Want to grade my essay?

hudablossom
Tue, 22 Sep 2009 19:35:51 +0000

Prompt: Should heroes be defined as people who say what they think while we ourslves lack the courage to say it?

A person does not need to do something extreme in order to earn the title ‘hero’. The biggest trait a hero can have is to have the courage to say what is on their mind. There are few people who do that, and if no one knows what one thinks, they never succeed. Speaking up can stop unfair taxation, help with personal problems, and assist in stopping disputes between religion, amongst other things.

  The Boston Tea Party is a great example of heroes who said--or acted--on what they thought was right. When King George taxed the English products without listening to what anyone from the American colonies thought about the tax, Americans were angry. 'Taxation without representation is unfair!' they argued. When they let King George know what they thought and dumped out all the tea, they were heroes--not only did they let England know it was wrong to tax without letting America know beforehand, but they acted on their argument. This made them heroes.

  Another example on how all one needs to do to be a hero is to speak his or her mind comes from Life of Pi  by Yann Martel. All his life, Pi has struggled with his faith. Born to Hindu parents, Pi never really knew what he believed in. After learning about Christianity and Islam, he decided that he was part Muslim, Christian, and Hindu. Pi tells his parents that, to their dismay, he is not just Hindu. Being able to tell his parents the truth about his faith and speak his mind makes Pi a hero.

  Mohandas Karamchand Ghandi is yet another ordinary person that spoke his mind, and is now regarded as a hero. A firm Hindu, Ghandi thought that it was terrible how much Hindus and Muslims hated each other. Ghandi then did what no one else had ventured to do: he spoke his mind. Ghandi scolded everyone for not being able to get along, and helped devise an understanding between the two religions so the two religions would not clash as much. Because Ghandi spoke his mind, he became a true hero to look up to.

  Being a hero is not just about doing supernatural things--on the contrary, it is about speaking up. If no one speaks his mind, the world would never improve. Instead, the world would stay the same. Because of this, it is vital to understand that a hero speaks his or her mind.



I wrote this in the test booklet (handwritten) in 25 minutes.