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No. 16
Think carefully about the issue presented in the following excerpt and the assignment below.
All people who have achieved greatness in something knew that they excelled at. These people identified the skills that made them special–good judgment, or courage, or a special artistic or literary talent — and focused on developing these skills. Yet most people achieve superiority in nothing because the fail to identify and develop their greatest attribute.
Adapted from Baltasar Gracián y Morales, “The Art of Worldly Wisdom”
Assignment: Do people achieve greatness only by finding out what they are especially good at and developing that attribute above all else? Plan and write an essay in which you develop your point of view on this issue. Support your position with reasoning and examples taken from your reading, studies, experience, or observations.
No. 17
Think carefully about the issue presented in the following excerpt and the assignment below.
Having many admirers is one way to become a celebrity, but it is not the way to become a hero. Heroes are self-made. Yet in our daily lives we see no difference between “celebrities” and “heroes.” For this reason, we deprive ourselves of real role models. We should admire heroes — people who are famous because they are great — but not celebrities — people who simply seem great because they are famous.
Adapted from Daniel Boorstin, “The Image: A Guide to Pseudo-Events in America”
Assignment: Should we admire heroes but not celebrities? Plan and write an essay in which you develop your point of view on this issue. Support your position with reasoning and examples taken from your reading, studies, experience, or observations.
No. 18
Think carefully about the issue presented in the following excerpt and the assignment below.
It is better to try to be original than to merely imitate others. People should always try to say, write, think, or create something new. There is little value in merely repeating what has been done before. People who merely copy or use the ideas and inventions of others, no matter how successful they may be, have never achieved anything significant.
Assignment: Is it always better to be original than to imitate or use the ideas of others? Plan and write an essay in which you develop your point of view on this issue. Support your position with reasoning and examples taken from your reading, studies, experience, or observations.
No. 19
Think carefully about the issue presented in the following excerpt and the assignment below.
Often we see people who persist in trying to achieve a particular goal, even when all the evidence indicates that they will be unlikely to achieve it. When they succeed, we consider them courageous for having overcome impossible obstacles. But when they fail, we think of them as headstrong, foolhardy, and bent on self-destruction. To many people, great effort is only worthwhile when it results in success.
Adapted from Gilbert Brim, “Ambition”
Assignment: Is the effort involved in pusuing any goal valuable, even if the goal is not reached? Plan and write an essay in which you develop your point of view on this issue. Support your position with reasoning and examples taken from your reading, studies, experience, or observations.
adj. 頑固的，剛愎的，任性的
