American English · C1 · Unit 8
History and memory
History and memory
By the end you can
- Discuss how a historical event shaped a country
- Compare different readings of history
- Understand a text about history
Words and phrases
| American English | Meaning | Example |
|---|---|---|
| a legacy | what the past leaves behind | Slavery left a legacy that is still painful. |
| rewrite history | change the story of the past | Removing the statue doesn't rewrite history. |
| in hindsight | looking back with what we know now | In hindsight, the warning signs were everywhere. |
| by the standards of the time | judged by the values people had then | By the standards of the time, he was progressive. |
| shaped | had a strong effect on | The Great Depression shaped my grandparents' whole lives. |
| contested | argued about, not agreed on | It's a contested part of our history. |
| the Civil War | the US war between North and South, 1861 to 1865 | The Civil War still shapes the South. |
| the Founding Fathers | the leaders who created the United States | The Founding Fathers disagreed on a lot. |
| commemorate | officially remember (a person or an event) | The plaque commemorates the 1919 strike. |
| a reckoning | a time of facing past wrongs | The country is having a reckoning with its past. |
| revisionist | telling history in a new (often critical) way | Some call it revisionist history. |
| erase | remove completely | We shouldn't erase the past. |
Then talk it through
A debate about whether a town should take down a statue. In the app you have this conversation out loud or typed, with the unit's goals to tick off and corrections at the end.