The greatness of individuals can be decided only by those who live after them, not by their contemporaries.Write a response in which you discuss the extent to which you agree or disagree with the statement and explain your reasoning for the position you t

According to the greatness of individuals, is it merely defined by those who live after them rather than their contemporaries? The speaker offers a partial argument. Some people’s greatness is recognizable in their contemporaries, such as some politicians and physiologists. Some others’ greatness is acknowledged in the later generations, especially the artists, while the rest may be tested by both of their contemporaries and the later generations.

For starters, it is true that the greatness of some celebrities has only been decided by those who live after them. It holds for the realm of art, some artists’ radical and subversive styles of the art works may be seen as master pieces by people live in the later generations while regarded as something abnormal and contrary to the mainstream during that period by their contemporaries. One paradigm is Claude Monet, who is the creator of impressionism. In his age, the academism is the main stream of art, which is dogmatic and stark without any colour. Claude Monet abnegated this popular painting style and broke the tradition and created a new style characterized with colour and light, which was disdained by his contemporaries. On the contrast, Monet and his painting style has been recognized in the later generations. Van Gogh, the one who questioned Monet’s style by creating post-impressionism on the feature of Monet’s works and added his personal feeling and emotion to the paintings, was also not accepted in his contemporary. As a result, he lived austerely in his whole life and merely sold out one picture. However, he has been considered as the most outstanding painter after he died.

However, we should avoid carrying the statement to the extreme. With regard to some certain areas where the success of individuals can be confirmed immediately, the greatness of those celebrities can be recognized by their contemporaries. The physiology and political areas are both representative of this kind of situation. As for the physiologists, Tu Youyou, the one who discovered artemisinin to treat malaria, can be taken as a good example. She was soon regarded as a heroine after her discoveries being covered and became the laureate of the Nobel Prize for her greatness. As for the politicians, their success has generally been recognized in their age, such as F.D. Roosevelt, the one who implemented the New Deal which brought dramatic economical profits for America during the Great Depression period. Both of the aforementioned two people are respected for their greatness in their ages.

In addition, in the business areas, some tycoons’ great achievements, which may dramatically change people’s lives, are generally acknowledged by both their contemporaries and the later generations. For instance, Steve jobs, the CEO of the Apple company, is considered as the most splendid business man in the contemporary for his breakthrough in smart phones, although he passed away in 2011, he will be remembered forever. Henry Ford invented assembly-line approach to manufacturing affordable cars for the masses and was immediately recognized in his age. Till now, in every field all over the world, it utilizes assembly-line way to manufacture all the products. Even Ford could not have predicted the impact his innovations would have on the American economy and on the modern world. Hence, in the business area where the innovations may have deep and long-term effects, the achievements of individuals can not only be recognized in the contemporary, but also in the next hundreds of years.

To sum up, the statement has raised some valid points under some scenarios, while it is too extreme and neglect the possibilities in other areas.