Hi, there

Let’s say a student in a history class is kind of confused about the events, dates and the material in general. Would it sound odd to use any of these sentences below if he/she wants to get a big picture
of the history involved?

“Could you just draw a kind of timeline so I can get a historical bearing on the material”

“Could you just draw a kind of timeline so I can get my bearings/a bearing bearing on the history here”

“Could you just draw a kind of timeline so I can situate myself in the history on this”

What could I say?
Thank you!!

Question

Hi, there

Let’s say a student in a history class is kind of confused about the events, dates and the material in general. Would it sound odd to use any of these sentences below if he/she wants to get a big picture 
of the history involved?

“Could you just draw a kind of timeline so I can get a historical bearing on the material”

“Could you just draw a kind of timeline so I can get my bearings/a bearing bearing on the history here”

“Could you just draw a kind of timeline so I can situate myself in the history on this”

What could I say?
Thank you!!

Answer

"Could you just" can sometimes sound abrupt so I would suggest saying:

I am really confused. Please could you draw a timeline? I feel that would help clarify things for me.
 OR
I am really confused here. Please could you draw a timeline? I feel that would help me understand the details and  events much more clearly.

Answer

Sounds a bit uncommon to me, but you would say:

“Could you just draw a timeline so I can get my bearings”

The idiom is “get one’s bearings” , but, honestly, I have never used it before... perhaps the British used them more than Americans.

Rather, I would say something like: 
“Excuse me, could you draw a timeline to better understand the big picture about when the events occurred?”

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