...important developments of humankind has been writing, but often people are unaware of how long and complicated this path has been. The history of writing records the development of expressing language by letters or other marks. It is believed that Mesopotamia is the birthplace for the first recorded words of history. Another belief is that the first recorded words were inscribed to promote the power of the temples and kings in the expanding city-states. I believe that development of writing was started many years back. We can look at document The Art of Chauvet Cave for an example. This spectacular discovery has been dated back to about 35,000 years ago and when it was discovered back in 1994 in southwestern France, they were labeled the oldest prehistoric cave paintings known in Europe. I believe the animals and humans drawn within the caves, was symbolic of the gathering and hunting that the homo sapiens depended on so greatly for survival, around the same period the paintings were crafted in. Not only that, but is it possible that the homo sapiens were also trying to tell stories of their livelihood through these paintings they left on the wall of the caves? When reading Problems in the Study of Hunters and Gatherers, I come to the conclusion it is very possible. I quote, “One of the challenges in studying the origins of humanity is that the evidence is incomplete.” There is, however, stable evidence of writings in The Origins of Writing According to the Sumerians. This document...
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...Pynchon, a contemporary as well as a post-modernist writer began his writing career and found much success in the nineteen sixties and seventies eras. Pynchon was influenced by his time period and wrote about the serious issues surrounding society, while also incorporating satirical notions, which reflected his quirky personality. The sixties and seventies produced a culture heavily focused on science, mathematics, technology, industrialization, war, and also a counterculture movement focused on pop culture, self-expression, sex, drugs, and crime. In each of Thomas Pynchon’s writings, representations of these key environmental, social, political, and cultural forces that define these eras are evident. Pynchon began his collegiate career studying engineering physics at Cornell University. Although he did not complete this degree, Pynchon was heavily interested in science and technology. His first job out of school was with Boeing Aircraft Corporation in which he was a technical writer and found inspiration for many of his works (Pynchon 3). Science was not only interesting to Pynchon; it was an interest of the culture of the sixties and seventies. The expansion of the space program in the sixties as well as the voyager programs of the seventies placed heavy emphasis on space and exploration. Emphasis on technological advancement and the increased use of mathematics also became prominent interests in these eras, which led to a common theme to many of Pynchon’s works. Pynchon’s...
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...movement had set in based on rational thought and reason, it was known as the Enlightenment era also known as the Age of Reason. This era created ideas that shaped the political, economic and social institutions in the United States. Men in this era such as Thomas Paine, who was a politician and philosopher, Thomas Jefferson our third president as well as an apostle of agrarian, and Benjamin Franklin, author, scientist, philosopher, and statesman. All these men emphasize the importance of using reason and logic instead of superstition or ignorance. They focus on creating and writing, science, politics and other subjects in this era which influence decades to come (Age of Enlightenment, 2011). In today’s society these ideas have become relevant. Thomas Paine influences the Enlightenment politically and socially, because of his beliefs he was damned by many people in both America and England. Thomas Paine was born in England; he was a corset maker and excise officer in England, although showed interested in philosophy and science. He later in life then met up with Benjamin Franklin in London and soon after he sailed to Philadelphia. He found work in 1775 in the Pennsylvania Magazine writing articles and essays “on democracy, universal suffrage, and revolution, shaping the unheard of idea of democracy into the freedom the citizens of so many countries know today”. Unfortunately some of his writing landed him in jail to which at that time he wrote The Age of Reason which gives his opinion...
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...speaking tradition. Communication by speaking never reached a large crowd. The tribe kept their knowledge and information amongst themselves or their own community. After the alphabet came about, more people started writing, thus began the writing era. People started documenting oral traditions which turned into the written material. The developments of mass media for the future were defined by the written and oral eras in communicating. The publication era followed the oral and written eras, which showed to be a large change in mass communication. In the beginning printing was outrageously expensive and unless you were wealthy you could not afford the materials to read and write. When printing devices changed for the better, the price of materials dropped, and more people could afford them. Books were the first products that were marketed in history in masses (Campbell, Martin, & Fabos, 2012). When written communication started getting in the hands of more people quicker and more spread out than in the past, more people started to communicate and ideas that changed the culture began to spread. Reading helped people learn and be educated. Increasing literacy stretched beyond the upper class to the lower classes. After the printing era was the electronic era. The invention of the telegraph provided...
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...beginning with the Paleolithic Era. Distinct from the history of the Earth (which includes early geologic history and prehuman biological eras), world history comprises the study of archaeological and written records, from ancient times on. Ancient recorded history begins with the invention of writing.[2][3] However, the roots of civilization reach back to the period before the invention of writing. Prehistory begins in the Paleolithic Era, or "Early Stone Age," which is followed by the Neolithic Era, or New Stone Age, and the Agricultural Revolution (between 8000 and 5000 BCE) in the Fertile Crescent. The Agricultural Revolution marked a change in human history, as humans began the systematic husbandry of plants and animals.[4][5][6] Agriculture advanced, and most humans transitioned from a nomadic to a settled lifestyle as farmers in permanent settlements. Nomadism continued in some locations, especially in isolated regions with few domesticable plant species;[7] but the relative security and increased productivity provided by farming allowed human communities to expand into increasingly larger units, fostered by advances in transportation. As farming developed, grain agriculture became more sophisticated and prompted a division of labor to store food between growing seasons. Labor divisions then led to the rise of a leisured upper class and the development of cities. The growing complexity of human societies necessitated systems of writing and accounting.[8] Many cities...
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...History 103 001 Cultural Revolution in China: views on Mao’s Era. Yi Jie Yang 40223109 Professor: Steven Hugh Lee Chinese culture has had great misunderstandings particularly in the western countries owing to the views represented by socio-cultural scholars, historians and literature writers. This paper reviews two books that explore the Cultural Revolution in China with a major focus on the Authors’ Writing Style and their views on Mao’s Era. Writing Style In the book “Born red: a chronicle of the Cultural Revolution.” The author, Yuan Gao, explores the first violent years of China’s Great Proletarian culture revolution. Gao provides an account of his own experience as a Red Guard in the Cultural revolution bringing out the readers as close as they can get to the political vortex that shaped the views of millions of teenagers behind the national movement that brought China to the blink of civil war[1]. Born Red entails more than the recollection of a political nightmare including a concise narrative of an adolescent torn by conflicting loyalties as the author is called upon to participate in the destruction of the world that has nurtured him. The author’s story provides tribute to the durability of cultural traditions at a time when nihilism was at its best. Gao clearly outlines the Cultural Revolution in China in an attempt to create a way for a more egalitarian and...
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...Many others wrote, painted, composed music, and produced movies. “The Help,” a film directed by Tate Taylor, has received critical reviews for its uplifting, heartwarming tone on such a profound and intense era. “The Help” follows a white female, Skeeter, in 1960s Mississippi who interviews black domestic workers assisting white households. It has been described by critics as “a small domestic drama that sketches in the society surrounding its characters but avoids looking into the shadows just outside the frame” (Johnson 4). While “The Help” does not delve deep into serious issues in the Jim Crow time period, Morrison’s novels have been acclaimed because of her writing from outside the “center,” with her somber issues that can make a reader uncomfortable. Although Morrison’s writing can be unpleasant to read in some sections, she paints a realistic picture of the Jim Crow Era. “The Help” brings a more joyous view to the Jim Crow Era with a “feel good” film, showing how “far” we have gotten in society; whereas, Morrison’s novels have painful and harsh tones to make the reader feel uncomfortable to more understand the oppression and hardships of the black...
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...In the late Victorian era when The Yellow Wallpaper was written, men essentially had complete power over their domestic space, even though women were in charge of running it. The Yellow Wallpaper clearly exemplifies the domesticity from the Victorian era and the roles women were placed in. However, the story shows a more extreme side through a treatment the narrator is placed under called “The Rest Cure”, which was a typical mental disorder-related treatment in the Victorian Era. In the short story, this is shown through the treatment of the narrator like a prisoner by her husband, John, in what is supposed to be her own domestic sphere, her being not allowed to perform even the domestic duties expected from women in that time period, making...
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...This assertion set obstacles to moving forward and engaging with the African history. For Mbembe identity is a substance constituted through a series of practices which means that African identity cannot be named or subsumed under one category. It is of importance to note that Africa is not a country, though African share common African realities, cultures do differ. Mbembe (2002:240) proceeds to give a persuasive critique of dominant intellectual trends for having only selected certain elements of the African collective imaginaire to define an African self, these privileged moments in African history being slavery, colonisation and apartheid. In the present day African intellectuals still perceive and portray Africa as a victim in their writings. He identifies suffering and victimisation as the main episteme of these narratives. Following these narratives, the implication is that Africa has always, has been acted upon by the external forces. This means that Africa is powerless in the international relations and will never progress due to being stuck in history, where history has been imposed on Africa. For progress and the embracing of the African consciousness it is therefore important to engage with the history, shift the way Africa has been perceived. In doing so we shouldn’t neglect the role played by history through colonisation, slavery and apartheid. This should be treated as the African history where both the coloniser and the colonised played a role in the crafting. Mbembe...
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...Abstract The Enlightenment era is made up of on rational thought, ideas and reason. Many men contributed to this, but a few amongst them are Thomas Paine, Thomas Jefferson, and Benjamin Franklin. Their wisdom and ideas make up the Enlightenment era to which is the backbone of today’s society. The Enlightenment Starting in the mid 1700’s to 1800’s a movement had set in based on rational thought and reason, it was known as the Enlightenment era also known as the Age of Reason. This era created ideas that shaped the political, economic and social institutions in the United States. Men in this era such as Thomas Paine, who was a politician and philosopher, Thomas Jefferson our third president as well as an apostle of agrarian, and Benjamin Franklin, author, scientist, philosopher, and statesman. All these men emphasize the importance of using reason and logic instead of superstition or ignorance. They focus on creating and writing, science, politics and other subjects in this era which influence decades to come (Age of Enlightenment, 2011). In today’s society these ideas have become relevant. Thomas Paine influences the Enlightenment politically and socially, because of his beliefs he was damned by many people in both America and England. Thomas Paine was born in England; he was a corset maker and excise officer in England, although showed interested in philosophy and science. He later in life then met up with Benjamin Franklin in London and soon after he sailed to Philadelphia...
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...During the years of 1800-1870 Americans experienced game-changing advancements. The poem by Poe shows how the era had developed by giving an example of how fast the times were changing: “a poem may be improperly brief”. For example, Americans experienced the “The American Renaissance” which was the first flowering of the American culture. Americans also faced improved transportation that went along with the doubling of our nation's size (“A growing Nation…” 210-220). An important person living during this era was Edgar Allen Poe because he had changed an entire genre of writing. Furthermore, one invention that affected Americans was the colt revolver. It enabled Americans to protect themselves. Lastly, an event that had a major impact at the...
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...Sometime we too forget how powerful our God is, and how much we deserve death. It makes sense why the puritans were so plain in their writing, they didn’t want to draw attention to themselves, but to God. The sermon shows not only how religion was a huge priority, but also how it impacted the writing of this time. After the age of new lands, colonial times approached. The American Revolution had begun and freedom from Britain and it’s harsh taxes was in the future. This time period was known as the age of reason, and enlightenment. During the enlightenment, people valued reason over faith. Which contrasts immensely to the puritans and era before of New Lands. Unlike the Puritans, the people believed humans are by nature good. Famous writers...
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...Shakespeare's play Hamlet is a very effective piece of writing. Or it was an effective piece of writing. The writing in Hamlet was suited for Elizabethan era audiences, wherein all figurative language, allusions, and other literary devices were intended to engage people in this time period. To make Hamlet a more accessible text to a contemporary audience we must consider updating some of the allusions within it. “O my offence is rank, it smells to heaven; It hath the primal eldest curse upon't, A brother's murder.” (3.3.137-139). And “It out herods Herod” (3,2,14) are both allusions that if given an update would effectively target a modern day teenage audience. The first allusion is one that causes great confusion to a modern day teenager as “the primal eldest” is not a familiar term in today's language. The primal eldest refers to the first recorded murder in the Christian Bible and it is used in Hamlet to compare with the crime of Claudius which is the killing of the previous king. This comparison was effective in the Elizabethan era, however today it has lost its appeal. This is most likely because Religion was a ruling force in the time of Shakespeare. It was prevalent in every aspect of society. This is not the case today. Although religion does prevail in western societies it does not have nearly the impact that it used to have. In order to make this allusion effective for today's teenager we must update it. The most effective update is “O my offence is rank, it smells...
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...Romantic authors lived through a time of revolution, the American Revolution and the French Revolution. Each of these rebellions was rooted in the idea that the common man deserved and was owed certain inalienable rights. They became more interested in the individual and in gaining self-knowledge. This self-knowledge led to an interest in psychology and psychological disorders. Romantic writers initiated a revolution of their own. They revolted against the ideals and themes of the Enlightenment era, instead of reason and science they turned to feelings and an oneness with nature in their works. In addition to revolution, there were reforms, expansionism, and other changes within society that affected the writing of these authors in a deep...
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...influential in more ways than one. The Renaissance was a time of discovery and economic and artistic blossoming. After a challenging time, England was finally beginning to thrive. However, the creative influence of the Renaissance did not seem to reach them. While other countries, such as Italy, were artistically blossoming, England lacked motivation. But, once Edmund Spenser’s works began to be publicized, his ideas sparked change. Edmund Spenser’s writings not only influenced authors of his era, but also helped spread Renaissance beliefs such as monarchism, protestantism, rationalism, and anti-catholicism. Edmund Spenser influenced the writing...
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