ipl-logo

Personal Narrative: The Great Wall Of South Africa

1502 Words7 Pages

“The name Hitler does not offend a black South African because Hitler is not the worst thing a black South African can imagine. Every country thinks their history is the most important, and that’s especially true in the West. But if black South Africans could go back in time and kill one person, Cecil Rhodes would come up before Hitler.” (Pg. 195) A couple of years ago, my family and I visited China. China was a fascinating region, bustling with people and commerce. The land was industrial yet spiritual, with every corner marked by dragons, lions, and Buddhas. Along the way, we visited another famous icon: the Great Wall of China. Although it was massive, its stature didn't deter us from wanting to conquer it, so we walked and walked and walked …show more content…

Thankfully, we encountered one of the many malls that dot the Chinese metropolis and decided to cool off in the air-conditioned interior. Of course, we also wanted to observe the insides of a Chinese mall and see if it were any different from its American counterpart. The streets were alive with neon and the belligerent cries of vendors. An abundance of merchandise, a great wall in itself, was available for purchase, including unsurprisingly shoes, jackets, shirts and gadgets. However, among the wide range of objects that lined the walls and floors, something grabbed my attention: fidget spinners. Along with my two younger brothers, I was immediately drawn to them. At the time, these spinners were one of the most popular playthings in the U.S. When we approached the vast selection of shiny, mesmerizing toys, we were taken aback. There were so many spinners of practically indiscernible colors, sizes, and shapes, but one caught my eye. It was shaped like a swastika and seemed disturbingly out of place. Shocked, I instinctively turned around to re-evaluate my surroundings. Did the vendors not know? I checked my family’s reaction to make sure they mirrored mine. When I asked the vendor about …show more content…

He was new to our school so we knew nothing about him. The first time I met him, he started talking to me and asked if I had done the math homework. I told him I hadn't. One day in math class my teacher was checking who had and hadn’t done the homework when suddenly the kid blurted out that I don’t do math homework. This shocked me because as usual, I had done my homework that day, but he thought that just because I hadn't done the homework one day, I didn't ever do it. I immediately disliked him for making generalizations about me. It only got worse from there. Since we didn't like each other, we argued and expertly “roasted” each other. He was a jerk, and a ruthless one. He constantly found reasons to fight and argue with my friend and me and basically everyone in our math class. He made fun of my friend’s appearance by calling him fat when my friend hadn’t done anything to provoke him other than turn around in class to look at him while he was answering a question. He would say things like, “Why are you looking at me? Turn around and pay attention, I’m surprised you can even turn around in the first place!” One time after an intense round of teasing in the cafeteria, he charged and ineffectively swung at me — he was a few inches shorter and not very athletic. He would try to sneak up on me and my friend would have to warn me and say, “Watch out, he’s lurking,” although there wasn't really anything to fear other

Show More
Related
264 Words | 2 Pages

The Great Walls of China was built with the intention of protecting the Chinese people and keeping the mongols out of china . The idea of building a Wall was made by emperor Qin leader of the Qin dynasty in 221 BCE . In his final words before death he ordered a life size terra coat army to protect him in the afterlife and a Grand Wall . He order the Wall to be around 20 feet high , 25 feet wide and 30 feet long .

Read More
342 Words | 2 Pages

In the text there was a quote that said, “It is also important to note that the beautiful, winding, Great wall that we all have in our minds……” which states many things about glory and beauty. The Great wall can attract new people and contribute to China’s beauty and glory. Even with the Great wall, with the benefits come costs. An extreme ocst that people faced was death.

Read More
376 Words | 2 Pages

Dear Emperor Qin I think building the Great Wall was a very bad idea. The Great Wall is a wall built to protect the citizens. Some people want the Great Wall to be there but, I don't think it is a good idea. They are wrong because a lot of people died and a lot of other things happened.

Read More
867 Words | 4 Pages

The Great Wall of China—started in 221 BCE during the Qin dynasty, was built to keep the northern invaders from attacking China. This 5,488 miles long wall was built over a 2,000 year period by dynasties that devoted their time in its construction. While it did provide benefits such as protection and spread ideas to other empires, it wasn’t enough to outweigh the costs of money, lives, and isolation from families. Chinese people feared their archenemy—the Xiongnu, thinking that they will conquer China. They decided to build a massive wall to keep them away from taking over, but also wanted to keep a peaceful relationship.

Read More
747 Words | 3 Pages

When most people think of China they might think about the Great Wall Of China, but what they do not know is all the problems China had to build and protect it. The Xiongnu kept invading the Han in 206 BC so the Han decided to build a wall which is now called The Great Wall Of China. In my essay I will be discussing how the Great Wall was not worth the cost because of the high mortality rate, the time and the harsh working conditions, and the continuous tribute paid to the Xiongnu. The first reason the cost did outweigh the benefits is because of high mortality. Many people died in Ancient China when building the wall.

Read More
597 Words | 3 Pages

As I stated above the Great Wall did not ensure the safety of every person. Therefore, many lives were lost when the Han was at war with the Xiongnu, but if it weren’t for the wall the death rate during this time period would be much higher. The poem in document F states “We sally forth at dawn, but do not return at dusk." "People should be selected to settle along the border areas" (Document B.) These two quotes are saying that the Great Wall cost too many innocent lives by using people as human shields.

Read More
400 Words | 2 Pages

It also shifted China closer to the Silk Road.     To add,many may believe that the benefits didn’t outweigh the costs because of the lives that were lost. “If we die,unburied,in the wilds,our corpses will feed the crows.” The Chinese workers lives were lost because while building the Great wall of china some structures had fell upon them leaving them dead. Although many people died during this building the benefits did outweigh the costs because it provided protection,glorified China, and helped the trading system.

Read More
116 Words | 1 Pages

When the Yuan dynasty ruled China, the Mongols controlled land that included their homeland to the north. Through trade routes they were connected to the rest of the Mongol empires that lay to the west and to the Middle East and Europe. Since the Mongols and their allies ruled most of central Asia, they had little need to reinforce their defenses and did little to maintain the Great Wall. The early Ming emperors pushed the Mongols and other nomadic tribes north and secured their borders.

Read More
452 Words | 2 Pages

In ancient China, the large mountains in the West and many seas surrounding China in the East, created natural barriers affecting the lives of the Chinese people. The Great Wall of China, built during the Qin Dynasty, plus all of the natural barriers, kept the

Read More
844 Words | 4 Pages

China was providing luxury exports like silk, and demanding silver in exchange. Wealth poured into the Chinese economy. The Chinese emperors were captivated by Europeans’ technology and scientific developments that they even advanced ideas about firearms. There was a presence of Jesuits,

Read More
1168 Words | 5 Pages

In August of 1966 the Red Guard had gotten out of hand, the widespread chaos and destruction they had caused even caught the attention of Mao. Mao had sent the Red guards on a mission to destroy “The Four Olds” , old customs, culture, habits, and ideas. In an attempt to call the nation he invited every Red Guard to  go to Beijing on public transportation free of charge. Children swarmed to the city in masses to see tiananmen square, the memorial to the fallen heroes of the revolution and Mao’s mausoleum. They crowded into the square in identical uniforms to read quotations from the Little Red Book  and to admire the massive image of Chairman Mao that had been placed on the front of the gates to the forbidden city.

Read More
785 Words | 4 Pages

Because of that, many people believed that the Great Wall of China was the largest

Read More
864 Words | 4 Pages

The Great Wall of Ancient China -Hailey Shipley More than 1 million people died while building the Great Wall of China! The Great Wall of ancient China was a huge wall that was build to keep out unwanted people (the Xiongnu). The Great Wall took many peoples lives because of the heights and suffering the people went through.

Read More
2322 Words | 10 Pages

“Let me start with a brief history of the King James Bible and why I think they are linked We know the first English translation of the bible was by John Wycliffe in 1382 and few other and much later by William Tyndale, all in all there over eight different versions we know existed prior to the King James version being published in 1611 Also we know at the same time, the most popular Bible in England was the Geneva Bible, a foreign printed version and it sold 18,000 copies to an English version called “the Great Books“ which sold less than 2,500. “Plus we know that translations by Martin Luther -a German Theologies in 1534- had led to even more English versions being printed aboard and sold in England. His English versions were popular

Read More
793 Words | 4 Pages

Ibn Battuta and Marco Polo are both known for being the world’s greatest long distance travelers, however, because of their different backgrounds it had influenced the way in which each traveler wrote about their experiences in China. This contrast is dominantly believed to have been influenced by their different religious backgrounds, and how each had viewed the world. This was ultimately is influenced by ones cultural and religious background. In this essay I will examine the different experiences that both Ibn Battuta and Marco Polo had experienced during their visits in China. Ibn Battuta, a well-educated Islamic scholar born and raised by a wealthy family in Tangier, Morocco, he had begun his journey at the age of 21.

Read More

More about Personal Narrative: The Great Wall Of South Africa

Related Topics

Open Document