brett’s introduction

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Humankind craves the accessibility and spectacle of violence in their lives.  Whether that is from Ancient Mesopotamian creation stories to the modern American football, savagery is no stranger to our society.  Even the magnificent  empire of Ancient Rome is not exempt from this law of humanity.  Gladiatorial events speckled the Roman empire from boundary to boundary, engaging the entire population in a spectacle  that glorified bloodshed and fed the human hunger for sadism.  Slaves, war prisoners, and others who defied the empire were plucked from around the empire and were taught to be warriors whose sole purpose was to entertain with the masses under the prospect of their deaths.  The gladiatorial games were Rome’s outlet to satisfy the natural human craving for violence, as an almost universal bloodlust created a spectacle that glorified bloodshed but in turn stripped people of their identities and status as human beings in the name of entertainment.

1 thought on “brett’s introduction”

  1. Disbelieving?
    “Even the magnificent empire of Ancient Rome is not exempt from this law of humanity”
    This feels like a very broad statement that you only back up with two examples (football and Mesopotamian origin stories), I think if you change your wording it won’t be quite as overarching a statement.

    Awkward
    Various parts throughout paragraph
    There are multiple times when the word choice doesn’t quite work. Prepositions and things like “warriors whose sole purpose was to entertain with the masses under the prospect of their deaths.” sound a bit off. Try just reading it out loud and noting which parts don’t sound right.

    Impressed
    Word choice throughout
    I really like your word choice in this paragraph. There’s lots of varied vocabulary that works well. Connecting the gladiators with sadism casts it in an interesting light compared to explaining it as a form of entertainment. I think this is a good start in terms of a hook, the only thing that I think might be missing from this would be a bit more of a road map for where the paper is go in terms of the evidence you’ll use.

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