0910AW 同主题写作第十期 ISSUE48 by peterlu

peterluUID: 2649685

第一次发帖，而且是处女作。。帮小弟看看。先谢过各位大哥大姐了啊~~

TOPIC: ISSUE48 - "The study of historyplaces too much emphasis on individuals. The most significant events and trendsin history were made possible not by the famous few, but by groups of peoplewhose identities have long been forgotten."
WORDS: 610
TIME: 01:22:37
DATE: 2009/7/29 14:48:30

Are we putting on too much weight onindividuals when studying history? The speaker claims so, for the reason thatforgotten groups of people, instead of the famous few, contribute to the mostmomentous events and trends in history. I concede that groups of people, tosome extent, devote to some significant process in history. However, in myview, the famous few play a far more important role in historical process.

Considering the participation of groups ofpeople in historical process, we cannot deny that people's efforts play a vitalrole in most events and trends in history. In fact, in some areas, such as warsand campaigns, people's involvements are essential. For example, during theWorld War II, Hitler was beaten primarily due to the powerful force of thosewho were living a miserable life under his maladministration and those who hada strong faith in freedom and peace.
Onecan never expect victory against the ruling class without supports from thepeople. It is easy to defeat one single person for the ruling class. But whenfaced with the voices of thousands of people, the ruler has to think twicebetween taking any measures. It is never wise to ignore the function of peoplewhen judging an incidence in history.

Nevertheless, in most historical process,individuals functioned as a leading role. Some important figures directly ledto some significant events in history. George Washington directed Americans tofight against British, thus becoming the father of the United States. MartinLuther King fought for civil rights during his whole life, turning the US acountry where people of all colors share the same rights. These key figures,whose behaviors directly affect the public, are the irreplaceable part of thehistory. Their spirits and thoughts and faiths encouraged the people to dowhatever they need to acquire what they deserve. On the other hand, without abellwether, who usually informed others of their goals and faiths, people couldseldom unite, let alone act as an invincible power. Take the revolt led by ChenSheng in late Qin Dynasty as an example, at the beginning people defeated thegovernment everywhere they arrived under Chen's command. While after the deathof Chen, complacency and distrust arose among the people, which finallyprevented the people from overthrowing the despot at that time.

Given the fact that in most historicalprocess it was the outstanding individual, rather than the public, that playeda key role, people could never place too much on individuals in the study ofhistory. Actually, when studying history, it is necessary for us to discoverthe spirits of the events or trends, which were usually reflected most by thekey figures in the events or trends. The famous people's personal character,such as diligence and prowess or laziness and cowardice, to a large degree,determined aftermath of the events or trends. Besides, despite the greatdifference between the society years ago and nowadays, we can still benefit inour lives from studying the famous people's personalities. People who succeedusually share some common personalities, and so do people who fail. Studyingtheir personalities makes sense in developing our own, thus showing us aclearer way to success.

In sum, even if the forgotten groups ofpeople made their contributions in historical process, the famous few peopleinvolved were far more important because of the irreplaceability of their thoughtsand personal charisma. Therefore, the study of history should and must placemuch emphasis on individuals, who to some extent defined the events or trends,and whose spirits and thoughts are the right achievements we desire to acquirethrough the study of history.