Unit 1: Project Builder 2

            The genre historical documentary shown by “The Prequel” by Nicholas D. Kristof aims to raise historical awareness, educate, and spark controversial dichotomy among the audiences. The document raised eminent comparison between the infamous Christopher Columbus, Zheng He, as well as Vasco Da Gama of Portugal. As a result, with the bulk of information provided by the author, readers will be able to draw their own conclusions, comparison, and analysis within this subject matter. Moreover, “The Prequel” might also be able to raise awareness on subjects that are often overlooked or ignored – this text is one of the many modern history-related texts that encouraged everyone to acknowledge Zheng He, and give less praise for Christopher Columbus.

Historical documentaries including “The Prequel” contains an academic tone, one that makes the readers feel the intensity as well as being able to believe that the mentioned historical facts and analysis are credible and worth believing. “As a resident of Asia for most of the past thirteen years, I’ve been searching for an explanation. It has always seemed to me that the turning point came in the early 1400s, when Admiral Zheng He sailed from China to conquer the world.” Here, the author provided a slight of his background information in order to enhance credibility. He stated that he was a resident of Asia, intending for the readers to assume that he is an expert in Zheng He and Asia-related History. Even with such an exaggerated statement like “Admiral Zheng He sailed from China to conquer the world”, this statement is deemed credible because the author subtly mentioned that he is an expert in this field. Just like the historical video documentaries, each guest speakers are subject to a line or two of texts that introduces the speaker’s background; for example “Professor Jackson Warkentin from University of California, Santa Barbara, specializes in East Asian studies.” With this, even before the professor started talking, viewers already unconsciously realized that this speaker is more knowledgeable than they are, and whatever they say will be credible.

Many people will find history mundane, and therefore each historical-related texts will include some unique elements that aims to hook the reader’s attention. For example, in “The Prequel” Kristof mentioned the phenomenon of giraffes according to the Chinese people in the 1400s. “Every time I heard the story about the giraffes my pulse began to race. Chinese records indicate that Zheng He had brought the first giraffes to China… The giraffe caused an enormous stir in China because it was believed to be the mythical qilin, or Chinese unicorn.” The author immediately hooked his readers by mentioning how his pulse began to race whenever he hears about the story that he’s about to tell. After successfully grasping the reader’s attention, the author then cleverly threw in an interesting fact that Zheng He had brought the first giraffes to China, and at the same time presenting the fact in a way that it is credible. The author then inserted mythology within the text as a wow factor – at this point all the readers are amazed by this new unknown fact. After reading about giraffes, the readers might wonder where did Zheng He receive the giraffes? Throwing in fun facts like these could not only entertain the readers, but also allowed them to analyze deeper asking themselves how? Why? And so what? (which are all important questions in history.

Towards the end of the text, the author invites his audiences on a journey filled with “what ifs?” In doing so, the readers will think about this texts beyond what they read, a technique that proves to be thought provoking, and very influential. “If ancient China had been greedier and more outward-looking, if other traders had followed in Zheng He’s wake and then continued on, Asia might well have dominated Africa and even Europe.” This is one of the moments where history could have went in many other directions, which will of course have an impact on the present. Rhetorical techniques like these not only make the readers believe what they read, but also convince them that history as a whole offers much more than what people usually think.