Post-Writing: Claim and Focus Sample Essay
WORLD HISTORY PROJECTORIGINS/ LESSON 3.1ACTIVITYCLAIM AND FOCUS: SAMPLE ESSAYUnless otherwise noted, this work is licensed under CC BY 4.0. Credit: “Claim and Focus: Sample Essay”, OER Project, https://www.oerproject.com/1Farming vs. Foraging Sample EssayPrompt: Was farming an improvement over foraging for early humans?Although farming allowed human beings to develop into what we have today, it is not without its serious drawbacks.Agriculture allowed for a reliable food source while hunting and gathering led to limited collective learning. Reilly states, “the possibility of a more creative, expressive life was available in the protected, semipermanent city” (Doc 4). Large cities needed new technologies for farming and for building structures. The security afforded by walls and people allowed for jobs outside of farming such as traders and craftsmen, an important step in the development of human culture and society. While Brad deLong discussed the drawbacks of farming on human health and society he also proposed that the growth in human population was very important.We would not have civilizations without agriculture. Settlements required ingenuity and structure to create and maintain. These societies allowed for more people to invent and create. David Kaplan states “It is during the three lean months of the year thatthe San life approaches the precarious conditions that have come to be associated with the hunting and gatheringway of life.” (Doc 3). Constant or at least extended food scarcity contributes to malnutrition. A nomadic lifestyle also does not allow for large populations.There were many drawbacks to the introduction of farming. Harari, author of the book Sapiens, details some of the negative health impacts of farming on the human body. Farming was backbreaking labor and needed far more energy and time to create a viable source of food than hunting and gathering did. This effort often came at the expense of people’s well-being and led to a shift to sedentary life. Political scientist James Scott discussed “So the early agricultural societies created the basis for systematicclass distinctions that could be [passed down] between generations,”. Scott argued that the advent of agriculture resultedin the injustices we have today. Scott is a political scientist, meaning that he would not be focusing on human health and development but on the drawbacks of early human society and the way it has affected humanity politically. Scott is not an expert on early human development, his perspective is from the outside looking in. Anthropologist Sahlins studied hunting and gathering societies in Australia and Africa and learned “each adult workerworked about two and a half days weekly” which left plenty of time for recreational activities. Typically, more days of rest allows for better well-being. A group of researchers in the Philippines discovered that women were extra affected by farming. Womenhad to contend with
WORLD HISTORY PROJECT ORIGINS/ LESSON 3.1ACTIVITYCLAIM AND FOCUS: SAMPLE ESSAY2both domestic chores and work in the fields. This connects back to Scott’s discussion on how farming created societal inequalities and it seems especially true for women.The advent of farming had many impacts on all aspects of humanity. Society would not be where it is today without it.