<p>What would I get on this essay? What would improve my score?</p>
<p>Prompt (reworded):</p>
<p>Do you think questioning authority makes a society stronger?</p>
<p>Essay:</p>
<pre><code> Today, the United States of America allows more freedom of its citizens than any other country in the world. We are also arguable the wealthiest and the most propserous nation and many people from other countries dream of the opportunity to live in America. Not surprisingly, these two characteristics are related. By allowing its citizens freedom, the government of the United States also allows the citizens the right to question authority, which has made the country stronger in its 200-year history.
During World War II, Germany served as an example of how not allowing the questioning of authority weakened a society. Adolf Hitler was a dictator in all the definitions of the word; he controlled every aspect of Germany from the economy to the government. By not allowing freedom of any sort under his Nazi party, Hitler could not listen to the ideas of other citizens in Germany and therefore had to run the country alone. One person cannot always make correct decisions and even though Hitler covered up his mistakes with propaganda, these mistakes still had effects on Germany that caused it to lose the great war.
In the idea world created by T.H. White, King Arthur is a perfect example of someone who is the antithesis of Hitler. In The Once and Future King, King Arthur is not a dictator; instead, Arthur has many counselors and listens to his people for advice. Fortunately, Arthur’s advisors are not power-hungry, and the main advisor and good friend of Arthur, Merlin, helps Arthur become a capable king at a young age. All is well in Camelot until Merlin disappears and Guenevere is kidnapped. Without his trusted advisor, Arthur is too angry to listen to others and makes many rash decisions on his own, including the banishing of Guenevere and Lancelot. This eventually leads to Arthur’s downfall and ends the life of a legend who prospered when he listened to others, but lost his life when acting on his own.
Many societies today still punish those who question authority, not knowing that they are weakening themselves in the process. The “strength” of a society is directly proportional to the amount of freedom the authorities allow the citizens. We should be thankful that we live in a country that allows its citizens to strengthen their own country.
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