I’ve just begun to practice writing essays, so I haven’t gotten to timing them yet. However, for some reasons, the word counts of all the essays I have written seem to clock at about 700. There is no way I could have finished them in time in the actual test. I’ll be really grateful if anyone can help me cut down the length and may be give me some tips on how to write shorter ones, as I could only find tips how how to extend the length after a quick search on the internet. I will post some of my essays in the comment section below.
- Do society and other people benefit when individuals pursue their own goals? (Word count: 672)
Mahatma Gandhi once said: “Be the change that you wish to see in the world.” From before the dawn of human civilization, illustrious individuals have become the instrument of society’s progress by chasing after their own dreams and idealism. This concept has been well-illustrated throughout history and discussed extensively by philosophers of all time.
One classic example of the notion that pursuing one’s own goal also benefits other people in history is the tale behind the conceptualization of the theory of Natural Selection. The story started in 1831 when one young insignificant naturalist with the name of Charles Darwin set forth on his second journey to find himself on the HMS Beagle. During his travel, despite the many obstacles such as the nasty tropical weather, diseases, and shortage of every commodity known to the civilized Western man at the time - food, fresh water, lemons, and friendship, the young idealist had never once given up on his dream of self-realization and persevered. His efforts were rewarded on one dark and stormy night, which was in the midst of such a severe food shortage that Darwin was forced to feed on one of his specimens, the idea of Natural Selection came to him like a lightning strike. In 1836, the Charles Darwin that came back to England was a changed man from the doctor’s son that left it 5 years ago: he had found his vocation. By his logical arguments, compelling evidences and sheer force of will, Charles Darwin first changed the world views of his friends and colleagues - Thomas Huxley, Joseph Hooker, and Asa Gray, all of whom were vehemently against the concept of the transmutation of species, and then finally revolutionized the world forever with his masterpiece “On the Origin of Species.” By pursuing his own self-interest, Charles Darwin brought about necessary changes to society, enabling the Scientific and Industrial Evolution that shaped the modern world to happen.
An explanation for the prospect that society also gains from individuals’ actions from a philosophical point of view was put forth by Friedrich Nietzsche in his book “Thus Spoke Zarathustra”. In the book, Nietsche, through his idealized author avatar Zarathustra, ties the death of Gods to the creation of an Ubermensch, or Overman, and posits that the Ubermensch be the goal humanity set for itself instead of the Last Man of the egalitarian modern system. When Nietzsche says God is dead, what he means is that our entire concept of “God” as an all-powerful, all-knowing, morally good being is dead, and along with the death of god comes the death of traditional values of society. “Gods, too, decompose. God is dead. God remains dead. And we have killed him.” In an increasingly materialistic world where science and money have become the new ascetic faith, where humanity has traded God for science, where science now occupies the throne on which God used to sit, the pervasive threat of nihilism hangs above our heads like the sword of Damocles, because science by itself does not ascribe any meaning to life. It provides the how, not the why. For Nietzsche, the Ubermensch, one of the most famous models for the archetype of which is, ironically, Jesus Christ, represents the creation of the new values out of love for life – the solution to the death of God and nihilism. By the Ubermensch’s Will to Power – the power to self-overcome, he shakes off the shackles that were forced upon him by both the traditional values of society and his own inherent nihilism to rise above himself, becoming the instrument for the ultimate affirmation of life. To Nietzsche, only by overcoming the struggle of life and achieving his own goal can one hope to change the world around him.
As the previous historical example and philosophical argument have shown, against all odds, by striving for self-improvement, humanity has designated for itself the meaning of life, creating hope for an idealized future. In the words of Nietzsche: “Must we ourselves not become gods simply to appear worthy of it?”
- Is it better for people to stop trying when they feel certain they will not succeed? (Word count: 746)
There is an old adage that says: “If you fail, try and try again.” From before the dawn of human civilization, illustrious individuals have become the instrument of society’s pivotal advances by not stopping when they should have, chasing tirelessly after their dreams and idealisms. This concept has been well-illustrated both throughout history and in fictional work.
One classic example of this notion in history is story of the Galileo Galilei. In the 16th century, the theory of Heliocentrism came to the polymath Copernicus and was published posthumously in fear of retribution from the Church. As was expected by Copernicus himself, the theory was rejected by both the public and the Roman Catholic Church at the time in favour of either the traditional Aristotlean geocentric model or Tycho’s needlessly-complicated geoheliocentric one. It was not until the early 17th century that someone who is brave enough to go head to head against the infamous Spanish Inquisition to defend Heliocentrism appeared. His name is Galileo Galilei. With his open support of the heliocentric model in his writing that was rapidly gaining popularity among the nobles, he was court-martialed by the Inquisition, found guilty and had his work consequentially banned. Nevertheless, against the verdict of the Church’s kangaroo court, right after the trial, he started to write the famed “Dialogue concerning the two chief world systems”, in which he, once again, openly attacked geocentrism and Church’s indoctrinations. As a direct consequence, Galileo was put on trial once more and found “vehemently suspect of heresy”. He was put on house arrest for the rest of his life. While a normal person would have given up on his plight by then, Galileo did not. He went on writing several books on Physics, trying to convert people to his cause and invented the Scientific Method, making him the Father of Modern Science. While his contribution to the world before then was, by and large, not insignificant, it was his work while under house arrest that helped revolutionize how people do science, how people think. He had revolutionized the world. By not giving up when he should have, Galileo had become one of the most vital conductors of light to the twin symphonies that were the Scientific and Industrial Revolution. “And yet, it moves”, indeed.
An old idea refurbished, the Japanese comic named Naruto by the author Masashi Kishimoto reinforces the theme of “never give up” in the minds of its many young readers. Born in a war-torn ninja village as the vessel to the dreaded demon Kyuubi, Naruto, our protagonist, grew up the village pariah and hated by everyone, everyone except for his rival in public and best friend in secret, Uchiha Sasuke – the only survivor of the Uchiha massacre. As they, the child soldiers, grew up fighting both enemy ninjas and the worst enemy of them all – loneliness, together, Naruto, who initially hated the village, learned how to forgive, learned how to make friends and he decided to love it because it was the home of his “precious people”. In contrast, Sasuke grew cold due to isolation and repeated trauma piled upon him by his previously most important person – his brother Itachi, the perpetrator of the Uchiha massacre. He was consumed by hatred and a thirst for revenge, which later drive him to abandon the village and his friend in search for power by trying to severe his one and only tie to humanity at the time – Naruto. Despite the betrayal, Naruto persevered and had never once given up on Sasuke, even when Sasuke was at his lowest and gave up on himself. Through many obstacles and trials in the form of everyone else’s inhibition towards Naruto’s vision of Sasuke’s return, the village’s dark secrets, the true mastermind behind the Uchiha massacre, an assimilation plot, two Eldritch abominations and the Big Bad that was Sasuke’s broken state of mind, the friends reunited and understanding was reached once more. Together, they took the dystopian world by storm and changed it for the better. By never once giving up on his friend and idealism, the protagonist had made the impossible possible.
As the previous historical and fictional examples above have indicated, by keep trying despite all odds, humanity has strived for the better and created the wondrous miracle that is the modern civilization. In the words of Vaclav Havel: “Hope is not the conviction that something will turn out well, but the certainty that something makes sense, regardless of how it turns out.”
- Does progress depend on the people with new ideas rather than on people whose ideas are based on the traditional way of doing things? (Word count: 716)
Nietzsche once said: “Gods, too, decompose. God is dead. God remains dead. And we have killed him.” From before the dawn of human civilization, illustrious individuals with new ideas have become the instruments of society’s pivotal advances. This concept has been well-illustrated throughout history and discussed extensively by philosophers of all times.
One classic example of the notion that progress is made by creative individuals is the story of Galileo Galilei. In the 16th century, the theory of Heliocentrism came to the polymath Copernicus and was published posthumously in fear of retribution from the Church. As was expected by Copernicus himself, the theory was rejected by both the public and the Roman Catholic Church at the time in favour of either the traditional Aristotlean geocentric model or Tycho’s needlessly-complicated geoheliocentric one. It was not until the early 17th century that someone who is brave enough to go head to head against the infamous Spanish Inquisition to defend Heliocentrism appeared. His name is Galileo Galilei. With his open support of the heliocentric model in his writing that was rapidly gaining popularity among the nobles, he was court-martialed by the Inquisition, found guilty and had his work consequentially banned. Nevertheless, against the verdict of the Church’s kangaroo court, right after the trial, he started to write the famed “Dialogue concerning the two chief world systems”, in which he, once again, openly attacked geocentrism and Church’s indoctrinations. As a direct consequence, Galileo was put on trial once more and found “vehemently suspect of heresy”. He was put on house arrest for the rest of his life. While a normal person would have given up on his plight by then, Galileo did not. He went on writing several books on Physics, trying to convert people to his cause and invented the Scientific Method, making him the Father of Modern Science. While his contribution to the world before then was, by and large, not insignificant, it was his work while under house arrest that helped revolutionize how people do science, how people think. He had revolutionized the world. By daring to go against tradition and persevere with his own idealism, Galileo had become one of the most vital conductors of light to the twin symphonies that were the Scientific and Industrial Revolution. “And yet, it moves”, indeed.
An explanation for the prospect that society can only advance because of the efforts of creative people from a philosophical point of view was put forth by Friedrich Nietzsche in his book “Thus Spoke Zarathustra”. In the book, Nietsche, through his idealized author avatar Zarathustra, ties the death of Gods to the creation of an Ubermensch, or Overman, and posits that the Ubermensch be the goal humanity set for itself instead of the Last Man of the egalitarian modern system. When Nietzsche says God is dead, what he means is that our entire concept of “God” as an all-powerful, all-knowing, morally good being is dead, and along with the death of god comes the death of traditional values of society. In an increasingly materialistic world where science and money have become the new ascetic faith, where humanity has traded God for science, where science now occupies the throne on which God used to sit, the pervasive threat of nihilism hangs above our heads like the sword of Damocles, because science by itself does not ascribe any meaning to life. It provides the how, not the why. For Nietzsche, the Ubermensch, one of the most famous models for the archetype of which is, ironically, Jesus Christ, represents the creation of the new values out of love for life – the solution to the death of God and nihilism. By the Ubermensch’s Will to Power – the power to self-overcome, he shakes off the shackles that were forced upon him by both the traditional values of society and his own inherent nihilism to rise above himself, becoming the instrument for the ultimate affirmation of life. To Nietzsche, only by creating one’s own values and ideas can he hope to change the world around him.
As the previous historical example and philosophical argument have shown, with new ideas and creativity, humanity has strived for the better and never once stopped moving forward. In the words of Nietzsche himself: “Must we not become gods simply to appear worthy of it?”
- Do memories hinder or help people in their effort to learn from the past and succeed in the present? (Word count: 752)
Santayana once said: “Those who don’t remember the past are forever forced to repeat it.” From before the dawn of human civilization, illustrious individuals and groups have become the instruments of society’s pivotal advances by learning from their past failures and taking preventative measures against any further repeat of such mistakes in the future. This concept has been particularly well-illustrated by the history of aviation and by my personal experience.
One classic example of the notion that people more often than not draw valuable lessons from unfortunate incidents is the infamous Tenerife airport disaster, which was a fatal runway collision between two Boeing 747s at Los Rodeos Airport, Tenerife Island in 1977. Resulted in 583 fatalities, among which were 53 children, and 61 injured, the Tenerife catastrophe still remains until today the deadliest accident in aviation history. The three ensuing investigations, which were conducted independently by the three countries involved: Spain, Netherlands, and the US, concluded that the fundamental cause of the accident was that Captain van Zanten of the Dutch KLM took off without clearance from Air Traffic Control, due to, mostly, a misunderstanding caused by the language barrier between the captain the men in charge of Air Traffic Control. Most devastatingly, Air Traffic Control’s non-standard response of “OK” to the KLM’s “We are now at take-off” was misconstrued as permission for take-off by van Zanten when in fact, it was only meant as an affirmation that the transmission of KLM being at take-off position was received. As a consequence of the disaster, sweeping changes were made to international airline regulations and aircraft, the most important changes of which were a greater emphasis on English as the common working language and the introduction of standard phrases: “take-off” is now only used when actual clearance is given or when cancelling that same clearance. As was expected, thereafter these amendments started to take effects, the rates of aviation accidents dropped by a significant degree. By looking back into the past and drawing lessons from it, aviation authorities around the world has successfully limited the number of accidents caused by the human factor of the language barrier.
Another illustration that past memories often contribute to people’s future’s success occurred in my own personal experience. The night before I took the national university entrance exam for the first time, to combat my fraying nerves and the mounting pressure put on me by my own expectant that I must not fail, I tried to absorb as much knowledge as I could by osmosis as if I had been a bacterium and not a human being with limited brain space and stamina. As a consequence, I did not get any sleep at all. However, it was exactly because of that last-minute cramp that I had a panic attack in the middle of the Maths test the next day, messing it up so badly that my score did not even reached the national median score, thus, spectacularly failing one of the most important tests in a student’s life. Whereas most students would buckle under the combined pressure of social stigma and disappointment in themselves, I marched on. After a month of useless brooding, I woke up one day with a renewed resolve to get into one of the colleges of my dream. While my first impulse was to charge ahead and never look back, I suddenly remembered the age-old Aesop that my parents had taught me when I was but a little child: “Sometimes, the key to the future is hidden in the past”. With that realization, the first thing I did was dissecting what my mistakes I had made and where my weak points were. As such, when I took the exam the second time, I was confident that I had learned my lessons well, that I could finally tell myself without lying that I had tried my best. Thus, the story of how I achieved my dream of going to one of the best medical schools in the country. Had it not been for our ancestors’ wise teachings that one must learn from his past to succeed in life, my dream would have fallen through, and I would have failed myself as well.
As the aviation history and my personal experience have shown, by effectively taking advantages of both individual recollections and humanity’s accumulative wisdom, the human kind has never stopped striving for the better and created their own future against natural order. In the words of the ancient Chinese: “Failure is the mother of success."
All advice is appreciated. Also, I should note that I’m not a native English speaker, and as such, you may encounter some odd phrasings and mistakes here and there. Feel free to point them out. Thank you.