Ways of Remembering the Past in Words
Even before the invention of writing, people have felt the need to preserve the memory of past events for future generations. Because of what the past can teach us, these narratives, or stories, can help us better understand ourselves, other peoples, and our future.
| Type of Narrative | Definition | Qualities | Ancient Example | Modern Example |
| Myth (including folklore, fables, and animal tales) | A symbolic story of extraordinary events that takes place outside of the everyday world. | Myths get some of their authority from never attempting to prove they happened. | In Greek mythology, the Titan Prometheus steals fire from the gods to give to humankind. | In science fiction, spacecraft fly through black holes to travel back in time. |
| Legend | A traditional story told about a particular person or place, usually with fantastic or supernatural details. | Legends are told as though they actually happened. | Ancient Romans believed that Rome was founded by twins, Romulus and Remus, who were raised by a she-wolf. | The story that young George Washington, unable to lie, confessed that he chopped down his father’s cherry tree. |
| Annals (of rulers) | Records of how rulers served their gods, listing conquests, building projects, and ceremonies to their gods in each year of their reign. | Written on clay tablets and stone monuments, these records only mention victories and successes and never mention failures. | The Clay Prism of Sennacherib, about 701 B.C., describes events similar to those described in 2 Kings 18,19 and 2 Chronicles 32. | There is no exact modern equivalent to the annals of ancient rulers. However, the modern corporate annual report, like annals, tries to present achievements in the best light. |
| Chronicles (of rulers) | These are lists of unusual events in a kingdom, recorded year by year. Such chronicles included lists of military defeats as well as victories, related unusual astronomical observations, and religious observances. | Written in cuneiform on clay tablets, some ancient chronicles probably served as sources for the annals, and may have served as models for the writers of the Hebrew historical books. | The Eponym Chronicle from Mari, dating from 1800 B.C. is the oldest known cuneiform text listing events year by year. | The Congress of the United States maintains the Congressional Record, which reports the proceedings of each session of the Senate and the House of Representatives. |
| Biography (including diaries and memoirs) | Biography is the attempt to tell the story of a person's life and experiences. | The style of ancient biography permitted the writer to treat famous people in a way that was similar to legend. | The Life of Saint Anthony of Egypt, by Athanasius (mid-4th century AD) imitated the style of ancient biography. | Based on letters, interviews, and conversations, James Boswell's Life of Samuel Johnson (1791) is considered the first modern biography. |
| History | The discipline that studies records of events to learn how they have affected peoples or nations. | Historians examine records of events, especially eyewitness accounts, to understand why things happened. | The Jewish historian Josephus describes the Roman siege of Jerusalem in A.D. 70 in his History of the Jewish War. | The Guns of August by Barbara Tuchman, is a Pulitzer Prize-winning history book that describes the events of World War I. |
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Related Resources
The Books of Wisdom and Poetry, Job through Song of Songs, make up the section of the Christian Bible that follows the Pentateuch and the Historical Books.
The books beginning with Isaiah and ending with Malachi belong to a section of the Christian Bible called the Prophetic Books. These books record God’s messages to the people of Israel and Judah in the form of speeches or sermons, visions, and life experiences of prophets who preached between about 750 and 450 B.C.
The “Pentateuch” is a term used to describe the first five books of the Old Testament (Genesis—Deuteronomy). In the Jewish Scriptures these books are referred to as the Law, or Torah, a Hebrew word that means “guide” or “instruction”.
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