Follow History Within a Handspan of Home

on Tumblr

here

I have elected to organise my project into two parts: an essay, and a blog.

I have done this to better communicate different aspects of the project in more appropriate places. In the essay, for example, I can more accurately relay the facts that I have uncovered and actually communicate my reasoning and argument. In the blog, however, I will be able to discuss my experiences at the places I have discussed in the essay, allowing a more personal, less fact-driven reflection. In the blog I will be able to ponder the facts in a way that a traditional essay would not necessarily allow.

In terms of the sources used, I have been fairly minimal, drawing on mostly primary material where it has helped me to further my reflections. I have included a number of pictures in the essay, including maps, paintings, and engravings that I felt would enhance a reader’s understanding of the areas discussed. I have used no sources for the blog because, as stated, it is intended as a more impressionistic medium. There I have provided photographs of my own taking both to clarify the descriptions I have provided and to illustrate contrasts where necessary.

Please note also that the essay and the blog are intended as two parts of a whole. I do not intend for one to be read without the other, as in doing so meaning could be lost. I intended them essentially as two sides of the same coin – one to inform readers, the other to encourage them to inform themselves. 

Finally, I was also able to discuss in brief my work for the Aboriginal Heritage Office in the blog. I felt it was more appropriate to address it there as it seemed slightly too anecdotal for an essay.



— JOSEPH MONK

Joseph Monk, "Aboriginal and European History on the Northern Beaches," History Matters, (16 October 2015)