Analytical Essay Instructions
Write an analytical essay telling the story of world civilization, from the beginning of man until the 20th century, from a student’s perspective. In this student interpretation of world civilization the goal is to discover a common theme that connects the different historical periods and civilizations discussed in the various readings and documentaries.
Story of World Civilization from the Beginning of man until the 20th Century, from a Student’s Perspective
Civilization is a stage of advancement in people social, cultural, economic or political life. It normally happens when a society or community consider taking a step further to better their life or make positive changes that will make life better. Civilization has been happening in different ways, based on the current status of the community’s life and their main desires or goals in life. This paper provides analytical analysis of world civilization from the time of creation to 20th century. The analysis focuses on proving that world civilization main theme was life advancement, to attain higher heights of life by changing from undesirable life situation to a more satisfactory life. Struggle for civilization is a sign of dissatisfaction of the current situation of life, while civilization happens as a result of great desire and determination to experience positive change. Human main aim in world civilization was to better their life by going through what it takes, based on their thoughts, desires or imaginations.
History of the World Civilization
World civilization can be dated back to the book of Genesis in the bible, immediately after the creation of a man. When God created Adam and Eve, he put them in the Garden of Eden, with the main role being ruling over the animals and eating all fruits in the garden, apart from fruits in the tree located at the center of the garden. While in the garden, Eve was visited by the serpent, which provoked her desire to advance in life. The serpent informed Eve that eating the forbidden fruit will not cause death, but life advancement where their eyes shall be opened and be like gods. Eve’s desire for higher life status and being more powerful like gods pushed her into taking the forbidden fruit. She also gave this fruit to Adam. This biblical incident can be interpreted as Eve’s attempt to experience civilization where her life would have advanced in a level where she would live without restrictions but as a master. The act surely opened their eyes and gave them a chance to advance their life by being the first parents on the planet. They also got to discover plant leaves and animal skin as a form of clothing that can be used to hide their nakedness. Another advancement discovered from Eve act was division of labor. God assigned each one of them an important role in life where a man was defined as a provider and a woman as a caregiver. Thus, Genesis represents a clear case of world civilization that took place shortly after the creation of the first man in the world.
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In the story of “A Woman in Power: Empress Lu” the writer demonstrates life advancement in the Han kingdom after Gauzo, the king of Han died. Based on this story, the condition of Empress Lu changed when Gauzo; her husband, became a king. King Gauzo unfortunately took Lady Qi as his second wife and favored her over Empress Lu. This initiated anger and jealousness in Empress Lu. Empress Lu did not like things as they were at that moment, especially the threat of Lady Qi son, replacing her son as the heir of the kingdom. She however did not have much to do until when the king died. Han kingdom experienced great level change after the Gauzo death. Empress Lu acquired so much power, with little restriction, as a mother of the new king, and the kingdom Empress. She used her power to exact revenge on Lady Qi and her elder son. After the death of her son, Empress Lu used her power and strong will to change the laws and the will of the King Gauzo, who had ordered that only people from Liu family can ascend to power. A kingdom that was initially ruled by order and laws was now being ruled by iron fist, subjecting those who show disloyalty to harsh punishment, including death. With this style of ruling, Empress Lu was able to lift her family; her brothers and their sons, to rulers’ position; kings, defying the Gauzo desires. This kingdom experienced a great level of change were a woman controlled the kingdom and employed her own power over them. This was a moment of civilization to Empress Lu and her family, and a moment of advanced cultural and law changes in Han Kingdom. Empress Lu experienced life advancement from an oppressed jealous wife, to a powerful Empress, who controlled leadership and affairs in the Han kingdom, until her death.
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The struggle to achieve civilization involves a number of challenges and in most cases, not all who wished to experience civilization attained it at the very time they wish for it. Bosman (1721) gives a story of slave trader and how slaves were treated by different people. In the story, first masters mistreated the slaves, by denying them enough food, undressing them, separating males from females, and sometimes beating them. They then sold a second master, from different country, who treat them with a higher level of kindness. Although this was a great positive change in slaves’ life, it was misunderstood by the slaves as a preparation to be taken as the masters’ delicacy; to be slaughtered and eaten. They thus tied to fight for their freedom; to free themselves from being their master’s food. Slaves, according to history experienced a lot of life challenges, including separation from their people, being forced to adapt to a new environment hundred miles away from their home, and physical, psychological and sometimes sexual abuse. Although the article only demonstrates their struggle, it is clear from history that slaves captured during slave trade experienced civilization, with abolishment of slave trade. Their kind of civilization was characterized by regaining their freedom, where they would work for personal growth, and not to enrich their master. They were also subjected to a new culture and law, since majority of slave had to live in their enslaved country and assimilate their culture and way of life. They also experienced new laws which were better than the laws they used to observe in slavery. Although majority did not get a chance to go back to their homeland, the change that came with abolishment of slave trade was quite refreshing, after a long life of hardship.
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Life change and advancement was also depicted by Boulding (1976), in “Women and the Agricultural Revolution”. According to Boulding, women had a cultural role of gathering food while men adopted the role of hunting. This kind of arrangement created the need to be nomadic in search for food. The life was hard and full of uncertainty, such that, communities had to camp in areas where there was enough food to eat for a while and continue with their nomadic life after exhaustion of food sources. In the process of gathering, women discovered a nutritious plant known as einkorn; wild wheat, that used to grow on Fertile Crescent. This motivated women in this era to device ways to enhance availability of this plant for the next season, after harvesting. This consistently resulted to change of their life from food gathers to farmers. A similar situation was seen in Africa where women considered practicing shift cultivation where they would grow crops in a land until the soil fertility was exhausted, and they would shift to another virgin land to enhance productivity. This chapter demonstrates how the struggle of food security pushed these women into developing desire to enhance food sustainability, and as a result, they advanced their life and that of their community by practicing crop farming and animal rearing after a while. This changed their cultural practice from food gathers into food farmers, bringing a new sense of civilization in their community.
Another aspect of civilization is clearly illustrated by Learner (1986), in“The Urban Revolution: Origins of Partriarchy”. This chapter discusses how urbanization liberated people form traditional religious beliefs and culture, bringing advancement in the city societies. The main advancement in this stage was assertion of male power and women subordination, which was an advancement from earlier culture especially in Mesopotamia, where a woman was equated to a man, as people worshiped Ishtar; a female goddess, who was praised for having strong power similar to those of men gods. In this new society, most women felt the burden of subordination, while male enjoyed the power of dominance. The city set laws that oppressed women, but favored men. Women received harsh punishments for committing adultery, with men involved going unpunished. Women could also be divorced, were required to wear veils, treated as property of their husbands or fathers, and their movement was greatly restricted. The changes in urban cities improved the life of males in the society, while demeaning that of women. Although the change resulted to both positive and negative results, there was actual a clear aspect of life advancement in this society, especially with the change of culture. Mesopotamia changed form a city were both men and women were treated equally to a situation where men were more valued and respected than women, demonstrating advanced change. The advancement in urbanization however got to a point where women were empowered, and they started regaining their position through education, seeking formal employment and fighting for changed of law. Although this was a long struggle with a lot of challenges, women eventually experienced civilization, by eliminating oppressive laws and improving their social position in the society.
Conclusion
Human race according to this analysis has been in continuous struggle to enhance their life. This started from creation and still continues taking place to date. The struggle is mostly influenced by individual feeling regarding their current situation and their desire for change. After experience a high sense of dissatisfaction or untamed desire for better life, human race embark on a long struggle for change, which eventually result to a new dawn. The only variation in human civilization struggle in the analyzed cases is the time taken to achieve the main goals, and the challenges experienced. The ultimate goal is always achieved as long as the strugglers do not lose their course along the way.
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