issue48 [自由女神小组]第二十次作业

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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."  
字数：545 （修改后）      用时：1:00:00 +  20 min      日期：2007-2-14

On the history stage, the glory of the most significant events and trends always shines the famous few, who seemingly monopoly the whole stage. As a result, the study of history over-emphasis on individuals but overshadows more important people whose identities have long been forgotten.

Look back on history, it seems most, perhaps all important events and trends in history have been decided by the few individual from our history textbooks. Martin Luther King, established the new status of African Americans in history. Mahatma Grandhi, the figurehead started up the independent War in India, made the India independent from the British colony. Abraham Lincon, who integrated the North and the South, ended the Civil War. And there was a villain in the politic realm, Hitler, who made the Germen caught between two fires. No matter what, they were the famous few who started up and directed the powerful events and trends in history. It was the famous few that write the history.

However, if any famous few without the help of groups of people, it is just like the engineer without the fundamental bricks, his skyscraper will never be built. As we all know, the famous few cannot be independent on the strength of the masses. Although he is superior to others in many aspects, the combination of people's wisdoms is critical to the development of human history. The pyramid is a good case to prove the greatness of ordinary people. Without people's uniting power and diligence, we will never appreciate the miracle architecture. Therefore, it is groups of people who create history.


I agree the speaker's assertion that the study of history places too much emphasis on individuals. There are several causes. To start with, the history documentations recorded little about groups of  people, so little justification for historians to study groups of people lying behind the events and trends. Secondly, historians tend to study superior class rather than inferior class, consider, it is tackle or impractical to analyze each individual's thing and recorded one by one. After all, we can memorize these events clearly through understanding the famous few, who are the example or alarm for next generations. However, this over-weighted on individuals will make these events inaccurate so that we can not perceive these events more objectively. The Scotland philosopher Thomas Carlyle said, “the world history is mere the autobiography of famous few.” That is to say, the history records more in the aspect of lives, characters, experiences of famous few, but ignores those common people who should be paid more attention. Because I believe that it is common people that reflect condition of society at their time.

Furthermore, although those significant events are started up by famous few, history follows a path which no individual can influence, these great few are the products of historical conditions. Had there been no “Gorge Washington”, another figure would have played the same role. It is that period demanding a “Gorge Washington”. We just wait the history being made.


To sum up, the famous few and groups of people are the body of history. They influence the fate of contemporary society, but they cannot shape the history. By comparison, the groups of people can reflect a period of society history more accurate than famous few.