REGINALDO, Myka Anabella B.

GERPH01X

DEN204 Mr. Florencio Jr. N. Embalsado

Answer the following essay questions based on your understanding of our topic discussed in
Class.

1. Why is there history?

History plays an essential role on our very existence. It helps us understand the world we
are living in and create a basis of how we would live life in the present. It builds a framework in
which we would opt to envision our future. The very purpose of history is to provide us with
knowledge of our origin or of cultures that we may be less familiar with, thus, creating in us a
sense of awareness and self-identity.

2. What causes a historical event to happen?

Things do not simply happen without any underlying reasons. A historical event takes
place because of a series of events that led to it. Some of them may occur immediately (eg. a
presidential election), while some may exist for a long period of time (eg. an invasion that led to
a historic revolution). These cause and effect creates a pattern that leads to cultural awareness.

3. Do you believe that history repeats itself? Why or Why not?

I do believe in this notion given the fact that history has a cause and effect modality.
George Santayana, a writer and philosopher, once said that, "Those who cannot remember the
past are condemned to repeat it." The role of history is for us to learn how events turned out in
the past so we can direct our present to our desired future. However, in some instances, people
tend not to learn from insights from our past, making us repeat failures that we've had before. A
really good example is our failure in politics. We have already learned how traditional politicians
work in the past, but we tend to elect the same type of officials. This then, leads us to a vicious
cycle of corruption, false promises, and dishonesty.