* Historical narratives are “authored.” History is not a neutral, objective, or universal report on what happened at a given time.

* Historical narratives are often framed by “the winner” or dominant society, and bury other stories. Anyone can be a part of creating and uncovering the other stories. 

* Different understandings are revealed when history is studied chronologically compared to when it is studied by the relationships between events/forces/themes throughout time.

* How does the past live in the present?

* Why and how does history “repeat”?

Participants will…

...see themselves as connected to the past and develop an understanding of its impacts on their own lives.

...use multiple historical viewpoints to highlight the relationship of actions of oppression and self-determination. 

...expand their understanding of the connections between historical and current historical moments.

* Familiarize yourself with The Knotted Line content surrounding the Chinese Immigration Act.

* Familiarize yourself with The Knotted Line content surrounding current immigration laws and resistance.

CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RH.9-10.3

CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RH.9-10.5

Analyze how a text uses structure to emphasize key points or advance an explanation or analysis.

CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RH.11-12.2

CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RH.11-12.6

CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RH.11-12.7

CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RH.11-12.9

Length of Time:  Two 55-minute sessions

Recommended Age Range: High school age

Ideal Number of Participants: 15-30

Blank paper (scratch paper is fine), markers, pens, pencils

String and tape

Computer/projector to play online video and Entering the Knotted Line slideshow

Preparation:

1. Prepare an example image for the Pictures from the Past activity.

2. Preload the Knotted Line video, cued to 1:07.

15 minutes

Before participants enter the space, the facilitator places a blank paper on each desk or spot where someone will sit. 

Facilitator begins with this prompt:

Choose a moment in history—anywhere in the world, any era—that has affected you in some way. 

Think about this: was there an event that led to your ancestors changing locations, was there a decision that was made that impacted your community, was there a war/disaster/revelation/encounter that changed a culture that you come from?

It could have happened hundreds of years ago or just a few years ago. 

Facilitator note: This is a good place for the facilitator to help people conceptualize the activity more concretely by sharing a personal example:

For example, an event that affected how my family’s history played out was __________.

An image that I could choose to represent that is _______________.

Everyone take a minute or two to brainstorm, then use the markers/pens/colored pencils to draw that image that could represent a moment in history that has had a serious impact on your culture, family, or community. 

Markers, pens, and pencils are available on tables/desks.

Participants draw an image responding to the prompt.

When participants finish at their own pace, facilitator asks them to write somewhere on the page a few words describing/naming the historical moment being depicted.

When everyone seems finished, transition into the next activity.

25 minutes

The group’s attention is guided towards a string that has been taped to the wall or a big white board.

Four people are invited to take pieces of tape and place their historical moment images on the line. If they are related, they can group them together, otherwise they should spread them out.

A second group of four does the same. The participants should be advised to cluster drawings together that have a relationship or can build off of each other, like a magnet or word cloud or scrabble board. The images don’t all have to stay on the line, either.

This continues until everyone has placed their images on the wall.

The facilitator prompts reflection with questions:

What kinds of experiences/moments/events have shaped us and how?

What are connections between our experiences?

Have these historical moments that have shaped our lives been destructive/harmful? Have they been creative/strengthening? Both?

How have these moments that have shaped our communities/families been represented to us in history class and in U.S. media? 

Have we learned what we want to learn about the history that is relevant to us?

The facilitator transitions the group by introducing The Knotted Line:

Now that we have reflected a little bit on how history has impacted us and shaped who we are, let’s explore The Knotted Line, which is an interactive art piece and website that we can use to explore U.S. history in a more creative and critical way—in a way that reveals all of the forces at play and the way we’re a part of it all. 

Different understandings are revealed when history is looked at chronologically or when it is looked at by the relationships between events/forces/themes throughout time. So let’s watch this video and see if it helps us understand The Knotted Line more clearly as a tool for studying history...

10 minutes

Show a segment of the video, from 1:07-8:04.

5 minutes

Facilitator asks for participants’ questions and responses.

Anything that the facilitator feels they can’t answer accurately or completely, they should record and offer to research (or invite participants to research) and bring back responses next workshop. 

The group is informed that the next workshop will involve diving into The Knotted Line and working with it now that the main ideas are clear. 

Preparation:

1. Preload the Entering the Knotted Line slideshow.

45 minutes

What follows is only a suggested script for walking through the slideshow. It should be adapted to your needs.

Slide 1:

We are going to explore how The Knotted Line works.

Slide 2:

Before we go into it, let’s think of the usual ways we learn history. 

Facilitator solicits responses from participants and writes them on the board/paper. 

Facilitator can offer examples to stimulate ideas if participants need it: books, documents, family stories, movies.

When we learn about a particular moment in history or the history of a certain people or place, do we usually learn about it from different angles? Or only one angle? 

Slide 3:

Facilitator reads slide and asks the question:

Slide 4:

Facilitator offers examples to augment participant responses: 

Slide 5:

Slide 6:

Facilitator reads the slide. 

Slide 7:

Facilitator reads the first part of the slide then asks a participant to volunteer to read the highlighted information out loud.   

Facilitator then asks:

(Sample ideal participant responses: some immigrants are welcomed and allowed to “succeed” while others are not depending on where they come from, immigration laws are changed based on what labor the U.S. economy needs, immigrants are only valued for the work they can do.)

Slide 8:

The facilitator begins by explaining that these are two paintings from The Knotted Line. This is going to be a brief exploration of how The Knotted Line uses images to explore history and tell stories. 

The facilitator then asks participants to reflect on the first painting: 1882: The Chinese Exclusion Act:

(Sample ideal participant responses: This painting shows that it was Chinese people doing the work and the white guy is dressed in a suit and off to the side without any tools. It shows that it is the white guy overseeing it while the other men are working. It shows that Chinese workers were necessary while building the railroad and then there was a law passed to exclude new immigrants when it was finished.)

After collecting several participant responses, the facilitator then asks participants to reflect on the second painting: The Last Spike. 

Questions:

(Sample ideal participant responses: This is supposed to be the completion of the railroad. White men in suits are represented here as if they were the ones doing the work. The two Chinese workers are kneeling, holding shovels, and there is one person who looks like they are Native American. But everyone is outnumbered by white men who look important and are doing things. It shows how a painting that glorifies the technical and economic achievements of white men is also erasing of the work of people of color and poor people that created the railroad (and built much of the country). If their story isn’t included, it is easier to pass laws to exclude them because they aren’t seen as central to American history.)

Slide 9:

Facilitator reads the question: Why does this matter?

Follow up question:

Solicit several student responses.

Sample thoughts to share to add to participant responses:

Slide 10:

Facilitator asks a participant volunteer to read the slide.

Afterwards, facilitator asks participants to think of what forces and ways of thinking about things are at play now.

Slide 11:

The facilitator asks a participant volunteer to read the slide and the question.

Examples if participants need help thinking of them:

- story of Columbus “discovering” America

- the story of Thanksgiving (romantic story of friendship between pilgrims and Native Americans, whitewashing of colonization and exploitation)

- the story of the Iraq war (it was about fighting terrorism and weapons of mass destruction which didn’t exist)

Slides 12, 13, 14:

Facilitator reads.

Slide 15:

Facilitator asks participants to look at the slide and respond: 

Slide 16, 17:

Facilitator goes through them. 

Slide 18:

Facilitator asks participant to read the first event given as an example and writes “1941” on the board.

Then another participant is asked to read the second event example listed.

The facilitator writes “1942” on the board a few inches to the right of “1941.”

Slide 19:

Facilitator reads the question: How are these events possibly connected?

The facilitator should help the group make this connection: Entering a war means soldiers (who used to be workers) are now going overseas to fight. Production and demand is increased in a wartime economy. This gap is filled by the Bracero workers, who are a cheaper workforce that is seen as temporary until the end of the war.

After some discussion of how they may have been related/connected, the facilitator offers a second question:

Slide 20, 21:

Reminder: The X-axis is about when events happened along the timeline—1991, 1992, 1993...

Slide 22, 23:

Facilitator reads.

Part 4: Integration of Concepts & Experience, Learners Representing New Knowledge in their Own Voice

Slide 24:

So...let’s examine how all of this relates to our lives a bit more...

Facilitator asks a participant to read the example aloud and then asks the question at the bottom of the slide. 

After soliciting several responses from participants, the facilitator might offer these examples:

gay marriage, prohibition of alcohol/marijuana, dress codes, immigration laws.

With each of these examples and examples offered by participants, the facilitator asks everyone to reflect on how they’ve changed and why.

Slide 25: 

Using the examples we’ve looked at, the Y-axis might connect these different moments around immigration and labor. Even though they are about different people, areas and times, they still have connections. 

Slide 26, 27:

Facilitator reads and then explains:

Facilitator note: For a selection of student sample work, the facilitator can visit here and select several they believe will be interesting or inspiring to their group in particular. Enter them into the slideshow or show them separately at this point to give participants a more concrete sense of the Z-axis.

Closing Question:

10 min

Facilitator asks:

Facilitator gathers several responses if it’s a large group, or one thought from each participant if it’s a smaller group. 

If the preference is to do something active after a long slideshow, ask the group to get in a circle and think of a motion or movement that responds to the above question. In the circle, each person shares their motion. As they do it, everyone in the group copies that motion.

Facilitator explains that now that they’re familiar with how it all works, the next session (Exploring the Knotted Line) will be working with The Knotted Line in a hands-on way.