By Gelfer Stone
In this digital age where tons of articles and writing are available for us to access to at our fingertips and, most of the time, quite overwhelming considering the limited time we have per day to read, I saw no point of writing one myself. Not until recently when I have come to realize that may not be the case; it doesn’t matter how many pieces of writing have been written, the reason why you should write is to show other people how you perceive the world around you. Not to write is simply to allow others to convey the course of history through their biased perspective, and to gravely let your own memory sink into oblivion. In other words, to write is to declare your existence in the world that once you used to live a life and are worth remembering.
Historians and archaeologists, surprisingly, do not know much about human history. Most of their knowledge are based on discovered artifacts and written objects. They interweave and interpret stories through various forms of writing from drawings on walls of caves to ancient manuscripts. Despite all these evidences, there is no guarantee whether those records hold the true truth as we all know that there’s more than one side to every story. Those who get to write history are people who rule the world. And for those who are defeated? They just disappear from the surface of the earth once they cease breathing, like they have never existed before.
We know about the greatness of the Roman Empire – how it managed to successfully expand its power across the world and got people to talk about for thousands of years to come. Its past glory has shone through its ruins in which archeologists have been digging up for decades. More and more are to be unearthed and uncovered. Likewise, Napoleon Bonaparte, the first emperor of France, left his mark on the world during the Revolutionary Wars. Even though he died almost two hundred years ago, his legacy lives on. He is known as an ambitious military, phenomenal political leader, and great conqueror in Europe. He has been remembered because it was written. Of course, the road to glory was not always beautiful. A great number of stories were obliterated and many lives were sacrificed as to get the winners’ stories told.
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Thankfully, we do not live in such a world anymore. Through history, we have become aware of how powerful writing can be and change the world we used to know. Historians are no longer the only people recording a course of history because now, with the power of writing, we can present our own version of a story, perceived and written from our own point of view. In 2009, When Pakistan was in great chaos from the Taliban group and the oppression of women was tremendously intensified – girls were prevented from going to school and those who resisted received death threats, Malala Yousafzai, 15 at the time, spoke out for the right to education through her writing on a blog. It was a grave risk, with her life on stake, but not in vain. Her story spread quickly throughout the world, receiving much attention from the media, and brought about significant change to the country. On top of that, Pakistan’s first Right to Free and Compulsory Education Bill was ratified. If Malala had decided to be quiet and submissive, her side of story would never have seen the light of day and change would have never happened.
Every story is worth telling no matter how small it is. There is no such thing as bad writing as long as it serves our purposes well. Some people write to be remembered; some write to capture valuable moments in their lives; some write to justify their causes; and some write to make the world a better place. Whatever the reason, we should be grateful that, because of writing, we can assure our story will live on long even after we’re gone.
Assignment
In paragraph 1, why is it important to write?
In paragraph 2, how do historians and archaeologists learn about history?
In paragraph 3, who is Napoleon Bonaparte?
In paragraph 4, what does the writer mean by “Historians are no longer the only people recording a course of history” ?
In paragraph 4, how did Malala Yousafzai make a change in her country?
Write your answers in the Comments Section. Don’t forget to include your full name, number and section number.