issue 9-model essay

tesolchina_RAUID: 3675555

make contribution under the influence of past achievement

In any field of endeavor, it is impossible to make a significant contribution without first being strongly influenced by past achievements within that field.

Write a response in which you discuss the extent to which you agree or disagree with the statement and explain your reasoning for the position you take. In developing and supporting your position, you should consider ways in which the statement might or might not hold true and explain how these considerations shape your position.


这道题还是分领域来写，主要写我最熟悉的学术研究和论文写作，其中细分为博士导师指导和文献综述两部分来阐述过往贡献的影响。最后谈到了法律的领域，分普通法和大陆法系分别讨论过往成就的重要性。全篇没有具体例子，但有一些概念作为干货来支撑论证。

I agree that in most fields significant contribution is often made by people under the influence of the achievements in the past.  I’ll first discuss this issue by considering two important aspects in academic researches: PhD supervision and literature review. I’ll then explain why this statement also holds true in the field of laws.  It is argued that the principles illustrated through these cases can also be applied to other fields as well.  

In academic researches, it has become a common practice for scholars to receive systematic training through a PhD program during which the scholars will work closely under the supervision of a more senior member of the research community.  The PhD supervisors are often leading scholars in the fields having published extensively and developed a body of scholarship that is important in the field.  The PhD students can then choose a field of study that is somewhat related to the supervisors’ expertise and receive their advice and guidance during the research processes.  As a result, the students will no doubt be influenced by the particular methodological approaches adopted by the supervisors and the research interests that the supervisors had developed over the years.  Sometimes, the PhD students will also co-author journal articles and book chapters with the supervisors and their writing styles will also be somewhat influenced by the supervisors who are usually also accomplished academic writers.  

In addition to the influence of PhD supervisors, junior scholars will also receive significant influence from scholars who had published in a particular field.  In almost all the academic disciplines, authors often begin their research articles with a section known as literature review. In the literature review section, the authors will discuss the studies that have been done and identify a literature gap they intend to fill. Usually the authors will also explain how the previous studies inspired them to conduct the present study.  In the method and result sections, the authors also need to refer to the  earlier studies as they may re-use similar methods and confirmed or challenged previous findings.  Therefore, the practices of literature review also suggest that scholars almost always contributed to their fields under the influence of previous research works.  

In the practice of laws, lawyers and judges also rely on the past achievements of their colleagues.  In the common law tradition, judges frequently referred to the earlier rulings made by their colleagues in the past to inform and justify their own decisions.  Lawyers also cite the previous cases similar to the present ones to make arguments and counterarguments.  In the civil law jurisdictions, the codified laws and rules are the past achievements of the legislators, lawyers, judges and legal scholars which the legal practitioners need to rely on for their daily practices.  When designing new laws and rules, the legislators and legal scholars will also need to review the legal principles and doctrines that have been established in the past as well as the research studies on the issues by experts in the fields of law, economics and political science.  Therefore, it is clear that contributions to the law in the broadest sense always rely on the past achievements in the field.  

As the discussion of academic research and legal practices clearly shows, to make contribution to most fields, one has to work with more senior and experienced members of the community as shown in the case of PhD supervision, review the previous studies and publication in the field similar to literature review, and rely on the cases and institutions that have been established in the past.  Therefore, overall speaking, I agree with the statement.  




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