Specula Principium: How the ASSERT Model Can Easier Demonstrate the Efficacy of a King

Written by Bill Foster, Interactive Visualization: Insight Through Inquiry provides a fruitful introduction to the ways in which visualization can assist scholars, educators, and students. Geared towards undergraduates and graduates, although I would also say educators as well, Foster wants to guide students “to explore the guiding principles behind developing compelling interactive data-driven visualizations” (xv). Foster defines interactive visualization as “the process of letting primary sources of information communicate directly with a viewer to support inquiry in a visual, compelling, and interactive manner” (1). The book itself is primarily an explanation of not only the ways in which we can use interactive visualizations to enhance education, but also how we can do so. Foster developed what is called the ASSERT model. This model is as follows: “Six steps to scaffold the design of inquiry-based interactive visualizations: ask a question that one might be interested in the answer to; search for evidence to support the exploration of that structured data; represent that evidence in a way that provides answers to the questions and the opportunity to explore the data; and, finally, tell a story that uses the structured information that can offer insight into the question” (26). The book then provides the different types of primary sources that can be used, the different questions that should be asked and how to present them or make them open-ended, accessibility, and much more. There is not enough space in this blog post for me to discuss this in-depth, but I did want to mention how this book would be extremely beneficial for secondary educators. This book provides many educational materials and different ways to use them. In my PLC meetings for U.S. history, we frequently have discussions on the importance of making information more visual so that the students can better grasp the new information and data that is being presented to them. I would highly encourage any secondary social studies educator to read this book, take notes, and consider the ways in which they can implement this into their classroom.

This leads us to how I can use my information for my own research; how can interactive visualizations assist my research on Henry VIII? My thesis is a comparative analysis that using the contemporary literature specula principium to analyze the efficacy of the reign of Henry VIII’s reign. I am using specific circumstances and events in the early-years of his reign such as the fall of Thomas Wolsey in contingency with the king’s “great matter,” the rise of Thomas Cromwell, and the Pilgrimage of Grace, to analyze Henry’s reactions to such events to determine if Henry is in fact a Christian and noble king that lives up to the expectations according to the specula principium. By doing so, I am going against the popular historical arguments that Henry was merely a selfish tyrant.

My thesis can benefit through interactive visualization by creating an interactive chart. Using the ASSERT model, my question is does Henry live up to the contemporary expectations of an early modern monarch. My evidence is the contemporary literary genre specula principium as well as the Letters and Papers provided by the British History Online. Representing the data is where I struggle the most, but my first thoughts are what I began doing in my seminar with Dr. Duncan Hardy over the summer: a table. A table will demonstrate the ways in which Henry does, questionably does/does not, and the ways in which Henry does not exemplify the qualities of a Christian and noble prince. In my original chapter draft that I wrote in the seminar, my chart uses superscripts to reference the speculum principium that was references, demonstrated below.

I believe that a more interactive chart would be beneficial by being able to directly reference to the portion of the specific specula principium that is being referenced with the exact quote, as well as background information with images on how Henry does or doesn’t exemplify the ways. In terms of telling the story, I will be able to tell the story of how Henry’s early years of his reign really shaped the way in which the rest of his reign would, as he found himself in many imbroglios, and how even regardless of that, my hypothesis and current research demonstrates that he does still live up to the qualities of a Christian and noble prince. Interactive visualizations would make this table easier to read.