希望通过这一篇得到不同的见解~（真诚）

indigo1007UID: 2858305

TOPIC: ISSUE48 - "The study of history places too much emphasis on individuals. The most significant events and trends in history were made possible not by the famous few, but by groups of people whose identities have long been forgotten."
--------------------------------------------------------------------------
Does the study of history place too much emphasis on individuals? The speaker claims so, and adds that the most significant events and trends in history were made possible not by the famous few, but by groups of people whose identities have long been forgotten. However, I can not totally agree with the claim because the study of history is limited to information so that history can not be represented completely. Besides, in study of history, focus only on either great individuals or groups of people are not proper for they all contribute to history.

Admittedly, we can not deny that the most significant events and trends in history happened with ordinary people. Chinese chairman Mao Zedong ever said that, “common people are the main force of revolution, and the community party of China is the vanguard of it." The found of China depends on not the very person but all the massive social forces of the nation. And Karl Marx, the famous German political philosopher ever argued that history was determined by the common people at play in “class struggles”, not by the individuals by whom these forces are played out. Therefore, we could see, the strength of public is so overwhelming that it is decisive in the revolution in most of times. Moreover, any war or revolution can not be launched if not accepted and supported by public. For supporting examples, one needs look no further to American's War of Independence. People attribute its success to the leadership of Washington General, to the political spirit of Thomas Paine, and mostly, to all the endeavors American people put. Thus, it can be seen that, a history which only follows around few individuals is a shallow conception of the past. In fact, it’s the entire groups of people who make up the history and contribute to the history.

Then, think about the time when we were in library or bookstore, biographies of great individuals like Sir Winston Churchill, Franklin Delano Roosevelt can be found everywhere. It may be unconscious that people always intend to owe the contribution to heroes which may explain why the speaker says the study of history places too much emphasis on individuals. Actually, the way that study history by learning great individuals has both advantages and disadvantages. On one hand, it has helped indeed; learning from a hero is more interesting than a complex event for sure. And hero acts as an example in the mind of people, especially children. So when faced with an obstacle, people will quickly remind of the hero and hold the same belief that helps them to go through difficulties. However, on the other hand, it will also bring some harm. Nowadays if we are still consistent to such heroism, it can be counterproductive, for the reason that the current society is build up on cooperation, we encourage teamwork rather than individualism. On balance, we should hold a critical perspective when learning those palmary individuals.



However, sometimes we can not blame historians in emphasizing more on individual effects. It is not that historians didn't want to recognize the significance of other people but the resources history left are too little, giving task for them to collect, put in order, record and present us the intact history. In addition, the genuine purpose of history is rooted not in giving the past a representation wholly and accurately by the mere sifting of evidence for facts, but assimilate the nurture from both the mass and great individuals—two main elements for making up the history.

In sum, history is an elder, keeping telling a series of vivid stories about the significant events or great individuals. Due to the absence of information, we can not record all the contributing people. So when studying history, we should look to the significant events and trends with critical eyes: learning from examples of heroes and meanwhile appreciate the influence of those groups of people whose identities have long been forgotten. (662 words)

JonathanmmUID: 2738719

不同的见解：
除去重复性的叙述和例子叙述，实际表达的意思文字约204字。
此外，研究历史不研究大众是资料缺失不敢苟同。