The Humanities Harrovian
All About Ronald Reagan Does it Make Sense to Use the Word ‘Order’ in the International System? Geisha The Rise and Fall of Empires The Suspicious Death of Amy Robsart Tulip Mania
ISSUE ZERO June 2020
Contents About Us................................................................................................................ 3-4 All About Ronal Reagan ....................................................................................... 5-6 By Dasha Oklovich, Year 12, Gellhorn House
Does it Make Sense to Use the Word ‘Order’ in the International System? ......... 7-8 By Sally Wang, Year 12, Wu House
Geisha ................................................................................................................. 9-12 By Jarra Sisowath, Year 12, Gellhorn House
History in the Making........................................................................................ 13-14 By Charles Callaghan, Year 12, Peel House
The Battle of Stalingrad .................................................................................... 15-16 By Charlie Wang, Year 7, Shackleton House
Salem Witch Trials ............................................................................................ 17-18 By Dora Gan, Year 9, Wu House
The Rise and Fall of Empires ............................................................................19-20 By Jett Li, Year 12, Peel House
The Suspicious Death of Amy Robsart ............................................................. 21-23 By Sophie Putman, Year 12, Wu House
Tulip Mania ....................................................................................................... 24-27 By Brynn Gordon, Year 12, Wu Houe
What Makes You “You”..................................................................................... 28-29 By Paris Wang, Year 6. Fry House
Citations ............................................................................................................ 30-34 Credits ............................................................................................................... 35-36
1 | Contents
By Brynn Gordon, Year 12 Wu | 2
About Us
The Humanities Harrowvian Team (clockwise to centre from top): Jarra Sisowath, Sophie Putman, Kayan Tam, Ingrid Ng, Jett Li, Sally Wang
By Kayan Tam Year 12 Wu
3 | About Us
At the beginning of the 2019-2020 school year, two friends with the same passion for interdisciplinary learning and exploration in the Humanities came together, crafting an initial pitch for a school-wide academic publication. Very soon, this nascent form of an idea gained traction and the team expanded to include several other student authors, illustrators and editors who now serve as the foundation of the Humanities Harrovian magazine.
We seek to provide unique opportunities to push intellectual curiosity beyond the curriculum. At the same time, we hope to cultivate and engage interested students who can discuss freely on subjects ranging from contemporary issues to obscure historical events.
‘Creating the Humanities Harrovian from the ground-up has been an amazing and enriching opportunity for me and my peers. We are so proud of what we have accomplished and truly hope that this publication can inspire everyone to communicate their passions for the Humanities outside of the classroom.’ Sally Wang, Founder
‘Writing about a topic that interests me beyond the classroom has been such a great opportunity. It's an amazing chance to do some independent learning and to get to argue my point of view.’ Sophie Putman, Founder
‘As an art student, I have always acknowledged the fact it is hard to seek out opportunities to contribute to the school through art. As such I am incredibly lucky to have found a group of peers who are so supportive of its member’s passions. The formation of the Humanities Harrovian not only creates more opportunities for humanities enthusiasts but also opens a new pathway for artists to share their talents with the Harrow community.’ Kayan, Art Director
'A publication like this only comes to fruition because of an enormous amount of work behind the scenes. The Humanities Harrovian team has combined academic curiosity with dedication and teamwork to produce a document that is astonishing in its maturity and professionalism. Enthusiasm and intentions are easy; seeing them through are the hard part. This team's vision has materialised into something quite unique and will be enjoyed by the Harrow HK community now, and for years to come.' Ms A. King, Academic Supervisor
About Us | 4
All About Ronald Reagan Dasha Okolovich, Year 12, Gellhorn House
The United States of America. A place thousands of miles away from us, yet somehow one of the most influential countries in the world that is able to, single-handedly, cause the collapse of every other economy worldwide. Outside of economics, it is also known as a land of ‘freedom’, a place so idealized it has developed a reputation of having its own one-of-a-kind dream that cannot be achieved anywhere else in the world. We hear about it in the news constantly, both the bad and the good; it is as if there is a magnifying glass focused strictly on the United States at all times. As a result, it is common knowledge when the US presidential elections take place, as well as global speculation surrounding the top running candidates and the current president - no other individual is thought to better reflect the citizens of the country not its state. Since the Declaration of Independence in 1776, there have been 45 people serving the role of the president, but in this essay, I will specifically be focusing on the 40th one - Ronald Reagan, an on-screen actor and a victim of attempted assassination just two months after taking office. Before Reagan rose to power, America was in a difficult state. Post the Watergate scandal in 1972 and the Great Inflation economic crisis of the 70s, citizens’ trust in Government was severely undermined and economic, social, and political stability was lacking. That is when America embraced a new conservatism full of materialism, consumerism, and the Rise of the New Right. Being a Republican candidate, Reagan heavily appealed to several right-leaning groups, such as evangelical Christians, anti-tax crusaders, advocates of deregulation and smaller markets, defenders of an unrestricted free market, and disaffected white liberals. His campaign promised big tax cuts and a smaller government which highly appealed to many conservative voters. He took office in January 1981 and proceeded to obtain legislation that would stimulate economic growth, curb inflation, increase employment, and strengthen the USA’s national defense. In essence, his campaign promoted what is known as ‘Reaganomics’ or ‘trickle-down’ economics, a system based on the belief that encouraging economic growth for the upper class would similarly translate to economic gains for all sections of society. He argued that allowing people from the middle and upper classes to keep more of their earnings would increase spending and investments in businesses, thereby repairing the economy.
5 | All About Ronald Reagan
Along with his radical tax cuts came the pursuit of neo-liberal ideas of a global ‘free market’ and deregulation. The concept was imposed by Alan Greenspan and an Ayn Rand acolyte - who was first appointed by Ronald Reagan. Greenspan largely adopted the ideas of Objectivism, which included the espousal for minimal state intervention as well as the lessening of federal welfare funding and taxation. As a result, despite the fact that unemployment was at 7.5% and dropping when Reagan took office in 1981, unemployment began to rise again a few months after his economic policies took effect. Millions of people continued to lose their jobs for the next two years, until November 1982, when unemployment exceeded 10% for the first time since the Second World War. It stayed above 10% for nearly a year, peaking at 10.8%. Three years after Reagan was elected, unemployment was still higher than when he was sworn in.
Considering that Reagan sought the ‘restoration of prosperity’, it is hardly fair to say that all citizens benefited from his time in office. Under his presidency, the United States, as a place promoting ‘equality for all’, found itself under a system heavily focused on benefitting the white upper class. In an attempt to remedy the effects of the economic crisis of the previous decade and the Cold War, Reagan overlooked the social climate at the time of his presidency, leading to much suffering and death. In the 1980s, an organization called the ‘Moral Majority’ was formed with the purpose of advancing conservative and largely religious social values. Many would go on to agree that this helped to establish the religious right as a force in American politics, an impact which can still be seen to this day in the expansion of the ‘conscience rule’, where medical professionals are allowed to refuse to carry out an abortion, assisted suicide, sterilization, transgender surgeries and any other medical procedures on religious/moral grounds. The moment Reagan became the ally of such an organisation, the lives of America's LGBTQ+ community became more uncertain than they already were. The active years of the ‘Moral Majority’ coincided with the outbreak of AIDS. This virus spread silently, primarily among the gay community, and by the end of 1981, there were 270 reported cases of severe immune deficiencies among gay men - 121 of which had resulted in deaths. Nevertheless, the medical crisis was overlooked by the government until 1986, after over eleven thousand people had died. As the President, Ronald Reagan was directly responsible for this outcome, as he had failed to respond to the crisis before it became an overwhelming catastrophe. Instead, the first service organization for HIV-positive people was established by campaigners for an all-out response to the crisis. For example, Larry Kramer, who founded the Gay Men’s Health Crisis organization in 1881, improved the lives of people suffering from HIV and AIDS and mercilessly pilloried the politicians and medical professionals who refused to take the epidemic seriously. Furthermore, with regards to the social climate, Reagan's mental health reforms greatly worsened homelessness and crime by increasing forced institutionalization and making access to medication significantly harder for people who had been suffering from mental illnesses. He also exacerbated the problem of homelessness by enforcing ‘Reaganomics’, a phenomenon that directly contributed to the increase of unemployment rates across the states, spending the majority of government funding on state defense instead. As mentioned before, by ignoring the AIDs epidemic until it was too late, Reagan caused the deaths of over 10,000 people. His attitude was epitomized in the infamous response of Reagan’s Press Secretary Larry Speakes to a reporter’s question about the reason for inaction: “I don’t have [AIDS], do you?”. In order to prevent these unnecessary and tragic deaths, all he had to do was establish government-funded hospitals specifically dedicated to HIV patients and immediately fund medical research, instead of waiting four years. This negligence and major lapses in his judgement make Ronald Reagan, in my opinion, one of the least successful presidents in America’s history.
All About Ronald Reagan | 6
Does it make sense to use the word ‘order’ in the international system? Sally Wang, Year 12, Wu House It is justifiable to use the word “order” in the context of the international system. The international system, a vast and intricate network of states, institutions, and individuals, is at the core of understanding world politics. Order, in this context, most closely represents two things: a state of peace and control - the absence of major wars, violence, and disruption - and a social, political, or economic arrangement with some degree of authority. In this paper, I will first comment on the nature of world order in general – specifically on its origins and the components needed to achieve it. Then, I will go on to examine the League of Nations as an attempt to maintain international order in the past, before finally going on to discuss the state of affairs in the world today. But first, it is imperative to understand the structure of the international system, as our assessment of world “order” will be largely affected by this phenomenon. Anarchy: the structure of the international system Anarchy in world politics simply means the lack of a “central authority” that states can turn to. It allows states to act as they please without suffering repercussions or bearing responsibilities, making the prospects of establishing a true world government seem very unlikely. Thus, we turn to a less-rigid version of it - world “order.” Order, unlike government, only represents a state of affairs and places less stress on adhering to binding rules. As Anne-Marie Slaughter explains, order can only “sufficiently contain conflict” and “institutionalize cooperation”. Types and conditions of a world order Order in the last 200 years can be categorized into two categories: concert order and hegemonic order. Concert order is established when all major powers in the international system agree to follow a particular binding arrangement, such as the Vienna System, League of Nations, and the United Nations.
The second type of order, hegemonic order, is when one major power sets all the rules of conduct in the international world, with examples being Pax Americana and the Liberal International Order. Hegemonic order means unipolarity and absolute authority of a certain state, yet in comparison to concert order, it seems to sustain itself for a longer period of time and appears less fragile. According to Richard Haass, a renowned American diplomat, there are a few conditions needed for a “world order” to be achieved. First, there needs to be a stable distribution of political power – which Nye has described to consist of “military, economic and soft power” – and a “broad acceptance of the rules that govern the conduct of international relations”. Furthermore, since order is “made, not born”, “skilful statecraft” is required to maintain the status quo. Evaluating the League of Nation – a modern to attempt establish order Over the past century, there have been numerous attempts to establish order, either from eliminating (or trying to eliminate) major conflicts or establishing international organization. One case, however, is particularly interesting: the Paris Peace Conference of 1919. World War One was a watershed in the understanding of conflicts as people realised, for the first time, the extent of horror and destruction they were capable of. The most prominent agreement to have come out of the conference was the creation of the League of Nations, an international organization that aimed to provide a forum for resolving disputes through negotiation rather than violence. Here, some may argue that the League was, in fact, a purposeless and disorganized body that implemented no real change, which can be proved easily by the outbreak of WW2 in 1939 and the United States’ rejection to becoming a member
7 | Does it make sense to use the word ‘order’ in the international system?
(even though its President, Woodrow Wilson, proposed the idea of such an organization initially). While I do acknowledge the limited change the League brought about, I see the institution in a different light – a more positive and meaningful one. Its creation conceptualised international organizations, particularly of the intergovernmental kind, and would serve as a precedent for future establishments like the United Nations and the World Trade Organization. Furthermore, the fact that such an institution was proposed in the first place highlights the willingness of the international community to contribute towards a world order, which is a necessary first step in securing long-lasting stability. Order in the international system today In the book ‘The Long Peace’, Gaddis argues that after WW2, the international system has contained previously unsuspected elements of stability (Gaddis 1989). Compared to previous eras, not only is the modern world absent of great-power wars, it is home to a myriad of (inter)governmental and non-governmental institutions designed to foster cooperation and connectivity. The nuclear arms race during the Cold War, in which the U.S. and USSR competed over the development of increasingly devastating nuclear weapons, brought about Mutually Assured Destruction – a phenomenon that is widely believed to act as a deterrent for any major conflict. It is truly an unprecedented period in history: there are no other times with a more stable world order than right now. However, the reality of this “peace” is doubtful on deeper examination of our modern world. Despite there being no great-power wars, there are incessant conflicts in which the rules of conduct and the parties involved are becoming increasingly ambiguous. For example, our traditional notions and norms dictating what a ‘war’ should look like no longer apply – in fact, terms have been developed to represent the growing variety of interactions and conflicts between players of the international world, with examples being cyber warfare, guerrilla warfare, and proxy wars. The United Nations, an upgraded version of the League of Nations, still has many limitations and areas of inequality, such as the existence of veto power in the United Nations Security Council and the superior status of the permanent members. Most significantly, the regional hegemony of the U.S. is being challenged by an ever-expanding China, causing tensions to heighten greatly in the international system.
Notwithstanding these challenges to global security, I do not think one should dismantle or disregard the conception of order easily as there is a bigger picture to keep in mind: only by continuing to put the notion of order out there and setting an eventual goal for the international community can the hope of reconstruction be instilled, which could subsequently motivate states (and other players) into action. A conclusion: commenting on the longevity and importance of world order As Haass once said, “even the best managed order comes to an end” eventually, suggesting the attempts to maintain a stable world order will prove to be futile. This comes back again to the notion of structure of the international system – anarchy. Since there is no centralised government for the different states to turn to, nor is there an entity to scrutinize the actions of each international actor, rules are bound to be broken. Nonetheless, I believe that it still makes sense to use the word “order” in the international system, no matter if the time frame is set in the past or present. Although the nature and duration of order may not be perfect (and it rarely is), the idea of achieving a state of order influences the behaviours of international players despite their differing beliefs. And of course, there will be times when that order is challenged (since order, unlike a centralized government, depends solely on the willful participation of all constituents within the system), but it is the hope of the construction of a new and improved one that will drive the workings of the global community.
Does it make sense to use the word ‘order’ in the international system? | 8
By Kayan Tam Year 12 Wu
9 | Geisha
Geisha Jarra Sisowath, Year 12, Gellhorn House There has been a long-lasting misconception in the West surrounding Geisha, and how their role in society differs from that of all others in the Red Light District. If you do not see past the evocative image of their powdered complexions and the sultry colour painted on their lips, it is understandable as to why Geisha would be categorised as such; however, the gruelling training process to become one, the institutionalized area of society they are a part of, and the very nature of their profession prevents them from having an exact equivalent in any other nation. Geisha are, first and foremost, artists - ones who must encapsulate the pinnacle of traditional Japanese performing arts. This makes them invaluable in understanding the evolution of Japan’s customs, values and social dynamic throughout history. Although it is essential to make a very clear distinction between prostitutes and the Geisha, the line is blurred at times due to the fact that sexual exchanges between a Geisha and her customer were not uncommon, especially in the early years of their emergence; in fact, licensed courtesans existed to fulfill such transactions. This misconception also originated from the post-WWII period during the U.S.’s occupation of Japan. Many prostitutes at the time wore traditional dress and makeup similar to Geisha, causing all female dancers, nightclub hostesses and streetwalkers to be umbrellaed under the term “geisha-girls”. American soldiers were unable to understand the common Japanese concept of paid non-sexual companionship, nor were they able to differentiate one occupation from the other; thus, Geisha became synonymous with prostitution. However, as early as 1800, the Geisha that we know and still exist today, machi geisha (town geisha), had already differentiated themselves from the other workers of the pleasure quarter, and cemented their identity as artistic erudites. Selling sex was strictly forbidden to protect the business of their workplace (okiya) as well as the high status it held in society. The word ‘Geisha’ is comprised of two kanji: the first 芸 (‘gei’), meaning ‘art’; and the other 者 (‘sha’), which refers to a person. Therefore, it can literally be translated to ‘a person of art’, or ‘woman of art’, in reference to the alternative, less-widely known name, “Geiko” (芸妓). Geisha are, as the etymology suggests, highly skilled and revered artists, required to be proficient in virtually all forms of traditional Japanese art. This includes playing music, such as the shamisen, a three-stringed instrument which is strummed with a pick, or the koto, a large stringed instrument not unlike its Chinese counterpart, the guzheng; but also singing, dancing, calligraphy, performing the tea ceremony (sadoh) and floral arrangement (ikebana). All of these disciplines were considered essential for the perfect entertainer, and for the ideal woman, because that was the type of service geisha offered their customers: the opportunity to spend an evening away from the mundane day-to-day and indulge instead in the company of the epitomised idea of what the perfect woman should be. The author Liza Dalby stated that, “Geisha are different than wives. They are categorically different, in fact, and the categories are mutually exclusive. From the point of the Japanese man, the role of wife and that of geisha are complementary”. This is an insight into the diverging roles of women in Japan compared to other civilisations throughout history. Much like everywhere else in the world, according to the grossly patriarchal rules of society, women were expected to fulfill the role of the caring wife who was confined to the strict boundaries of the home. They were expected to create a warm and welcoming environment for their husbands to return to and in which their children could be raised. Dalby suggests that in Japan, however, unlike in other countries, Geisha were assigned the converse side of institutionalized femininity- the role of providing entertainment in a public setting, and to a certain extent, intimate connection. Romance, by Confucian custom, is secondary in importance to the duty of familial commitment in a marital partner, which is why seeking out the services of a Geisha in conjunction to married life was normalized in Japan, at least for those who could afford it. When a geisha marries, she is no longer a Geisha, and takes her place on the other side of the societal spectrum. Wives were expected to be modest whereas Geisha were ostentatious in their performance and display of artistic talent. They were expected to be soft spoken whereas Geisha had to to be equally masterful in discussing politics as they were in flattery. While wives were lifelong companions, Geisha were fleeting encounters.
Geisha | 10
Although Geisha are almost always seen as inherently anti-feminist (and rightly so, as they exist in principle, to please the whims of men), they were ironically one of the few self-sufficient women in Japan’s historically male-dominated society. Geisha society was largely female-run, in which men play a minute role, apart from that of the customer (even then, this was not always the case). From the training of young trainees (maiko) to the assignment of appointments to each member of the Geisha house, women in this business were some of the most successful in the influence and authority they wielded, as well as their financial independence. Geisha were allowed various liberties not permitted to wives, including a career that they were free to pursue to support themselves, without the restraint of commitments such as familial duties. Even after a Geisha retires, if she is chosen as the heir (atotori) to her Geisha house (okiya), she will live there and run the business until the next generation assumes her position. Although a Geisha’s career may seem short-lived, they go on to become businesswomen, teachers, recruiters, and managers of their okiya. At the turn of the 20th century, poor families often sold their daughters to Geisha houses as a way of making money, but many young women willingly pursued this path as it gave them a rigorous education. This was previously one of the only ways for women to receive an education at such a level. It also gave them access to influential and wealthy men: members of the government discussed matters of state in Geisha houses, and this included both domestic and foreign politicians, even European royalty. As professionals trained in the art of conversation, a geisha’s verbal skills made them the only women, for many years, considered to be able to speak to men of such high standing as equals. In an age when women were marginalized and constricted to a role that allowed neither personal freedom nor self-sufficiency, Geisha had both. It is not my place to comment on whether or not Geisha did indeed represent a hope for women to stand on equal intellectual footing with their male counterparts in Japanese society, or if they are, in fact, degrading and symbolic of femininity sculpted exclusively to appease men. However, no matter the implications of the job or of its nature, it is undeniable that, within the narrow window of opportunity they had as women in such a society, Geisha had knowledge and they had influence- power that very few individuals were privileged enough to possess throughout Japan’s long and tumultuous history. Today, more than ever, Geisha are proud to be one of the most committed artists to preserving ancient national traditions and customs. I leave the words of Mineko Iwasaki, the most famous living Geisha, for the reader to take a stand on: “The geisha system was founded, actually, to promote the independence and economic self-sufficiency of women. And that was its stated purpose, and it actually accomplished that quite admirably in Japanese society, where there were very few routes for women to achieve that sort of independence”.
11 | Geisha
Geisha | 12
History in the Making A simple explanation about what caused oil prices to fall below zero and why it’s significant Charles Callaghan, Year 12, Peel House
On the 20th of April 2020, the price of West Texas Intermediate crude oil (WTI) — one of the three global oil benchmarks — fell below zero, reaching as low as - $40/bbl. People were paying others to take oil off their hands. How could such an essential commodity, one that countless wars have been fought over, lose so much of its value? Before we can talk more about what caused the huge slump in oil prices, we need to first understand how WTI is commonly traded. Oil producers, buyers, and speculators trade a type of derivative called ‘futures’, which is a legally binding contract — almost always between a producer, and a buyer or speculator — stating that x number of barrels will be purchased from the producer at a predetermined price, and will be physically delivered at some point in the future when the contract expires. Oil futures settle monthly, meaning that there are physical deliveries at the end of every month. It is also important to note that the vast majority of physical deliveries of WTI have to go to Cushing, Oklahoma, so if you are a speculator who is unable to sell your contract before expiration, you will end up with thousands of barrels of unwanted crude oil stored in tanks in Cushing — and you don’t want to be that person because the storage fees are hefty. This aspect of oil futures played a pivotal role in the recent negative oil prices and will be explored later.
13 | History in the Making
Over the past couple of months, a series of demand side shocks, as well as overproduction, has caused the price of oil to plummet. Covid-19 has reduced the demand and production of manufacturing goods, air travel, and fuel for vehicles, ultimately causing a 33% reduction in global demand for oil. Despite the price of oil steadily free-falling since the beginning of 2020, the production of oil has remained high and actually increased at some points: a Saudi-Russian oil price war began earlier this year, after the two countries failed to agree on mutual production cuts, OPEC oil production cuts were unable to keep the price of oil stable (it also takes many weeks to halt the oil production process) and U.S oil producers, who produce as much as oil as they want because of the free market, did not cut production. These factors caused substantial overproduction, which caused a further decline in the price of oil. But how did all this cause negative prices? The day before all April 2020 WTI future contracts expired, speculators and buyers alike were scrambling to sell their futures contracts, trying to avoid being physically delivered oil. Speculators never let their contracts expire because they have no use for all that oil, thus they were desperately trying to sell their contracts; buyers who actually use oil (e.g. a plastics producer) had ordered far too much oil — possibly because they had misinterpreted the demand for their services — and were also desperate to sell their excess oil contracts. The slump in global demand for oil meant that many wanted to sell their contracts, whilst, crucially, there was barely any storage left in Cushing. If you were delivered oil, the storage fees at Cushing would be astronomically high, and there was a real possibility that there simply wouldn’t be enough space for your order. As expiration drew closer, the price of WTI oil fell into the negatives for the first time in history — it was cheaper for both buyers and speculators to pay somebody $40/bbl to take oil from them, rather than store it in Cushing or elsewhere. Negative oil prices are a big deal due to the significant role oil plays in the world economy. Everything runs off of it: factories, cars, planes, ships, electricity production and the like. Its uses have made it an essential commodity that many economies rely on, so much so that nations have fought over it in the past. The recent negative oil prices signal the adverse effects Covid-19 is having on the world economy, and also marks a bizarre point in economic history. Note: The current situation is much more complex than what is implied in this article. There are many other factors contributing to negative oil prices and further details that have been omitted. This article’s purpose is to simply explain and give an overview of a recent peculiar event, not provide an in-depth account of it.
History in the Making | 14
15 | The Battle of Stalingrad
The Battle of Stalingrad Charlie Wang, Year 7, Shackleton House On the 24th of August 1942, Germany and its allies fought the Soviet Union for control over the city of Stalingrad. This was one of the most significant battles of World War II, as it was marked by gruesome close quarter combat and a near continuous air bombardment. There were around two million casualties and approximately 300,000 civilian deaths. When Adolf Hitler was planning to invade the Caucuses, one major target presented itself. That was the city of Stalingrad. This location had great strategic importance. It had big factories that supplied the Red Army with hundreds of tanks and it also sat right on the mighty Volga river which was used to transport weapons and supplies to the front. However, the main reason that Hitler wanted to seize the city was because of its name. Although Nazi Germany and the Soviet Union had been allies at the start of the war, Hitler’s plan had always been to invade the USSR. He viewed the Russian people as racially inferior and believed his true ideological enemy was Communism. It was because of this that Hitler wanted to embarrass their leader, Joseph Stalin. By taking the city that bore his name. The Germans used the 6th Army and the feared 4th Panzer Division to lead the assault. The attack was also supported by an intense bombardment carried out by the Luftwaffe, turning everything into rubble. Due to the lack of open spaces, the Germans could not send their tanks into the city and lost their greatest advantage. The soldiers from the two sides also fought so closely together that the Germans could also not use the air force for fear of killing their own men. Snipers were littered around the city, hiding inside the cracks and camouflaged in the rubble, killing any soldier that made one false move.
However, the Soviets had just enough men to hold their ground and defend against the Germans. As the battle raged on, the Germans were so focused on their front lines that they did not notice the large armies that had started to encircle them. The flanks of the German Army were made up mainly of Hungarian and Romanian soldiers who did not have a lot of interest in taking over the Soviet Union. When the Soviets finally launched a pincer movement and encircled the Nazi army, they did not put up much resistance. The Germans were surrounded and could not escape. Even though the army was trapped in the city Hitler did not allow Paulus, the German Commanding Officer, to surrender because it would be a humiliating blow to the nation and morale would decrease tremendously. Paulus’ army was weak and low on food and water. Goering told Hitler that his Luftwaffe could send in all of the food and ammunition that Paulus needed, but in reality, they could only send in around five tons of food per day when the army needed 300 tons. Day by day the army became weaker and weaker. They could no longer fight off the mighty Soviet Army, and on the 2nd of February 1943, the Soviets won the battle. This battle would lead to the defeat of the Nazi regime and the Germans never won another against the Soviet Union. The Battle of Stalingrad delivered an irrecoverable blow to the Nazis, unified the Soviet people, and ultimately led to the Allied victory in Europe on the 8th May 1945.
In the beginning, the Germans seemed like they would definitely win the battle since their bombing raids devastated and destroyed the Red Army's morale. The situation looked bleak, and although the Soviets tried their best, the more technologically advanced Nazi armies pushed the remaining Soviet fighters to the Volga river. The Red Army stood on a strip of land that was only as wide as four football fields.
The Battle of Stalingrad | 16
Salem Witch Trials Dora Gan, Year 9, Wu House
When you think about witches, the first image that pops up might be Harry Potter, or the Halloween costumes with pointy black hats and cats, or even an old woman with green skin cackling over a cauldron. Witches have made countless appearances in works of literature and (with a few exceptions) nothing good happens when they’re introduced: Macbeth was a tragedy, Roald Dahl’s “Witches” were portrayed as villains, and Hansel and Gretel were almost eaten by one. We can trace this negative connotation of witches a few hundred years back, when the definition of witches were women who practiced “the Devil’s work”. The earliest mention of a witch was in the Bible: when King Saul sought out the Witch of Endor in hopes of summoning a dead prophet’s spirit to help him defeat an enemy. The prophet foretold the death of King Saul and his sons. The next day, Saul’s sons died in battle and Saul himself committed suicide. The old Testament also explicitly states in Exodus 22:18 “thou shalt not suffer a witch to live”. This may be where the ominous view and fear of witches started. In 1400s Britain, witch hysteria caused single women, widows and marginalized women to be targeted the most. However, in the British colonies of North America, especially Massachusetts, it was the Salem Witch Trials of 1692 and 1693, more than 200 years later, that defined the phenomenon. In January of 1692, Salem’s first ordained minister Reverend Samuel Parris’ daughter Elizabeth Parris, age 9; his niece Abigail WIlliams, age 11; and another girl of the town, Ann Putnam Jr, started having “fits”. They started throwing things, making strange sounds and contorting their bodies into unusual positions. Doctor William Griggs diagnosed their condition as supernatural. The three girls blamed it on three women: Sarah Good, an old beggar; Sarah Osborne, an impoverished old woman; and Tituba, the Parris’ Caribbean slave.
17 | Salem Witch Trials
Starting from March 1, the magistrates of Salem interrogated the three women for several days. Although both Sarahs pleaded innocent, Tituba confessed that “the Devil came to me and bid me serve him”. She described images of black dogs, red cats, yellow birds and a black man who wanted her to sign his book, which she did. She also said there were other witches trying to destroy the Puritans. Even though the 3 women were put in jail, Tituba’s testimony resulted in an uproar among the Salem villagers. They started accusing women of practicing witchcraft - even Sarah Good’s four-year-old daughter Dorothy was interrogated and her answers were construed as confessions. On May 27, Governor William Phips of Massachusetts established the Special Court of Oyer and Terminer for the witch trials. Almost 200 people were accused and twenty were killed as a result. In May 1693, Phips finally released all who were criminalised, ending the witch trials. If you take a closer look at Salem at the time, you would notice that it was not actually a very peaceful place. First, Salem Village had been trying to be separated from Salem Towne for a long time, which resulted in many disagreements. There was also a divide between the commercial business people and the farmers, in addition to a fear throughout the village of native American tribes attacking, which turned neighbor against neighbor. It was in this unharmonious setting that the witch trials occured: Salem's inhabitants already suspected each other, so the witch trials were simply utilised as an excuse to express their suspicions openly. Not only were women targeted however, but some men were also met with the same accusations. John Willard’s case was one of the most intriguing of them all. Willards was married to Maragaret Wilkins, whose family disliked outsiders: she was the first person in three generations to marry someone outside of Salem Village. John Willard was meant to arrest the accused witches, but he refused to do so and quit his job. Shortly after, Ann Putnam Jr said that the apparition of John Willard was tormenting her. Ann testified that “after this I saw the apparition of my little sister Sarah who died when she was about six weeks old crying out for vengeance against John Willard.” Similarly, around the same time Willard’s grandfather in law Bray Wilkins became ill and another relative of his, Daniel Wilkins died. The coroner had deemed the causes to be unnatural and Ann Putnam had also testified “15th of May all evening, to see the affected persons, there I saw there the apparition of John Willard affecting his grandfather Wilkins”. Ann Putnam Sr. accused him of murdering several Salem Villagers. Many of his family members also testified against him. However, Bray Wilkins’ condition was most likely due to his kidney stones. What is interesting is that Ann’s accusation came soon after John’s refusal to take part in the trials and that most of Willard’s family did not approve of him anyways. There is a theory that the accusations of the three children who first started having fits was coerced under pressure from magistrates Jonathan Corwin and John Hawthorne. However, Willard was still hung on August 19, 1692. There needs to be a judge for a trial to take place and John Hawthrone was one of the few who were assigned to this case. One could argue that he acted more like a prosecutor than an impartial judge: he already seemed to believe in the prisoners' guilt. As Charles Wentowrth Upham pointed out in his book Salem Witchcraft “it will be noticed that conducted in the form of questions put by the magistrate, Hathorne, based upon a forgone conclusion of the prisoner’s guilt, an expressive of a conviction, all along on his part, that the evidence of ‘the afflicted’ against her amounted to, and was, absolute demonstration.” There are many questions surrounding the witch trials. First, their validity: is the judge impartial? Why did the apparitions come at just the right time when the villagers disliked a person? What kind of evidence was considered? In fact, spectral evidence (testimonies from dreams and visions) was previously permitted, however Governor Phips decided to denounce it when he replaced the Court of Oyer and Terminer by the Superior Court of Judicature, partly at the urge of Increase Mather, the president of Harvard at the time, but also because his wife was accused. Tituba, who pleaded guilty, was pardoned when Governor Phips ended the trials, but many who were innocent were hung. There is also the problem of persecution. Why did people aim the first accusations at an old woman, a beggar, and a slave? All people who were marginalised by society. Yes, the accusations then fell onto devout Christians, perhaps that can be tied to paranoia and Salem’s hostile social climate. The government of Massachusetts declared the witch trials unlawful in 1702. The reason that they happened in the first place though was the firm belief of Christianity and the trepidation fueled by the aggressive social climate which had lingered for such a long time. Fear can drive people to do many strange things, and in 17th century Salem, the paranoia made the townspeople want to blame others and the supernatural for their misfortunes which came at the great cost of many lives.
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The Rise and Fall of Empires Jett Li, Year 12, Peel House Throughout the course of recorded human history, the existence of military powers that towered over all opposition was commonplace. From the Ancient Chinese dynasties that dominated most of Southeast Asia and the Roman Empire that conquered the Mediterranean, to the Colonial British Empire that had spheres of influence all over the globe, imperial might has been a constant in almost all of civilised human history. Legendary figures such as Alexander the Great and Julius Caesar dedicated their lives to building up the strength and prestige of their Empires, to ensure that they would stand for hundreds or thousands of years. However, in just the last 100 or so years, these historical staples have all but disappeared from the face of the Earth. How did this happen? And what events led to the world we know today? In order to understand how the era of empires ended, we must first understand the definition of an empire as well as how it began. An Empire, as defined by the Oxford dictionary, is a group of countries or states that are controlled by one ruler or government. During the Bronze Age, Sargon the Great founded the Akkadian Empire - the first of its kind anywhere in the world- in a region that was then known as Mesopotamia through repeated military conquests. As time went by, an increasing number of civilisations annexed the lands around them in a similar fashion, unifying their collective territories as one. This happened with the Assyrians in 2025 BCE, the Macedonians in 808 BCE, the Romans in 27 BCE, and countless other civilisations from as early as 2300 BCE to as recent as the 18th Century CE. The reason behind such rapid and violent expansion is subject to debate; however, it is clear that there is one major motivator behind the creation of any empire throughout human history: Greed.
19 | The Rise and Fall of Empires
The desire to expand, to conquer, and to subjugate has dominated some of the most powerful civilisations in the world. It has decimated races of people, ruined lives, forced millions into dire circumstances, but it has also been a great catalyst for scientific, artistic and literary development. Many of the world’s greatest thinkers were able to realise their talents and benefit the world as a whole because of the kingdom or empire they were born into. In sum, regardless of whether an empire is to be ultimately good or bad for the human race, the greatest motivation for it to grow is the desire of its leaders and officials, an intrinsic characteristic of human nature. However, there seems to be one time period that is an exception to this: the modern-day world. Not a single empire, kingdom, or imperial-esque territory remains in our world today. This is practically unheard of in the 4000+ years of documented history. Empires naturally decline and fall over time. Traditionally, political, economic or social issues would either weaken the nation enough for it to be annexed by another empire, or it would fragment and split itself into smaller states or municipalities. However, the situation we find ourselves in is not just a simultaneous breakdown of once powerful nations. However, there seems to be one time period that is an exception to this: the modern-day world. Not a single empire, kingdom, or imperial-esque territory remains in our world today. This is practically unheard of in the 4000+ years of documented history. Empires naturally decline and fall over time. Traditionally, political, economic or social issues would either weaken the nation enough for it to be annexed by another empire, or it would fragment and split itself into smaller states or municipalities. However, the situation we find ourselves in is not just a simultaneous breakdown of once powerful nations. After the First World War, many empires involved in the conflict found themselves greatly weakened. Some, such as the German Empire, were forced to collapse immediately, while others were able to maintain their status quo for a few more years. However, upon the end of the Second World War, the remaining Empires found themselves in an even more peculiar situation. The world’s most prominent powers - the United States, the United Kingdom, France, China and Russia - banded together to form the United Nations on the 24th of October 1945. The world had officially entered an era of unprecedented ‘world peace’, which naturally meant that imperial greed and warmongering nations would no longer be tolerated. As a result, many of the remaining empires slowly disbanded of their own volition or were later forced to. While it can be argued that they still exist in the form of neo-colonialism and cultural imperialism, for the most part, Empires that exist through direct military control of other nations have ceased to exist.
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The Suspicious Death of Amy Robsart Sophie Putman, Year 12, Wu House
Amy Robsart (1877) by William Frederick Yeames
21 | The Suspicious Death of Amy Robsart
Queen Elizabeth I styled herself as Gloriana, the virgin queen. She basked in the image she projected: one of purity and virtue, the very definition of being married to her job. But perhaps if it had not been for one woman, things might have been a little different. On 8 September 1560, Amy Robsart was found dead at the bottom of the staircase in her home near Oxford. The cause of death was a broken neck, but the circumstances surrounding it were far less apparent. Amy Robsart had been married to Robert Dudley, Earl of Leicester, for ten years at the time of her death. Champions of the Protestant cause, the Dudleys managed to survive the tumultuous exchanges of power that occurred throughout the decade, including a rather dangerous period under a Catholic Mary I. Dudley had backed Mary’s Protestant rival Lady Jane Grey for the throne, and following the success of the former, Dudley was subsequently imprisoned and sentenced to death. He was eventually released, but his stay in prison coincided with that of his childhood friend, the future Elizabeth I. Things were not looking good for Elizabeth. Her Protestantism made her a direct threat to her sister Mary’s reign, and the execution of Lady Jane Grey made it crystal clear how Mary dealt with threats. Fortunately for Elizabeth - and the rest of the persecuted non-Catholic population - Mary I died in 1558, after a reign of almost five years during which she burnt around three hundred Protestants at the stake. Mary’s death cleared the way for the ascension of Queen Elizabeth I. Immediately, the first question on everybody’s lips was who the new queen would marry. The country needed an heir to ensure that after the queen’s death chaos would be minimal. Elizabeth needed a husband, everyone agreed. In the first few weeks of her reign, the court was all abuzz with suitors vying for her hand. Ambassadors from all over Europe were practically falling over themselves trying to flatter her into marrying their masters. For a famously vain Elizabeth, it must have been rather fun. But England was not used to a female ruler, and there were many factors to take into consideration. Elizabeth’s sister Mary had married Philip II of Spain. A powerful Catholic king, Mary must have been pleased with the match, but Philip seems to have been quite disinterested in his new wife, and more interested in the power his marriage gave him. He spent most of his time in Spain away from a pining Mary, and his poor military advice led to England losing Calais in the war with France. After Mary’s death, Philip even proposed to Elizabeth, his former sister-in-law, but considering the way he treated his former wife, she flatly refused him. As a Protestant queen, Elizabeth could not marry a Catholic. That excluded most of Europe, except the rulers of the Netherlands and some German states. Even so, a king outranked a queen; if she were to marry a European prince, she risked handing control of England’s governance to a foreigner. So she needed to marry an Englishman, but that presented problems too. Tudor England was certainly no friend to feminism. A wife was expected to obey her husband, but as Elizabeth herself observed, how could a queen be expected to obey her subject? It seemed as if marriage was off the cards for the new queen, much to the disappointment and concern of everyone. There was one man, however, who captured Elizabeth’s attention. Shortly after her ascension, Robert Dudley was appointed Master of Horse, a position which allowed the two to speak frequently. In 1559, Dudley’s bedchamber was moved next to her private rooms. Their relationship was probably platonic - it seems unlikely that Elizabeth would have risked the throne for which she fought so hard and waited so long - but they were undeniably close. In 1587, a 25-year-old man claiming to be called Arthur Dudley arrived at the court of Philip II and said he was the illegitimate son of Elizabeth and her favourite Robert Dudley. His birth would therefore coincide with a period in 1561, when Elizabeth was mysteriously taken ill and was bed-ridden. Perhaps he was telling the truth, perhaps not. It isn’t really important. What matters is that soon after her ascension to the throne, rumours were spreading all over the country and all over the Europe that Elizabeth was in love with Dudley.
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There was one main obstacle in the way: Amy Robsart, the long-suffering wife of Robert Dudley. On the morning of 8 September, Lady Dudley was in a foul mood. She ordered all her servants to Abingdon Fair, and when three of her ladies declined to go, she became angry, demanding that they must do as they were told, which eventually they did. When they returned later that day, they found Amy’s body at the bottom of the staircase. Immediately, a scandal was born. Did Dudley and Elizabeth have her murdered in order to facilitate their marriage? The coroner and the jury in Oxford determined no. Her death was found to have been an accident, but that didn’t stop gossip and rumour spreading like wildfire. At the time, Robert Dudley was with the queen in Windsor. Upon hearing of his wife’s death, he remained there and did not attend her funeral in Oxford. His behaviour seems more than a little cold-hearted, but it is surely not evidence that he had his wife murdered. In fact, it could even suggest that he was so confident that a jury would absolve him of guilt that he felt no need to attend. The first printed account squarely blaming Dudley for his wife’s death appears in the satirical publication Leicester’s Commonwealth. But it was a piece of propaganda against Dudley, written by Catholic exiles, and it refers to Amy as the Countess of Leicester, a title she never held (her husband only acquired the Earldom of Leicester after her death). It hardly seems a reliable source. If Dudley did have his wife murdered in the hope of marrying his queen, he was unequivocally stupid. Despite the jury’s assurance that Amy’s death was accidental, the scandal surrounding it forced Elizabeth to distance herself from Dudley. If anything, it made the prospect of their unlikely marriage impossible. Historians such as Alison Weir propose that perhaps William Cecil, a prominent courtier at Elizabeth’s court, orchestrated Amy’s death in order to stain Dudley’s reputation and ensure that he could not marry the queen and become the chief influence on the throne. However, Amy’s death also threatened Elizabeth’s reputation, and did nothing to advance Cecil’s own position. If he wanted Dudley convicted or even just suspected of murder he would have done it in a less ambiguous way that left no doubt that she was in fact murdered. Neither Dudley nor Cecil seem viable perpetrators. Amy Robsart was probably not murdered then, but that doesn’t mean her death wasn’t intentional. Some suggest it was suicide. At the time of her death, Amy was ill (possibly dying) and depressed. It is feasible that she ordered her servants out of the house so that she could kill herself. Perhaps, suspecting that Dudley and Elizabeth planned to marry after her death, Amy wanted to cause a scandal to divide them and ensure that her husband would never get what he wanted. The idea of this revenge from beyond the grave is morbidly appealing, but again not likely. In Tudor England, suicide was considered the “self-slaughter” for which the punishment was eternity in hell. Maybe her depression was so severe that religious doctrine was not a factor, but the most probable solution seems to be that she accidentally fell down the stairs and broke her neck. After all, if her death was suicide, the method seems strange. Ultimately, we will never know the true circumstances surrounding Amy Robsart’s death, though the boring answer, an accident, seems most likely. All we do know for sure is that the mystery and intrigue that fascinated contemporaries and historians alike cast a shadow of suspicion on Elizabeth and Dudley’s relationship that forced them apart and left Elizabeth to rule unmarried for the next 43 years. The fact that she never married is a source of pride for many who look to her as a symbol of female independence and empowerment in a time of deeply-rooted sexism and prejudice. Although her views on women (who were not her) in power may have been far from inspirational, the controversy surrounding the suspicious death of Amy Robsart, cemented Elizabeth as the virgin queen and influenced the course of one of the most important reigns in history.
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Tulip Mania Brynn Gordon, Year 12, Wu House
“Rational”, as an economic term, is the assumption that people will behave in the way that benefits them most. In a financial sense, this would look like a person making the decisions that lead to a maximisation of profits. As humans, we are irrational. It is part of our nature, despite all that economics tries to convince us. This irrationality is caused by a number of things, from pre-programmed responses and primal drivers to subconscious assumptions we make. When circumstances are right, or disastrously wrong, these components of irrationality come together to create mania. The Tulip Bubble of 1630 can be described as the first example of investment mania since the dawn of the modern financial system. The South Sea Bubble, Great Depression, Asian Financial Crisis, Dot Com Bubble, Global Financial Crisis and more prove that it was not the last. Financial mania, also known as a financial bubble, happens when there is a significant increase in the price of an asset that is not reflected by a proportional increase in that asset’s real value. In other words, it would be like paying a million dollars for something only worth ten. The bubble “bursts” when these inflated prices drop back to or below the assets’ true value. As the price drops, people who own these assets will try to cut their losses by selling before the price falls further. In any other situation, this is a decision that makes sense. The trouble is, everyone else who owns these assets has the same idea. The competition between desperate people selling equally worthless assets at the same time causes prices to be driven down further, in an attempt to encourage potential buyers to take these assets off their hands. But what causes this cycle of boom and bust to happen? Time and time again, why haven’t we been able to identify the red flags before it is too late?
Satire on Tulip Mania (1640), by Jan Brueghel the Younger
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Retrospectively, the signs of a financial bubble are simple enough to identify: There must be an initial “spark”: an increase in demand or price that is reflected in the real value of the asset Then, something must happen to encourage increased trade in that asset, something that makes it easier to buy or sell Afterwards, the market for that asset must grow with the entry of new, less experienced market participants Finally, these new participants hear the advice of those more experienced in the market than they are. Even if the advice given is incorrect, they do not know enough about the asset to make a judgement about its true value. Therefore, the participants end up heeding that advice and act on it. These red flags are present in nearly every financial bubble. Using Tulip Mania of the 1630s as an example, we can go through the history of the event and identify these warnings categorically. In the 1630s, the Netherlands was in the thick of the Dutch Golden Age. This was a time of trade and prosperity that bred a growing middle class of merchants, all of whom were eager to display their wealth by buying luxury goods such as flowers for their gardens. At the time, there was a common thread of thought amongst the people: the more beautiful and exotic the flower, the richer the merchant. A favourite among them was the tulip: an expensive, and difficult-to-grow plant that was also representative of the merchant trade itself as it had to be imported from the east. The most valuable breed was the newly discovered Flaming Tulip, which was prized for its unique colouring (light petals striped with flames of a different, darker colour). Bulbs of this breed were scarce, and because so many merchants were keen to display their wealth, they were in demand. Thus, they were priced accordingly, and sparked a general interest in tulips as a luxury status symbol. The discovery of this new breed was representative of the “spark” that lead to the bubble. The necessary encouragement towards trade came in the form of futures contracts. Tulip bulbs take years to mature, and could only be bought and sold while they were in season. This limited the amount of trade that could take place for tulips by limiting the amount and times in which they were able to be sold. However, to keep up with demand, vendors started selling documents that stated ownership of a bulb, which could be redeemed once the bulb bloomed. These slips of paper were bought and sold in place of physical bulbs. This made tulips much easier to trade as these documents could be sold at any point in the year, regardless of whether tulips were in bloom or not. The papers were also more convenient as they were easier to carry around and care for than actual flowers, prompting an increase in tulip trading. As a result, they were sold again and again at higher and higher prices, with greater profits being made each time. Merchants and traders sold these futures contracts and were seen to make good profits from it, which encouraged more and more people to enter the market. However, these new buyers were neither professionals nor experienced amateurs in the field of tulips. They were not interested in owning tulips themselves - only in making as much profit as possible. They speculated that as the middle classes were willing to pay high prices for these flowers, with some work they would be able to find others who were willing to pay even more. From every level of society, people started buying futures contracts that could be redeemed for bulbs in bulk. They bought as many bulbs as they could, regardless of breed, as long as they thought they could sell it on at a higher price. This mass entry of new participants was when the mania started in earnest. A key reason that the increase in market participants led to a financial mania was the problem of trust. Because these profit-seekers were new to the market, the only clue they had as to the value of the bulbs they bought was the word of traders more experienced than themselves. At the height of the mania, a single bulb could sell for 1 million guilders, $480,000 in today’s money. A single tulip stalk sells today for around one U.S dollar. Humans, irrationally, tend to assume that whatever is happening at the moment will go on happening forever; we subconsciously accept that if things are going badly, they will continue to be bad, and if things are good, that will continue too. This is the main explanation for why financial bubbles happen, and it is as true today as it was in the 17th century (which can be shown by the number of times people have said “ The price can only go up” and believed it). Professional tulip traders had seen the price of their flowers rise exponentially, so naturally, they assumed it would continue to do so, and advised the new market participants to buy, buy, buy. The new market participants trusted the word of these professionals and, as they did not have enough experience to judge the price of the contracts and bulbs against their real value, acted on it.
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Phenomena, such as bubbles, rampant speculation, financial mania and wealth accumulation, that defy the laws of economics are as old as time, and while they manifest themselves in the physical world through events like the Tulip Mania, they also provide a window into the deeper workings of the mind. They teach a lesson in how emotions like greed and fear can overwhelm the rational mind and how those emotions can be transmitted from one person to another to the point where the “wisdom of crowds” becomes the “madness of crowds”. When asked if we can ever avoid financial bubbles, investment luminary Warren Buffet once said, “People start being interested in something because it’s going up, not because they understand it or anything else. The guy next door, who they know is dumber than they are, is getting rich and they aren’t, and their spouse is saying can’t you figure it out, too? It is so contagious. So it's a permanent part of the system.” So how can we protect our ourselves from the powerful forces that seed and feed financial bubbles? Well, perhaps we would do well to remember the old adage: if it looks too good to be true, it probably is.
The Semper Agustus Tulip, the most expensive tulips sold during the Tulip Mania
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What Makes You “You” Paris Wang, Year 6, Fry House
We humans possess many special qualities not seen in animals, such as being able to plan schedules and events, the skill to learn languages, and the ability to communicate through our words and actions. We might just see these everyday actions as normal, but most other animals cannot replicate them. Anthropology is the study of what makes us human - also known as ‘holism’. Ralph Linton was a respected anthropologist, praised for his texts on ‘The Study of Man’ and ‘The Tree of Culture’. Such individuals study the past through archaeology and they seek answers on how humans lived hundreds of thousands of years ago. They think about our body, and what makes our genetics, bones, diet and health unique. Anthropologists also compare the modern human to wild animals such as apes, monkeys, and gorillas.
I believe that culture, tradition, family, and personality make us unique. No one will have the same personality as you and even if someone fits your physical description perfectly, no one will have the same flaws and strengths as you. I also think that temperament, attitude, thoughts, beliefs, behaviour, and character are pieces of the giant jigsaw puzzle that complete your personality. Your personality is like a puzzle because most people do not only have one personality, - most people have multiple. You can easily change personalities in the blink of an eye. For example, if you are happy, you can be the bubbly person that everyone loves. However, when something angers you, you might turn into a mad, scary, person that is as terrifying as a fire-breathing dragon.
What does your soul mean to you? I believe that everyone is born with a soul and I believe that it is the spirit of your body. Your spirit is a box that is made up of your emotions, feelings, memories, and character. If you believe in an afterlife, it is likely that you will believe that your body will disintegrate naturally after death, but that your soul will accompany you into the afterlife. I believe this is why some people remember a previous life, because their soul has retained previous memories. The ancient philosopher Plato believed that the soul could not survive death. He believed that when you die, your soul dies too - but I disagree with him. In conclusion, I think that your soul is unique and only yours. I believe that your attitude plays a big role in your personality. Also, Aanthropologists have taught us that humans are more adapted and skillful than animals.
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By Paris Wang Year 6, Fry
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Credits ISSUE ZERO Editor-in-Chiefs
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Haley Chan, Year 12 Wu Brynn Gordon, Year 12 Wu Jett Li, Year 12 Peel Sophie Putman, Year 12 Wu Jarra Sisowath, Year 12 Gellhorn Daniel Sun, Year 12 Sun Sally Wang, Year 12 Wu
Ms. A. King
By Kayan Tam, Year 12 Wu
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