FORUM1

De Asis, Alexandra Krisha D.
De Asis
BSCE/S – 1st year
GE 8 (7458)
Q#2. Explain the difference between factual history and speculative history?
“Who controls the present, controls the past. Who controls the past, controls the future” - George Orwell
I - OPENING STATEMENT
The difference between factual history and speculative history is their way of dealing in telling
and informing he people about the histories that takes place in such certain place. Factual history is
information that are all based on facts and has evidences and documentations that can support or verify
it. On the other hand, speculative history is based on drawn speculation or theory rather than on factual
evidence. Speculative history fills in the factual history on why and how it happens, and in order to
explore more what might have happened in the past. Thus, their difference is their role in writing and
telling history of different phenomena and human affairs that happened in the past.
IIa - 1ST - RRL
(Schultz-2016) A historical fact is a fact about the past. It answers the very basic question, "What
happened?" Yet beyond merely listing the events in chronological order, historians try to
discover why events happened, what circumstances contributed to their cause, what
subsequent effects they had, and how they were interpreted.
IIb - ANALYSIS/DISCUSSION OF THE 1ST RRL
The factual history is a basic information that we can get in answering questions such as what place,
time and place did the events happened. Also, who are the people that are involved in those events
and which country they came from. All we get in factual history is the facts of events in chronological
order. Moreover, it provides evidences and documentation that can back up all these information and
this prove that factual history is reliable and accurate because it supports all the claims and not just
some theories. However, factual facts cannot fill in the gap on why and how it happened.
IIIa - 2ND RRL
(De Oliveira & Fux-2014) Speculative or alternate history is a field of historical inquiry that uses
counterfactual speculation of historical events to reflect upon our present society and the social
construct of memory. Shows that speculative historical fiction can be a good source for questioning the
present and for shedding light on a country’s key historical events. Besides, it also helps to illuminate
the way history is recorded and remembered. As literary projects, they are better able to break the
boundaries of conventional history, while they serve as a source of reflection and knowledge about the
past.
IIIb - ANALYSIS/DISCUSSION OF THE 2ND RRL

Speculative history is where historians fill in the history events and finds the reasons to illuminate the
key of historical events. It answers the question on how the history happened and why such events
happened. By going beyond the written facts in history, historians drawn a way to answer how these
historical events affects and reflects the current society. In addition, speculative history answers the
reasons and causes why such events happened in the past. Histories are filled up with speculations on
how and why it happens, and this shows that speculative history takes an important role in writing the
history.
IV - GENERAL CONCLUSION
In conclusion, factual history and speculative history has big differences but the goal is the same, and
it is to tell the history that happened in the past. The factual history took the role of giving information
of who are the people, where it takes place, and time in a certain event. While, speculative history is
where the theories of different historians are giving information of the how it happened, and it’s cause
and effects. Thus, speculations of historians on historical events shows that history with the
collaboration of ideologies and a mixture of factual events take such a big role in our history.
V - CLOSING STATEMENT
I believe that the different of factual history and speculative history complement each other as they fill
in the answers that the other cannot answer. As historians keeps on searching for the answers, they
use their theories to come up with the cause of how events in the past happened. Although history has
so much things that needs to be answer but factual history comes up with an organized historical events
and speculative history is rebuilding the events that happens in the past. Therefore, I believe that the
differences of factual and speculative fills in the history important events and phenomena.
VI- REFERENCES (APA FORMAT)
De Oliveira, R., & Fux, J. (2014). Speculative history - UNESP. unesp. Retrieved March 22, 2023,
from http://www.olhodagua.ibilce.unesp.br/index.php/Olhodagua/article/viewFile/249/232
Schultz, N. (2016, July 6). Historical facts. Beyond Intractability. Retrieved March 22, 2023, from
https://www.beyondintractability.org/essay/historical-
facts#:~:text=A%20historical%20fact%20is%20a,and%20how%20they%20were%20interprete
d.

FORUM1

Uploaded by

Copyright:

Available Formats

FORUM1

Uploaded by

Document Information

Copyright

Available Formats

Share this document

Share or Embed Document

Sharing Options

Did you find this document useful?

Is this content inappropriate?

Copyright:

Available Formats

FORUM1

Uploaded by

Copyright:

Available Formats

De Asis, Alexandra Krisha D.

IIa - 1ST - RRL

IIb - ANALYSIS/DISCUSSION OF THE 1ST RRL

IIIa - 2ND RRL

IIIb - ANALYSIS/DISCUSSION OF THE 2ND RRL

VI- REFERENCES (APA FORMAT)

You might also like