So what

Finally, we often need to explain why the subject is important or interesting.

When we write a historical description, we try to stick to known or accepted facts and avoid opinion.

But if the audience has no context, they will likely ask:

So what?
Why is this technology or art worth describing at all?
Why is it important or interesting?
Why should I pay attention?

The problem is that explaining why something is important or interesting means making a value judgment, which is an opinion.

One way to handle this is to describe value judgments that could be accepted as fact, such as:

Opinions and experiences of people using the technology at the time.
Opinions and conclusions that are broadly accepted by historians.

Map of Pompeii toilets

For example, we saw this map of toilets in Pompeii, most of which were not connected to sewers.

But... so what?

What did those toilet locations mean for people living in those homes?

And these cesspit toilets were often situated in the kitchen, where food was prepared! The comforting smells from a hearty stew would have mingled with the gross odors from the nearby open cesspit.

"Talking heads: what toilets and sewers tell us about ancient Roman sanitation"

Roman road network

Or we saw this map of a small part of the Roman road network.

Okay, there's a road network. So what?

What did this network mean to the Roman Empire?

Roman roads included bridges, tunnels, viaducts, and many other architectural and engineering tricks to create a series of breathtaking but highly practical monuments which spread from Portugal to Constantinople. The network of public Roman roads covered over 120,000 km, and it greatly assisted the free movement of armies, people, and goods across the empire. Roads were also a very visible indicator of the power of Rome, and they indirectly helped unify what was a vast melting pot of cultures, races, and institutions.

Roman Roads(2014)

Rosetta Stone-and-reconstruction-1000x854

Rosetta Stone and reconstruction (Source)

And we mentioned the Rosetta Stone.

It was discovered in 1799, a big hunk of stone with some writing on it.

So what? What did its discovery mean for our understanding of ancient history? (A lot!)

The Rosetta Stone is an ancient Egyptian stone bearing inscriptions in several languages and scripts; their decipherment led to the understanding of hieroglyphic writing.

Rosetta Stone

Actually, that description undersells it.

Here's a more vivid description:

Reflecting on the stone's significance, John Ray, author of The Rosetta Stone and the Rebirth of Ancient Egypt, said, “The Rosetta Stone is really the key, not simply to ancient Egypt; it’s the key to decipherment itself.”

He concluded, “You’ve got to think back to before it was discovered. All we knew about the ancient world was Greece, Rome and the Bible. We knew there were big civilizations, like Egypt, but they’d fallen silent. With the cracking of the Rosetta Stone, they could speak with their own voice, and suddenly whole areas of history were revealed.”

"What is the Rosetta Stone?"

Your turn.

In the 15th century, in Germany, Johannes Gutenberg invented the printing press.

So what? Who cares?

What was significant about this invention? What did it mean for people involved, or medieval Europe at the time, or human history in general?

Woodcut of a printer (Source)

What kind of language about meaning and significance did we see in these snippets?

The comforting smells would have mixed with the gross odors...
The network greatly assisted the free movement...
Roads were a visible indicator of the power...
They indirectly helped unify...
Their decipherment led to...
The Rosetta Stone is really the key...
With the cracking of the Rosetta Stone, whole areas of history were revealed...

The language of 'so what' revolves around verb groups (words that describe the cause and effect relationships) and adjective groups (words that describe good or bad, and so on).

Write 2-3 sentences about what the invention of the printing press meant. (Do a little research!)

The printing press revolutionised communication and accelerated the spread of knowledge throughout Europe. Using the innovation of movable type, the printing press drastically reduced the cost and time needed to produce written material, enabling the mass production of books and pamphlets. This dissemination of ideas increased literacy in the population and laid the groundwork for major scientific and industrial revolutions.

Explaining what a piece of technology means brings it to life for the audience and helps them understand its impact on history and culture.

In the rest of this lesson, we're going to look at how history writers combine when, where, what, and so what when describing different art and technology from different perspectives.

Describing historical arts & technologies