This was a letter I wrote to my instructor last semester for History 395: 1920s in Europe. Forgive any strange wording, it was a translated draft that I wrote a while ago.

Dear Instructor Scaglia,

I am writing to you just as an informal way of expressing my thoughts. I have a class before yours and I can never make it to office hours, and you have been holding conferences [for papers] lately. I wanted to let you know that I was very impressed by the readings this week. The section by Falasca-Zamponi was really interesting. What I was most impressed by was Mussolini's attention to detail and minutia that built up to this great vision of Fascist Italy. From mannerisms to the specifics of the imagery placed on coins. His idea of a strong body really transcended into the ideals and visions he had for a strong state. The aspect that really interested me was how he saw the Bourgeoisie as fat and living lives of leisure and comfort. I have spoken to you before about how I see the body of an individual as almost a parallel to the state of a population as a whole. More and more, from the readings in your class, I have noticed that forms of government and thought have crossed over into the realms of biology. In the "Sparticist Manifesto," one of the most striking statements I found was, "Germany is pregnant with the social revolution, Socialism can only be realized by the proletariat of the world." Remarks like this are throughout this text and it has provoked me to think that perhaps there are bigger reasons for such analogies and imagery. Perhaps the reason why these analogies work and have come to power is because one can relate so well to the health of their bodies.

One of the very profound things I felt when I was reading Falasca-Zamponi's text was this sense of imagery. I could almost imagine the state of Italy at the time. These ideologies want to become closer to the empathy of man and maybe the closest we can get is in terms of ourselves. The visions of Mussolini are transcribed into rich imagery found in this party he built. Both art and science are part of my interests and although might be frowned upon, but I felt an admiration for such a succinct plan put into action. However, what perplexes me the most is how such aesthetic could be used in a negative way. The body itself is a piece of art, but I guess for me, I also see it as indicative of our own history. How one chooses to deal with our health, our own methods of conducting life are much like our own physiological systems. I hope that you will make comments on what I have written because I would like to explore more of these topics in detail. Thank you.

- Christina