Week 8 Writing Homework
- December 8, 2024
- 3:30 pm
- 17 Comments
Prompt: Write a persuasive piece arguing whether historical districts should be transformed into startup hubs. Use the conflict over Old Delhi’s haveli to explore both the price and promise of progress. Consider how the parallel stories of past and present reveal deeper truths about urban evolution and cultural identity.
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17 thoughts on “Week 8 Writing Homework”
Should historical districts be replaced with startup hubs?
In the dilapidated streets of Old Delhi, a constant debate is still going on. As an old man sits in his small shop, with a cultural artwork on the wall, a young man is sitting in the big, newly polished building opposing him, making a powerpoint on his laptop. It’s two different worlds, both fighting for the same place.
However, things aren’t going as smoothly as that. People argue, about properties and land on the streets, fighting for each of their sides. Onlookers hide away in their homes, unable to come out. Eventually, the two cities come to a decision; they would have a debate on the next dya, to decide what would become of Old Delhi, would it stay as a historical district or, instead, become a startup hub?
The next day, in the centre of the town, they gather in the big hall. As the debate starts, Mr Thompson stands up tall, addressing the audience
“Now, everyone, do you want this place to be a waste, just with these elderly residents living here, with no use of this great land? Don’t you wish that these properties be made into proper use? That’s what me and my community could do, and make this place a splendid startup hub!”
There was a great uproar at this, a mixture of jeers, applause and approval. Then, up stood old Mr Miller.
“I know you may think it is a waste of land, but I assure you, us old residents need somewhere, somewhere familiar, where we can live till the end of our days. But you, young folk, can easily find another place that no one wants nor needs, and easily settle in. And, unfortunately for you, I don’t think this is quite the place for you and your startup hubs.”
More cheer and booing went up in the crowd, until someone from the back of the crowd stood, calling for silence.
“Silence, everybody. And listen to me and what I have to say.”
Then came a yell.
“Who are you, to tell us to listen to you? Probably just as useless as the other old man, and just as old!”
“Then, let me introduce myself. I am Mr Lopez, a resident of this town, and in fact, a relative of the founder of this town. Now, here is my idea. I would like to balance both the historical district with startup hubs. Let’s give it a try, ok?”
***
A month later, each street of the town overflowed with collaboration and happiness. The business buildings next to the newly restored historical monuments, the two communities were getting on perfectly…
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Nancy Wang – FEEDBACK
Imagine a world covered with dust and ruins from the ancient structures of history and all the pictures of the royal people colourless, dirty and ripped into shreds. Do you want to destroy all the monuments of history? Obviously not. The monuments attract many tourists as the tourists want to see the priceless artifacts inside and see the famous buildings. It also can show times of history so destroying the monuments will most probably cause the whole of history to be forgotten as one piece of history that disappears causes the whole of history to disappear. Plus, you can just make the monuments more modern on the inside so people can still see the original and see the artworks but only the fashion of the inside changes.
Primally, it provides tourists with a place to admire. The tourist will want to see the priceless artifacts that are inside the monument but when you destroy the monuments the artifacts will become damaged and dirty so it will become useless and yucky. And with more tourists it can help with the taxes as taxes are going up as the government isn’t getting enough money. But with all those people coming in, the money will help lower the taxes and the government will still be getting the same amounts of money. So don’t destroy the monuments.
Secondly, the place is a part of history. If the monuments are all destroyed history will be forgotten. Why? The monuments are part of history and if part of history is destroyed the looks will be forgotten and why the monument will be built will be forgotten and eventually the whole of history will be forgotten. And when history is forgotten the whole country will be in a mess as they don’t know how they came to be and what famous olden day people are. So don’t destroy the monuments.
Last but not least, you can make the inside more modern. You can make the inside more modern and not touch the picture, art works and outside. This can help people still remember what it was like in the olden days and famous people. When you leave the outside, the people can still see what the building looks like which won’t make people say, “What is that building?”. Also destroying the monuments cost money. Changing the inside also costs money but changing the inside will earn money in the future as the tourist will visit the monument so its a lose and earn so it’s worth it but destroying it is only lose, lose, lose.
In conclusion, we shouldn’t destroy the monuments as the monuments attract many tourists as the tourists want to see the priceless artifacts inside and see the famous buildings. It also can show times of history so destroying the monuments will most probably cause the whole of history to be forgotten as one piece of history that disappears causes the whole of history to disappear. Plus, you can just make the monuments more modern on the inside so people can still see the original and see the artworks but only the fashion of the inside changes.
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Chris Wang – FEEDBACK
Sorry, that link is wrong.
This is my real one below.
Should historical districts be replaced with startup hubs?
Conserving historical districts will save a more familiar place for older people in the town since many of them lived there when they were little. Also, it gives a chance to boost economics since the historical monuments can attract tourists to come to the town and spend money. The monuments can also be modified on the inside, which should attract more visitors. They all benefit Old Delhi as it preserves heritage, boosts economics, and combines modern with cultural heritage.
Firstly, it saves a familiar place for older people that have spent their childhood here. These elderly people are the people who have been passed down traditions and cultural practices from their ancestors. If the historical districts are conserved, these ancient traditions and cultural practices will be continued to be passed down through the future generations. By doing so, Old Delhi’s culture and traditions will continue to thrive throughout the future generations.
Furthermore, it boosts economic growth by attracting tourists into Old Delhi. Tourists will willingly spend money to come to the town to see the priceless artifacts in the historical buildings. This will boost economic growth and help people find more money. This can also raise money for renovating the interior structure and layout of the historical buildings, which will also help with boosting the economy.
Last but not least, redesigning or reshaping the historical buildings will combine cultural heritage with modern practices. It will speed up economic growth at the same time. It will also raise Old Delhi’s famousness, which will attract even more tourists. By combining the past and present, it will create a balance between heritage and modern.
In conclusion, preserving historical buildings and monuments are clearly important, but balancing both past and present could also be an acceptable alternative. Both ways boost economics, preserves the past culture, and raises the famousness of Old Delhi. In this way, old people can have a place to settle, and young people can continue their online work.
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Joshua – FEEDBACK
The war for Delhis soul by Ian Xu
Imagine travelling to India to explore its beauty and culture. And what do you want to see first? The historic Chandi Chowk, located in the heart of a beautiful place: Old Delhi. If I told you that the influence of technology took over and turned the whole of Delhi into digital startup hubs? Many people would argue in protest-in fact 9 out of 10 people like doing things traditionally. That is why I think that there is no way that we should change into digital startup hubs.
Firstly, people could lose their homes because of this. They were just simply wake up and have a nice morning, until some people knock on the door and say that their house is gonna be knocked down, leaving them homeless, with no bed or mattress to sleep on. This would increase our percentage of homelessness from 20%(our original state) to about 30%. That’s a huge impact as more than one fifth of the world is homeless.. which is crucial as there is approximately 8 billion people, making about 2 billion homeless people.
Secondly, many cultures such as Diwali or Onam, as significant as it used to be in Delhi, as they become less social because of technology taking over the world. Could just simply call on the phone to celebrate some celebrations. As well as this, Delhi isolated, unlike it used to be, with bustling streets everywhere you go. Of course, no one would like this!
Furthermore, creating more devices means using more energy, which we usually power by using coal. This releases greenhouse gas called carbon dioxide, which gets trapped in the atmosphere. The greenhouse gases will act like a sponge, Sucking up all of the heat from the sun. This trapped heat would increase the hotness of our earth, as the ice from the Arctic and the north Pole will start melting, making the sea level rise, and create more frequent natural disasters. In fact, if we keep polluting at this rate, we might have a dreading mass extension, which kills masses of humans and animals with the heat.
As well as this, relying too much on things such as digital media can lead to many negative side effects including mental health issues, motor skill issues, sleep problems and physical health issues. This would obviously lead you into a really bad state, with many problems that you have no idea how to solve.
In the last of my arguments, turning our cities into digital starter pups is it extremely bad idea, as it uses the Internet of things(IoT) to collect data. This leads to facing challenges such as privacy of users, cybersecurity, privacy and data protection. This is a very big concern as there would be freaking data leaks and hackers everywhere.
So, do you get what I mean? Turning our cities into digital start-up pubs is crucial to Delhi, as it would leave all specialties and landmarks forgotten. So in my opinion, I strongly believe that we should not change into startup hubs, leave it as it is as it is already amazing and doesn’t need any fixing.
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Ian Xu – FEEDBACK
Should historical districts be replaced with startup hubs?
In the run-down streets of old Delhi, a constant debate rages on. An old man sits in his ancestors’ shop with a cultural artwork on the wall. Next to it a newly built Apple store tests out some AI features. They are two different worlds both fighting for the same place.
Both sides want old Delhi. One side wants it because it where their ancestors grew up. The other side wants it because they want to grow in economy. The massive amount of space increases the chances of the economy becoming a big economy. Things started casual with a couple of debates but then it started to become more tense. Bigger debates started and even caused some fights. Houses were lit on fire and people were too scared to come out of their house. People experienced racism and harmful comments. Things got so tense that they had to call the mayor of the town to conduct a public debate. At 8:00 pm on the news On May 3rd, the mayor announced that a major public debate would be tomorrow at 11:00 AM in the centre of the town and everyone must attend. This was an especially targeted spot for people wanting to develop the economy as it provided plenty of space for buildings and some beachside accommodations to be made. However, there is also many cultural and historical sites here and the people fighting for old Delhi to prioritise culture and history would never let this part of the town be changed.
The mayor addressed the assembly.
“Anyone arguing to make old Delhi more economic please stand on the stage.”
A bunch of people got up and stood on the stage.
“Who would like to make the opening argument?” questioned the mayor.
Mr Charles stood forward.
“Do you want old Delhi to just be a useless old waste of land. No right? That is exactly why me and my team believe old Delhi’s should become a big economy. Old Delhi’s massive amount of space has so much potential produce a big economy.” Much better use of this land than the old hags sitting, wasting their time in these little old shops.”
There was a mixture of boos and applause. Then an old man stood up.
“Our ancestors have lived here for hundreds of years, and I had made an oath that for as long as I live, I shall never live anywhere else than old Delhi and there are more of us have made that similar oath. Mr Charles and his team, if you want to move to an economic place, please go find another land and if you want a big land find another big land but we shall not move. Old Delhi is in my blood, and I am connected to it. Nothing is shooing us of old Delhi. Nothing! Additionally, it’s not just about us not moving but it’s about old Delhi staying the way it is as it was for our ancestors hundreds of years ago. Now, you might think there is no use living like your ancestors when the worlds evolved. However, our ancestors shaped old Delhi. Our ancestors found this big land and if this is what they wanted out of old Delhi, this is what we shall do with old Delhi.”
More applause and boos came from the crowd when, the mayor stood forward.
“I have come to a conclusion,” said the mayor. “Both of you have very strong arguments however why don’t we try both. We can build museums which we will get money from when people visit and inside those museums, we can display old Delhi’s history and cultural art works.”
There was a massive applause from the crowd.
***
A couple of months later, old Delhi was one of the world’s richest economies. At the same time many people recognised old Delhi rich culture and history. Each street of the town overflowed with collaboration and happiness-the two communities were getting on perfectly…
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Aarav – FEEDBACK
Should historical districts be replace by start up hubs ?
Imagine how awful it would be if all of the historical features disappeared from the world. Not only it would decrease the number of tourism visiting these sites, but important historical facts would be forgotten. I strongly believe that historical districts should not be replaced by start up hubs. This text will tell you some reasons.
To begin with, historical features will be forgotten. Although the artefacts might be stored online, experts say that experiencing objects and people in-person is the best way. It is often more effective and there can be fewer misconceptions.
Furthermore, tourist attractions can decrease rapidly because of the demolition of some famous historical districts. For example, if the Buena vista, a little village in Miami had turned into a modern area, people are less likely to visit and see the beauty of nature there.
Finally, it can be a warm place to the elderly people. They are used to these old and more natural places. Scientists say that lots of old people prefer to stay in places that are familiar to them.
In conclusion, in my opinion, people should not change the historical districts into modern start up hubs. Although the modern technology and development of tech hubs could improve our lives, it can destroy historical sites that we love if development is not well planned.
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Alessia Li – FEEDBACK
hw
wk 8 scholarship writing hw
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Jess Zhang – FEEDBACK
Should Historical Districts Become Startup Hubs?
In cities around the world, there are old places filled with history and culture. Old Delhi, with its narrow streets and ancient houses called havelis, is one of these places. But today, there is a big question: Should these old districts be turned into spaces for new businesses and startups, or should we keep them just as they are? To answer this, let’s look at both the benefits and challenges of changing old areas like Old Delhi.
Old places are important because they help us remember the past. The buildings, the streets, and the people’s way of life tell stories that are part of a city’s history. For example, in Old Delhi, the havelis have been around for centuries, and they remind people of the culture and traditions of the past. Preserving these places is like keeping a treasure safe for future generations. But on the other hand, new ideas and businesses help cities grow. Startups, which are small new businesses, bring new jobs, technology, and excitement to a city. If we turn some of these old areas into places where new businesses can grow, it could help the city move forward. These new businesses could work in the old buildings and give them a fresh purpose. The challenge is that mixing old and new ideas might change the way the place feels. Could the history of Old Delhi be lost if it becomes too modern? Would it still feel like the same place if startups take over?
Preserving old places is important because it helps us keep our cultural identity. When people visit Old Delhi, they are not just seeing old buildings—they are also experiencing the traditions and lifestyle that have been passed down through generations. If these buildings were changed too much, they might lose their original meaning, and the city might forget some of its history. On the other hand, change can also be good. Sometimes, old areas need to be updated to keep up with the times. New businesses and developments can bring energy to a place, but we have to be careful not to change it too much. If too much is altered, the place might lose what made it special in the first place.
Maybe the solution isn’t to choose between keeping things the same or changing everything. Instead, we could find a way to adapt the old buildings while still respecting their history. For example, we could turn a havelis into a modern office for a startup but still keep the original walls and decorations. This way, people can enjoy both the old and the new. By finding a balance, we can keep the spirit of the place while also allowing it to grow and change. People can work in modern spaces but still be surrounded by the history and culture of the area. This kind of solution allows a city to grow without losing its heart.
In the end, turning old districts into startup hubs doesn’t have to mean losing the past. If we carefully plan how to mix the old with the new, we can keep the history alive while also helping the city move forward. The key is to find a way to respect the traditions and culture of the area, while also allowing it to evolve and adapt to modern needs.
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Jayden Li – FEEDBACK