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About this sample
About this sample
Words: 1257 |
Pages: 3|
7 min read
Published: Mar 3, 2020
Words: 1257|Pages: 3|7 min read
Published: Mar 3, 2020
The essay explores the book "Sugar Changed the World" by Marc Aronson and Marina Budhos. The authors' purpose is to inform readers about the historical significance of sugar and its impact on both families and pivotal events. They begin by sharing their personal connections to sugar, emphasizing how it's intertwined with their family histories.
The essay highlights how sugar played a crucial role in history, from the ancient mention of sugar cane in China to its involvement in important historical events like the British Parliament imposing a sugar tax, which contributed to colonial unrest.
Furthermore, the essay touches upon the conflicting viewpoints presented in the book, with one perspective portraying the harsh realities of sugar production, including the brutal conditions of enslaved labor, while another viewpoint from a video depicts sugar farming as a heritage and a source of pride for some.
The authors, Marc Aronson and Marina Budhos purpose for writing, Sugar Changed the World is to inform readers how sugar was tied into families and many primary events in history. “Sugar Changed the World” was an informative text that shows how sugar got passed around and may even be tied into your life. The authors had dealt with many conflicting viewpoints throughout their book and handled them by providing data from previous times in history to show the truth behind what happened with sugar. For example, in the video, “Louisiana Sugar Farmer” it talks about how sugar farming is in their bloods and they enjoy it. While in the book the authors talks about the blood and sweat behind the farming of the tasty substance. Although the authors of, “Sugar Changed the World” had a neutral explanation for conflicting viewpoints in their own book, such as page 43 and how it displays a drawing with an overseer watching over them so they would not make any mistakes. Sugar for instance had a impact on family heritage and history although there are many different sides to the story, some good others bad.
First off in, Sugar Changed the World the authors talk about the reason why they decided to write the informative book. It states, “It was a typically hot day, dry day in Jerusalem. Marine and I were sitting on a sun-warmed stone patio when I learned my family’s sugar story. ” page one, paragraph one. This is the start to showing how sugar was important in many ways either in history or in families around the world. Marc Aronson and Marina Budhos, the authors told how sugar was intertwined in their families and shows what sugar did to their families. On page 2, Marc’s section it states, “As a result, their rivals were desperate to find a new way to create sugar. They turned to beets. “This piece of text evidence is representing how Marc Aronson’s family had a rivalry and they needed a new way to make a sweet substance.
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So Nina, Marc’s cousin, had a grandfather who invented a machine that could turn the raw beets into a sweet substance. This invention provided Nina’s grandfather with his freedom and became a rich man who married his daughter to a noble. Marc’s family had a bittersweet experience with sugar because they started off as slaves but then ended up being very wealthy people. On the other hand Marina also lived a bittersweet life. In the text she states, “Ever since I was a little girl, I had heard about our house Guyana. It was beautiful: a long white box with a series of windows, each shaded by delicate lattice shutters. “(page 3)This house shows the time in between her family moving to British Guiana to work on the sugar plantations and their life in India. Marina’s parents used to live in India and moved to British Guiana for a better life. Her father later on becomes in charge of the church from all of his successes. He decided to marry his children off to Christian. Soon the whole family was moving up and up and increasing social status. In the end Marina visited the home described and it was long gone but she understood and was still excited to learn her sugar story. The authors are two major examples that can show how sugar was included in families in unexpected ways.
Next in this text the others shows the ways sugar made its impacts into important times in history. In “Sugar Changed the World” there are many times where sugar was apart of important dates that even you might not have known. One the timeline on page 134 it shows all of the important times sugar was in history. The timeline says, 286 B. C. – first mention of sugar cane in china. “It also states on page 73, “The British Parliament had placed a tax on sugar without giving the North Americans any voice in the matter, and the colonist were angry. “The sentence shows how sugar was once given a tax and how people started to rebel because of it by, “rolling barrels off ships” (73)Sugar was also had a major impact on slavery. Slaves would work all day to cut the cane and produce the sweet substance or sugar. Pages 42-55 include vast amounts of pictures showing what slaves did on the farms. These pictures consisted of men, women, and even young children working on the fields doing harvesting, planting, sugar grinding, and steamy boiling. Without slaves there would be no sugar, believed many and on page 32 it states, “Thus, sugar drove 900,000 people into slavery. “This amount of people is only 100,000 off of a million, which is absolutely insane. Sugar was also involved with Christopher Columbus, an explorer. Part Two, Hell, in paragraph two says, “The plants that Columbus brought with him to the island he called Hispaniola flourished. “Columbus helped sugar go all around the world by just bringing in a few plants to try out in this newfoundland. Seeing the people once learned before be included in sugar just has readers wanting to engulf themselves in this shocking information. The author’s way of showing sugars ways of importance in history was an important attribute to their book.
Lastly Marc Aronson and Marina Budhos had conflicting ideas with the outlook on sugar. In “Sugar Changed the World” showed the blood and sweat put into the sugar cane and how it was a monstrous thing. But in the video, “Louisiana Sugar Farmer” it shows that they grew up with sugar in their blood and they enjoyed the farming. While different people have different experiences with sugar the book and the video are two complete opposite point of views. In “Sugar Changed the World” it states, “The millions of Africans taken to work in the sugar were not taught to read and write. They were not meant to speak, but to work. ” (35)On the other hand in the video Mr. Blanchard states, “I got sugar in my blood. “This refers to how he has grown up with it and how he enjoy working the sugar cane farms. Nowadays many people decide rather they want to work these farm or not, while back then people were forced into the brutal labor. These two different ways of showing sugar plantation farming shows how different people have different experiences. This video is a conflicting viewpoint to the book, “Sugar Changed the World”. The authors decided to take the informative route while the Blanchard family took the opinionated route. The authors handle the conflict in a very subtle way by details.
Marc Aronson and Marina Budhos gave an informative text on sugar and its way around history and in some heritages. Although they ended up with some conflicting viewpoints they gave facts from the past not the present. The authors book, “Sugar Changed the World” is an informative text informing us on the way sugar impacted society then and now. Videos such as, “Louisiana Sugar Farmers” are conflicting to the idea of farming in the past. Videos and texts like newer ones show slavery wasn’t as bad as it actually. The dark side of sugar was slavery and the slaves’ work was a brutal form of work. Work today is nothing compared to a slaves work back then. The authors give good evidence and provide a solid way of sugar and shows how it is involved in history and maybe even your life.
In “Sugar Changed the World” Marc Aronson and Marina Budhos present the history of sugar from ancient times to the present. Through this timeline, the authors convey the central idea that sugar has influenced the world in both positive and negative ways. The author develop this idea through a description of the process for refining sugar and details about the slaves’ role in that process. This shows the reader the terrible, life-threatening conditions the slaves were forced to work in, and the tedious, dangerous process required to refine sugar. The authors also include a portrait gallery to support the reader in visualizing these conditions and the process. The author describe the unjust relationship between the overseer and master and the slaves, including the methods an overseer or master used to punish slaves and make slaves fear them. This idea relates to the central idea because it provides more details for how sugar negatively impacted the world.
Sugar has influenced the world in a positive way to. The author develop feeling of freedom by historical figures and documents. The historical figures are throughout the story. On most of the pages it shows pictures of slaves doing hard labor. Not all was hell but most of it. To keep the slaves from giving up hope and losing faith on page 54 the text states “Africans invented music, dances, and songs that carry on the pulse, the beat, of their lives.” From what I have read and watched not all slave owners were ruthless and horrible, some of them actually treated their slaves like family. In the movie “Uncle Tom’s Cabin” he was with a family that treated him as if he was a white man, when he was on his way to go get sold a nice man bought him on the boat. This shows that not all slavery was as bad as you think. This idea relates to the central idea because it provides more details on how sugar positively impacted the world.
In the story it said “Ancient people used sugar as a spice to hide rotting meat.” Evidence is “Anyone who could afford sugar at the time could also afford fresh meat. The use of sugar would not have covered the small and taste of rotting meat.” The slaves had much to do. They had a specific way they had to do it plus you couldn’t stop until you were finished. It’s kinda like kids and teachers but the teeacher is the boss of kids and the principal is the boss of both. The kids help the teacher to keep there job and the teacher and the kid helps the principal keep there job. We have to do things for the teacher as a slave would have to do for there owner except a whole different way. The only thing that is the same is that we don’t have a choice. It’s either we go to school or parents go to court and then to jail.
The story about ‘How Sugar Changed the World” is about the good and bad in the time. The slaves did live a hard life and if you were lucky you lived an easy life. It all depends on the owner. When slaves didn’t work they got whipped like children except more painfull. The slaves were being sold all the time unless you were a hard worker. Most slaves risked everything and just decided to run away. Some got caught but most didn’t, instead they ran off to a country where they would be free again.
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