The main benefit of the study of history is to dispel the illusion that people living now are significantly different from people who lived in earlier times.
Write a response in which you discuss the extent to which you agree or disagree with the statement and explain your reasoning for the position you take. In developing and supporting your position, you should consider ways in which the statement might or might not hold true and explain how these considerations shape your position.
The study of a history is mandatory in the curriculum of secondary school. The prompt suggests that the main benefit of studying history is to dispel the illusion that people living now significantly differ from those in the past. In my opinion, I mostly disagree with this statement and argue that the primary benefit of the study of history is to provide lessons regarding mistakes made in the past.
This prompt holds true to some extent, as it is important for students to understand that we are not vastly different from those who lived in earlier times. For instance, it was previously believed that humans today were a unique species that only emerged thousands of years ago. However, research on the bone structure of cave men from millions of years ago revealed similar physiological structures between cave men and humans today. This example illustrates one of the many examples of how the study of history has shaped our understanding of the past, in that it informs us of the many similarities found between the behaviours and physiological characteristics of humans today and people who lived in earlier times.
Nonetheless, an understanding of history serves a far greater purpose than providing comparisons between people from now and the past. Rather, the main benefit of the study of history is to provide crucial lessons regarding mistakes made in the past and the detrimental consequences that followed. Take for instance, the unfortunate events of Chernobyl resulting in an unknown number of horrendous deaths. Although full of confusion and mystery, scientists were eventually able to identify the sequence of events that lead to the eruption of Chernobyl’s power plant. This case demonstrates one of the most significant advantages of studying history, as we now have a thorough understanding of the critical mistakes made that contributed to the explosion and have developed safety measures to avoid similar devastation's in the future. That being said, the primary benefit of history is to save future lives.
Yet another benefit, unrelated to the prompt’s suggestion, is that the study of history provides an in-depth log for researchers, allowing them to peruse the methodology of previous studies and develop new approaches in an attempt to make groundbreaking discoveries. For instance, in the past, many were not aware of the health defects of smoking tobacco and believed in its potential to cure headaches and migraines. As a result, many doctors would recommend smoking as medication. However, studies have shown that smoking is poor for one’s physical health. This scientific finding was then documented into history and is now a well-known fact. If this were not noted into the log of history then it is possible that many doctors may continue to believe smoking tobacco is an effective form of medication. This example illustrates an alternative benefit of studying history, as it ensures that scientists and researchers are aware of previous, erroneous knowledge.
Indeed, there are many factors to account for when discussing such a complex topic. There are countless benefits that arise from the study of history and it would be difficult to identify the ‘main’ benefit. However, if we must do so, my opinion remains that the main benefit of studying history is that it provides lessons regarding mistakes made in the past and allows us to avoid such mistakes.
Grammar and spelling errors:
Line 7, column 647, Rule ID: SENTENCE_FRAGMENT[1]
Message: “If” at the beginning of a sentence requires a 2nd clause. Maybe a comma, question or exclamation mark is missing, or the sentence is incomplete and should be joined with the following sentence.
...o history and is now a well-known fact. If this were not noted into the log of his...
^^
Transition Words or Phrases used:
but, however, if, may, nonetheless, regarding, second, so, then, well, for instance, as a result, in my opinion
Attributes: Values AverageValues Percentages(Values/AverageValues)% => Comments
Performance on Part of Speech:
To be verbs : 24.0 19.5258426966 123% => OK
Auxiliary verbs: 4.0 12.4196629213 32% => OK
Conjunction : 16.0 14.8657303371 108% => OK
Relative clauses : 21.0 11.3162921348 186% => OK
Pronoun: 45.0 33.0505617978 136% => Less pronouns wanted
Preposition: 91.0 58.6224719101 155% => OK
Nominalization: 9.0 12.9106741573 70% => OK
Performance on vocabulary words:
No of characters: 2871.0 2235.4752809 128% => OK
No of words: 551.0 442.535393258 125% => OK
Chars per words: 5.21052631579 5.05705443957 103% => OK
Fourth root words length: 4.84493438435 4.55969084622 106% => OK
Word Length SD: 2.90645750566 2.79657885939 104% => OK
Unique words: 256.0 215.323595506 119% => OK
Unique words percentage: 0.464609800363 0.4932671777 94% => More unique words wanted or less content wanted.
syllable_count: 912.6 704.065955056 130% => OK
avg_syllables_per_word: 1.7 1.59117977528 107% => OK
A sentence (or a clause, phrase) starts by:
Pronoun: 9.0 6.24550561798 144% => OK
Article: 6.0 4.99550561798 120% => OK
Subordination: 7.0 3.10617977528 225% => Less adverbial clause wanted.
Conjunction: 1.0 1.77640449438 56% => OK
Preposition: 3.0 4.38483146067 68% => OK
Performance on sentences:
How many sentences: 23.0 20.2370786517 114% => OK
Sentence length: 23.0 23.0359550562 100% => OK
Sentence length SD: 60.496496485 60.3974514979 100% => OK
Chars per sentence: 124.826086957 118.986275619 105% => OK
Words per sentence: 23.9565217391 23.4991977007 102% => OK
Discourse Markers: 4.82608695652 5.21951772744 92% => OK
Paragraphs: 5.0 4.97078651685 101% => OK
Language errors: 1.0 7.80617977528 13% => OK
Sentences with positive sentiment : 11.0 10.2758426966 107% => OK
Sentences with negative sentiment : 7.0 5.13820224719 136% => OK
Sentences with neutral sentiment: 5.0 4.83258426966 103% => OK
What are sentences with positive/Negative/neutral sentiment?
Coherence and Cohesion:
Essay topic to essay body coherence: 0.239531871323 0.243740707755 98% => OK
Sentence topic coherence: 0.0751994805713 0.0831039109588 90% => OK
Sentence topic coherence SD: 0.0895719220639 0.0758088955206 118% => OK
Paragraph topic coherence: 0.160576921818 0.150359130593 107% => OK
Paragraph topic coherence SD: 0.095828991627 0.0667264976115 144% => OK
Essay readability:
automated_readability_index: 15.1 14.1392134831 107% => OK
flesch_reading_ease: 39.67 48.8420337079 81% => OK
smog_index: 8.8 7.92365168539 111% => OK
flesch_kincaid_grade: 13.4 12.1743820225 110% => OK
coleman_liau_index: 13.23 12.1639044944 109% => OK
dale_chall_readability_score: 8.93 8.38706741573 106% => OK
difficult_words: 145.0 100.480337079 144% => OK
linsear_write_formula: 11.0 11.8971910112 92% => OK
gunning_fog: 11.2 11.2143820225 100% => OK
text_standard: 9.0 11.7820224719 76% => OK
What are above readability scores?
---------------------
Rates: 66.67 out of 100
Scores by essay e-grader: 4.0 Out of 6
---------------------
Note: the e-grader does NOT examine the meaning of words and ideas. VIP users will receive further evaluations by advanced module of e-grader and human graders.