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(2017
midterm assignment) Sample Student Midterm Answers 2017 (index to #3 samples) #3: Web Highlights |
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Cynthia Cleveland
October 25, 2017
History Needs A Change
After reading several of the short essays from previous classes, one
thing is evident—history is extremely biased in the favor of our European
ancestors and neglects to educate on the culture and interactions they
experienced with the Native Americans. Much of what we are taught in school
revolves around a toned down level of violence and an amiable resolution between
the two groups. However, further education certainly dissuades that notion, as
the real nitty gritty stuff starts to come out.
Kelly Arnold’s discussion “Which America is Being Taught?”, raised some
good points on the insufficient understanding that primary education provides
concerning our country’s founding history and the lack of sensitivity to the
culture of the Native Americans. We are taught at a very young age that the
first Thanksgiving was a symbol of peace and cooperation between the Pilgrims
and the Native Americans, however, she is correct in pointing out that the road
to that “peace” was paved with bloodshed and war—this fact is conveniently
glossed over in history books for the most part. The only counter I have to that
logic is the backlash over potentially overly-violent rhetoric that may be
imposed; however, a balance may be struck to get the general idea across without
resorting to the gory details.
Another interesting discussion is the one prompted by Austin Green in his
essay “Peeling Back the Real History”, in which he addresses the fiction of
Christopher Columbus sailing the ocean blue. I think it is interesting that he
finds Columbus to be an unreliable narrator and thus discredits his authority
and questions just how much of his accounts may be believed. It is known that
Christopher Columbus was not the first to discover America, and that much is
evident since there is already a populace contained with the confines of North
America. Also, it is interesting that he pointed out that Columbus does try to
martyr himself by insisting his exploration was intrinsically inclined rather
that monetarily; to this point I agree, since later in Columbus’ letters he
bemoans his financial ruin.
Though cultural misunderstanding is rampant, Benjamin Franklin seems to
have found a sneaky way of making this point, as addressed in Josh Cobb’s
“Franklin: Satire, Reason and Reform”. I had no notion of satire in Benjamin
Franklin’s letter, and it is an interesting idea that Franklin had written this
with the intention of essentially insulting the European lifestyle in contrast
to that of the Native Americans. This idea is certainly supported in his
analysis of the Franklin letter, as we have read that the children who were sent
to live with the Native Americans did not want to return to their European
descendants. It certainly adds to my understanding of the text, since I had not
previously picked up on the satirical aspect of the piece—it went right over my
head.
Overall, each essay certainly did help me to gain a more insightful
understanding surrounding all of the narratives. Much of what these other
students pointed out did certainly occur to me and many of these themes appeared
in my essays, however the perspective offered—outside of my own—enriched the
texts for me. There is much to consider in reading each one of these texts, but
it would be impossible—and ridiculous—to claim that I had thought of everything,
so it lent some insight.
