Does accuracy of historical details really matter?

So I was at a school sub-teaching the other day, and I ran across the below recent issue of the magazine for students, Scholastic Scope.

Now, Scholastic has an excellent reputation for doing good work in supplementing education curricula. I remember enjoying reading it back when I was in school (the Dark Ages 😉).

Yet, I was puzzled by a graphic inside this issue accompanying an article about the 1776 American Revolution battle of Brooklyn.

Hmmm. Their illustrative map (see below) makes it seem that the Continental forces were facing west, almost as if they were attacking New York City.

How misleading.

Actually, American forces were facing mainly eastward against the British who eventually drove the Americans back against the East River.

OK, you may ask, "David, does it really matter?"

Well, it does if you want to get across to the students the significance of "the miracle" that Gen. Washington pulled off (aided with a lot of luck -- or Providence) by keeping a disaster from becoming a complete disaster.

Washington orchestrated the evacuation of his trapped army, undetected by the British, across the river back into the safety of Manhattan, during the night, under the cover of a most fortuitous fog. 

The operation involved a flotilla of local boats -- yeah, our American version of Dunkirk (a la the recent movie) that took place early in WWII.

If Washington hadn't succeeded, the American Revolution would likely be just a footnote in history. Yeah, the evacuation was that critical and significant -- and only one of many such brushes with "total annihilation" for the Americans in that war.

Students have enough challenges learning valuable "take-aways" from history. Graphics, such as maps, can be effective tools in making those points easier to understand. That's why it's important to get the details right.

English Writing "Huh?"-ism #003

Another post in my series of writing faux pas

Oh, the power of a misplaced or misused comma to confuse . . .

Imagine our surprise when turning on CNN the other night as my wife and I sat down to dinner. Quickly reading the above on-screen Breaking News textbox, we immediately wondered: "Whoa, had the Mueller investigation halted?" or "Was the comma perhaps a mistake and the investigation has stopped questioning wealthy Russians?"

Turns out neither.

We eventually realized that the correct story was that the Mueller team was detaining targeted, wealthy Russians at airports to question them about possible illegal donations. Oh, ok, when you know that, the text starts to makes sense. But that's backwards as to the purpose of the textboxes. On CNN, those boxes are meant to quickly provide the viewer an idea of what's being presently discussed. 

All that had been needed was to put an "and" or an "&" in place of the comma in the Breaking News textbox, and all would have been clear from the git-go.

Yep, proper use and placement of commas IS important.