<p>This was taken from CollegeBoards’s “The Official SAT Study Guide.”</p>
<p>“To change is to risk something, making us feel insecure. Not to change is a bigger risk, though we seldom feel that way. There is no choice but to change. People, however, cannot be motivated to change from the outside. All of our motivations comes from within.”</p>
<p>Assignment: What motivates people to change? 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.</p>
<pre><code> Change is often motivated by a past failure. If a person refuses to change, he will never learn from his mistakes. The newly-founded United States of America was motivated to change due to the failures of The Articles of Confederation. The Department of Homeland Security, another example, has been motivated to change its security policies following the attacks on our nation on September 11, 2001. Another example that shows how change is often motivated by past failure is the war strategy of the Third Reich during the Second Great War following the mistakes of its previous war.
The United States was motivated to change its national constitution, The Articles of Confederation, due to its weaknesses and failure to create a strong, unified nation. Thus, delegates met at the Annapolis Convention in 1786, only five years following the establishment of the Articles, to discuss the creation of a new Constitution that would create a strong, central government. This new Constitution, written by James Madison, would be put into effect within three years of the convention, fixing the failures of the Articles of Confederation.
Change has also been seen in the Department of Homeland Security’s policies during the last decade due to the infamous terrorist attacks of 2001. The Department failed to secure the safety of the people of our nation. This failure clearly motivated them to crackdown on terrorism and to advance numerous security measures, especially within airports and nation historic landmarks, such as the Liberty Bell in Philadelphia and the Statue of Liberty in Upper New York Bay.
Due to the failure of Germany’s Schlieffen Plan in World War One, they were motivated to change their strategy in World War Two. The Schlieffen Plan called for a quick defeat of France on the Western front while also dealing with Russia on the Eastern Front before Germany would send all of its troops to the East. This backfired incredibly. Instead, the Germans were stuck in a stalemate with France due to the use of trench warfare while also fighting the Russians. However, they changed this strategy in World War Two. They would instead ally themselves with the Stalinist Soviet Union until they would conquer France quickly, then turn on the Russians in Operation Barbarossa. This would ensure a single front war.
As evidenced, change is often vastly motivated by past failures. The United States of America depicted this in the change from The Articles of Confederation to the Constitution and the advancement of security measures by the Department of Homeland Security. Also, Germany shows this is true by the failures of the Schlieffen Plan during WWI to its military strategy in WWII. Now, both nations are known to be amongst the most powerful and influential in the world and have proven to be beacons of democracy, proving the successes brought by change.
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