quite the right feel to accompany this blog post, so I made my own. 

Created using imgflip.com, image from television series "The Simpsons"

We Write History

 History is a broad subject. It can be talked about in many different senses. History of the earth, history of animals, history of DNA, history of a relationship, the list goes on and on. History to me is different for every single person. No two people have exactly the same history. I think that is really special.  As a society we have a general history consisting of wars, natural disasters and many other things. But no two people experienced any of those pieces of  history the same.  This is where fiction comes in. To one person, fiction maybe the truth, but to another, it may be a lie. The world has "fiction" writers, but who's to say they're not writing their own truth? Maybe it is a glimpse of what's to come, and only they know. In a way, history and fiction can play off of one another, and yes, history as proof, it has facts, and fiction may not. But maybe, just maybe, fiction just doesn't have them YET.

History vs Fantasy

Ben LeBarron 

Engl 250 

Dr. MB 

1/21/2018 

History vs Fiction 

History is the act of recording past events that happened. History is primarily based on facts and evidence found from the past. It is believed that most history is true and most people accept it. Although, history can be wrong due to bias or miss information. History is never-ending and as each day passes it is considered history.   History is used to learn about our past but It can also be used to determine the future.  People say history repeats itself and if we do not learn from the past, troubles that could occur in the future. 

Fiction is a made-up story usually used for entertaining.  It is limitless and is as far as your imagination can take you. Fiction can be used to create scenarios that might happen in the future. It can be a story that is reflecting current events today. Fiction is creative and can be interpreted in different ways. 

History is based off facts while fiction is based off of imagination. Fiction and history can both be entertaining to people.  History and fiction are alike because both can be lies. They can be changed and have bias on them. Lastly their both alike because they are both important. You need to learn about the past and what can potentially happen.  

Source 

https://www.thoughtco.com/what-is-history-collection-of-definitions-1712

What is: History and Fiction

 
      I’ve found that history is made of events, actions, and people who are already either: dead, or their actions and cultures in/during a certain time have already occurred. It is an unchangeable series of facts – we can change the lasting causes and effects of those facts, but not history itself. Fiction is able to reflect, stem from, and interpret history while not being necessarily restricted by fact, though it may take people or events from the past for a figurative and/or entertaining purpose. Fiction is made up of stories that haven’t occurred, but have the potential to happen. It can affect the way people think, and that, while it may be influenced by history, so too can it affect history itself – an example being Harriet Beecher Stowe’s Uncle Tom’s Cabin.
       History, in the academic world, can be studied further mainly to find the motivation of the participants and/or to be aware of the people and events that took place. Literature, however, has the capability of transcending reality in order to create a discussion about a bigger picture which prompts reflection. That’s why novels that take place during the segregation era, for example, use history to talk about isolation and cruelty, whereas the historical event itself does not provide an opinion.

       

https://i.pinimg.com/originals/b7/a1/23/b7a1233f2e1102a099e19865c8df0fc3.jpg

History- could it be fiction?

Maria Kelly
Dr. MB
ENGL 250- Section 1
January 21, 2018

History and Fiction

     History is the relaying of events that happened in the past. Fiction is something that did not actually happen and/or people that do not exist. Both are subjective, and both are able to be manipulated. History is usually factual, but as someone during our class discussion brought up, it can change and vary depending on the person who is relaying the events. Sometimes things might be considered part of “history” but they may not be fully factual due to the fact that all humans process information differently and therefore not everything or everyone is remembered in the same way. This can be proven by the evidence that many “historical” events are still being debated over and they are continually being changed by new facts and information that is received about them. Fiction, on the other hand, is not trying to be factual. While people are continually studying history and trying to get at the root of the facts, one of the students in class brought up the point that fiction is very much for entertainment. It’s not trying to be real, but rather exactly the opposite. Fiction is wonderful because it is not factual, and it is a means of escaping reality a lot of the time. People read or talk about history as things that really happened even if they may not have, but fiction is always known to not be true and so one cannot be deceived or mislead by it.

Fiction= pure enjoyment

The actual definition of history is the study of past events, particularly in human affairs (Google Dictionary). However, to me history is anything that is in the past, like the memory of playing sports for 12 years. History is anything that you want to put behind you. It is the old boyfriend that you dated for so long only to realized you both grew apart. History is the light going out as you close the door. It will be there to remind us what we went through and how hard it can be. History is something significant in our past, like the fact that George Washington was the first U.S. president. It is the fact that the present will soon be the past and continue to repeat itself if one does not learn the lessons from the mistakes made.
 The actual definition of fiction is the invention or fabrication as opposed to a fact but to me fiction is a made up story that maybe told for entertainment for example the story of the princess and the frog is fiction, you may not kiss a frog and turn it into a prince. Fiction is the simple stories that we tell children when, they are little, such as the Tooth Fairy, Easter Bunny, and/or Santa Clause. Flying, laser vision, and super speed are examples of Superman a fictional character making his story fiction. Fiction creates a world of wonder and exploration in the mind of many people in the world. It allows us to express our fears, hopes, dreams at our own pace of control.

                           

History and Fiction

History and Fiction cross paths very often in literature as well as in storytelling. There can usually be some commonalities between the two of them. History recalls events of the past using primary sources and other sources to create accurate but bias representations and stories to depict past events. History is studied after the event has taken place so it is told through records and verbally. These events can be bias as they are usually told through a bias one-sided view.  Most forms of history are from a single teller or event. It can be tough to pull out the accurate facts of history. The inaccurate or unknown parts of history is where history and fiction cross paths. Fiction fits into history when the true outcome is being told ignorantly or with assumption. Fiction is an untrue statement or story that can be based upon some truth but is not entirely true. Fiction can be used as a form of entertainment like campfire stories or plays. Fiction can depict events that have the capability to happen. Fiction does not have to be far-fetched or unrealistic. Overall, there is a correlation between history and fiction when it comes to literature and storytelling.

History & Fiction

To me, History and Fiction are opposites. History is all about stating factual stories of what happened in the past, whether it’s about people, a place, an event, or an idea. Anything that brought controversy to the world and gathered significance, is what is usually brought up in history. Fiction on the other hand, has no truth to the story being told. It can be based off of real ideas, but it does not represent or tell true stories of the past. Writers of fiction create an imaginary story, while historians report on what actually happened. With fiction, the writer’s goal is usually to express something revolving around the human experience. Fear, love, dreams, success, and other elements of what humans live through are told in fiction stories. The goal is to teach some lesson or some story about the influence of life experiences on humans and the influence others have on us and vice versa. With history, these events from the past that are recalled have gathered significance because of the effects these events and people have had on the world. So what History and Fiction have in common is that they both are a story of how people react to the environment around them, except one is true and one is not. Both are usually intended to teach a lesson. 

Fiction vs History

Fiction and history share many similar traits. They can both be ways to understand the past. They are both a byproduct of human beings and the "stories" that they create. The difference is that fiction is a fabricated story and history is a story with some evidence to support that it happened in reality and wasn't just made up. One of my sources says that "even if [newspaper articles] slant the truth they are intended to be read as factual" which makes them nonfiction (www.creative-writing-now.com). Maybe exaggerating the truth becomes history itself so that is why it isn't fiction? Who can say for certain?
Another difference is the root of the words themselves. History comes from a Greek word and fiction comes from Latin. The Greek word Historia was used to mean a person who made judgement based on facts from investigations (http://www.whatishistory.org/). Fictio is the Latin word that fiction comes from and means "molding" or "fashioning" (https://www.britannica.com/art/fiction-literature). From the definitions of the root words it is made clear that history is used to express events that happen in the world based on facts that could be used as evidence in support of those events. Fiction was never meant to have facts supporting whether the events in the fabricated story actually happened or not. The reason the two can be confused is because of the truth that there are documents used as evidence in support of history that were created with the intent to deceive. It is in this area that fiction and history tend to blend together and get confused.

• http://www.whatishistory.org/
• https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/fiction
• https://www.britannica.com/art/fiction-literature
• https://www.creative-writing-now.com/what-is-fiction.html