World History 1 (new): 二月 2015

2015年2月16日星期一

Thoughts and reflections on the Socrates-Apology

Agnes Yu

Ms. Mitchell

World History 1

Feb. 16. 2015

Socrates himself thought that there is a lot of people wiser than he does, but he was confused

about why god thinks that he is the wisest person, thus what he did is, he talked to a lot of people that

has a good reputation in the aspect of wisdom, but he found out that all of them were not as perfect

and wise as what people think. I think he is wise and intelligent from the motivation that he was

trying to see whether the person is truly wise or not. He detected people by having a conversation

with them. Also, being aware of his ability is also a way to show that he is wise, one of his famous

quotes is"I do not think that I know what I do not know". What he is trying to say is that he never

pretends that he know something that he actually does not understand at all. People sometimes fake

their wisdom by lying about how they know everything but the truth is they don't. So that is why he

possesses wisdom.

Socrates is one of the greatest persons in the world, he is valuable to society, especially to the

ancient young ones. He taught the young people about a lot of things that they are interested in, those

people thought that what they learn from Socrates are special and they can tell their friends and

people around them to show how wise they became, but those people who always listened to the

young people's talking were annoyed, that is why the "audiences" hated Socrates. Why the people

except for the young ones were annoyed by Socrates is because he is wise and full of knowledge,but

they don't have this ability and this kind of wisdom, so they jealous, jealous about why themselves

don't understand Socrates's methods, if their abilities and wisdom don't equal to Socrate's, they have

one way that is all stick together and fight against Socrates and his methods. But what Socrates was

doing is teaching the young people about the real and useful things, these were really important,

because once the new generation learnt good things, they can devote to the society in the future and

this is one thing that a seventy year-old man could not do.

Socrates does believe in god but he didn't really support it. He said that the god thinks Socrates

which is himself as the wisest the person, but he doesn't support that idea and that is why he went to

talk to a lot of "wiser" men. But in Athens, everyone believed in god and he's ability. How could he

not believe in him since that's everyone else does.

What Socrates tried to explain about "Plain speaking" is telling the truths when you find out them,

not adding any personal opinions on it and then tell people about the fake truths. It is the simplest

speaking, just said what you saw, what you know, and do not add anything, and the truth is going to

help him to defend for himself as if he is in a bad position among all the people.

What Socrates did is to teach the young people about what they are interested in. They found that

what Socrates was teaching is interesting and attractive, and that is why they wanted to know more,

to learn more. Socrates didn't intentionally have a bad influence on the young is because he didn't

force the kids to learn anything, and what he was teaching about is what the kids wanted to know

about.

2015年2月5日星期四

Thoughts and Reflections on The Two Thousand Years War

YU 1

Agnes Yu

Period 7

World History

02 / 06 / 15

Basically, the Cold War was the war between America and Russia during the World War

Two. It is more likely to be said an arm race and a war without using any weapons, it is like a

political war.

One says that the Cold War is extremely similar to the Peloponnesian War, in this case,

the Athens would refer to America and Sparta would be Russia. But why are they similar?

Firstly, it is because that neither America and Athens have democracy, they are championing

democracy. For Sparta and Russia, people are more likely to say that they are more agricultural

and authoritarian. Furthermore, both of the two wars are fought indirectly, peripherally and

spasmodically. Also, no matter America, Russia, Athens or Sparta, they all were allies. The

nations threatened other states to be one of them, to help them with the war and stand by their

sides, they were asking for the help of many other countries.

What could America and Russia learn that it is more helpful if they gained trust from the

citizens, both of them were trying to find allies to join them and help them to fight, therefore, they

should have won people’s trust in the first place and be confident. Also, using army and military

strength to help to force nations become part of them is not really a good way to gain their trust,

people would just think that you are forcing them to help you to fight, thus this two nations

should think about the results of using military strength before they tried to use it to gain allies.

It is really important to not made the same mistakes that others have already made,

when people made mistakes, usually it caused consequences, and when you see what people

should pay for those consequences, you can also see how people are losing valuable things

and become little weight, especially for a nation, which gathers a great amount of people,

when you already seen what are the bad effects, and if you still repeat that mistake, the whole

nation is going to pay for that consequence, and it is unworthy to cause more pain.

History is a great method to help us nowadays, when we see things that happened in the past, for

the good part, we can learn from it and improve our nations, for the bad part, we should

gained experiences and warn ourselves do not make the same mistakes which caused a lot of

prices. A great leader such as the president of a country, if he learnt from history, he could know

what to do and what not to do, he could make protections to his people and prevent wars and

arguments with other nations that once happened before.

2015年2月2日星期一

History of the Peloponnesian War - Thucydides Illustrated Essay

YU 1

Agnes Yu

Period 7

World History

01 / 30 / 15

The greatnesses of Athens

First of all, the big idea is about the government and how efficient the system was

because the government brought Athens a good reputation of living, and they were the first city

which has democracy. Secondly, the author focuses on the spirit in which they lived that is how

they lived with freedom while following the laws and showing appropriate behaviors. For the

last idea, it is one of the most important reasons why Athens could be great and bring the amount

of effects to the world, because they opened to the world and have been a great model to other

cities. In the History Of the Peloponnesian War, Thucydides gave the amount of evidence in the

Pericles' Funeral Oration to prove how Athens was great in its government and their way of life.

The ancestors have given the new generation of Athens a free country. The offsprings

would have a lot of spaces to create their own governmental systems and laws to make Athens a

better place to live. Also, Athens was the only city which has democracy, which means the

control of the city is not only in the hands of government but also the educated citizens. "I

shall begin by speaking about our ancestors … by their courage and their virtues, have handed it

on to us, a free country” (Thucydides, 144, 36, 5-6). The ancestors provided the new generation a

free system of living, it supports the idea that if the city has a lot of freedom, they could build

their own government and laws, and that is how democracy works, the educated citizens and

only (men) could have power to give their own opinions on how the government is going to

work. But this is enough, because at least the government allowed the people outside of it to

bring their point of view. "And then we ourselves … added to the power of our empire and have

organized our State in such a way that it is perfectly well able to look after itself both in peace

and in war”. (Thucydides, 145, 36, 10-13) One thinks that on this is the laws and rules organized

Athens greatly and made them as strong as an unit that sticks together. To be more specific, what

the government did to Athens actually raise them well and let them became an independent city,

thus what Thucydides trying to say is that the city was strong enough to take a good care of

itself, when there is no war, the city brought the citizens a peaceful environment to live, when

there is a war, they city was capable to protect the Athenians. This is how Thucydides showed the

readers a great and well-grown Athens, the symbol of grandeur. Thucydides said: “Our

constitution is called a democracy power is in the hands not only of a minority but of the whole

people" (Thucydides, 145, 37, 3-5). Athens was the only city who had democracy, they had

freedom talk, and it was not like other cities that only a few people could give the opinions on

government, but the whole people could do so in Athens. However, this gave the people enough

space to consider how the city is going to settle down.

The laws and rules brought the Athenians life and settled them peacefully, how they lived

with freedom while following all the laws and acting appropriate behaviors. private lives: but in

public affairs we keep to the law. This is because it commands our deep respect” (Thucydides,

145, 37, 16-18). Thucydides describes how the Athenians could be respectful to their city and

government, following the laws with no complaints and living with freedom without any

inappropriate behaviors were part of those people's life. This is how the citizens were faithful on

the government and showed their city with great respect and polite. The Athenians' public

behavior is something people should learn from as well, people nowadays are being rude in front

of public and saying bad words without thinking how others would feel, from Athens, you could

learn a lot of good behaviors. Secondly, do not think that their life was strict and full of unhappy,

the "freedom" also gave them space to have fun and entertainment. "When our work is over, we

are in a position to enjoy all kinds of reaction for our spirits”(Thucydides, 146, 38, 1-2), it means

that the citizens could have a lot of choices, they could have their private space to do anything

that would help their spirit of life when their work is done. Another important thing is that while

they were having a lot of fun, they never forgot to obey the laws and played by the rules, this

showed how their governmental system had its dignity and how the Athenians were loyal to their

government. "Our love of what is beautiful not lead to extravagance" (Thucydides, 147, 40, 1),

what Thucydides means by that is how the Athenians were modest and were not driven greed by

the fancy materials but lived their lives normal and simple. This supports the idea of how Athens

was keep going in the right direction; the "right direction" means honest and modest. Athens was

an independent city: they did not copy any governmental systems or anything else from other

cities, all the time they were being the best and giving the best to the citizens, Athens was the one

who has been a great model to other cities and gained knowledge from around the world.

"It is more the case of our being a model to others, than of our imitating anyone

else” (Thucydides, 145, 37, 2-3).Athenians thought of themselves as a great model to other cities

instead of copying any cultures from others. The way of their life affected many cities thus those

cities wanted to have the same way of living as Athens, and this good feedbacks brought Athens

a good reputation. Thucydides also said: “Then the greatness of our city brings it about that all

good things … local products” (Thucydides, 146, 38, 5-8). The great Athens gained different

knowledge, cultural products from around the world, and because of that they could have all

those things as their owns, to be more specific, because they were open to the world, they meant

to learn and buy new things, when they had all those things together, Athenians enjoyed the

products just like enjoy their own local products. Another quote of evidence is "We make friends

by doing good to others, not by receiving good from them” (Thucydides, 147, 40, 24-25). Athens

made friends from all over the world, making friends was also an important part to be successful.

They collected cultural products, but how would they do that? One thinks that is they could be

trusted, they did good to others and didn't expect any goods from others, they were giving all the

time and being nice to all the people, this action could gain trust from the other cities and people,

they put trust into people's mind and built the business bridges with other countries, and those

reliable and trustful friendships would last forever, and because of that, Athens could have

variety products and enjoyed them as their owns.

Athens brought a great amount of positive aspects to Greece, as what Thucydides said

before, what made Athens great was their way of life, the governmental system and how they

were being a commendable model to other cities. In this article, Thucydides uses a bunch of

evidences to prove that idea which is “What made Athens great?” For the first one it was more

focus on the democracy, the government and the laws, and how efficient they were. In the second

section, it is more interesting to talk more about the way of Athenians’ life, because they enjoyed

freedom while they were following the laws. For the last main point, what has been explained

about is how Athens was a great model to others instead of copying any cultural systems from

other cities, also, Thucydides talked about how they were open to the world as well, and that is

included in this essay. Nowadays, countries from all over world have democracy, but compare to

the ancient one, modern democracy has a lot of differences no matter on the aspect of

participation or judges, it is because Athenian democracy was exclusive. Therefore, in the future,

the readers would like to know more about how modern democracy is based on the ancient one,

and how they are different as well.thens brought a great amount of positive aspects to Greece, as what Thucydides said

before, what made Athens great was their way of life, the governmental system and how they

were being a commendable model to other cities. In this article, Thucydides uses a bunch of

evidences to prove that idea which is “What made Athens great?” For the first one it was more

YU 5