<p>Prompt of Blue Book PT #9:</p>
<p>"'Tough challenges reveal our strengths and weaknesses.' This statement is certainly true; adversity helps us discover who we are. Hardships can often lead us to examine who we are and to question what is important in life. In fact, people who have experienced seriously adverse events frequently report that they were positively changed by their negative experiences."</p>
<p>Assignment:
"Do you think that ease does not challenge us and that we need adversity to help us discover who we are?"</p>
<p>Essay:
Human beings confront tough challenges in life, which can result in cathartic experiences. Adversity is crucial to self-realization and to understand the important aspects of life. Several examples from literary works and my personal life clearly demonstrate that adversity is crucial to our well-being.</p>
<p>As demonstrated by John Steinbeck's Grapes of Wrath, facing our obstacles in life can be healing. In Steinbeck's novel, Rose of Sharon of the Joad is negligent and cold-hearted of the Joad family's hardships in surviving the Great Depression. However, as the plot progresses, the Joads confront several hardships, such as deportation, poverty, and adversity by corporations, like the grape-picking corporation. These challenges instill a cathartic experience in Rose of Sharon, as evidenced by the altruism displayed at the the end of the novel, when she gives her breast milk to an ill old man in a barn during a storm. Therefore, as a result of overcoming adversity, Rose of Sharon portrays positive growth.</p>
<p>Sophocles' "Oedipus Rex" and "Oedipus at Colonus" also demonstrate self-realization by confronting adversity. In Sophocles' first play, "Oedipus Rex," Oedipus is the king of Thebes, a city plagued by the Gods. Oedipus is portrayed as a king burgeoning with self-pride or hubris, his hamartia. This tragic flaw consequentially leads to his "gouging out of his eyes" and exile because he was condemned for killing his father Laius and marrying his mother, Iocaste, accidentally. In Sophocles' next play, Oedipus is healed of his hamartia and shows the wisdom he has discovered by his removal of his tragic flaw, hubris. He is portrayed as a prophet, in exile, rather than a self-glorifier, and tells Creon, a man with excess pride, that his hamartia will lead to his downfall. Thus, Sophocles' plays evidently demonstrate that confronting hardships can lead to an epiphany of oneself.</p>
<p>My personal life also portrays that adversity can benefit us. As a student in high school, I enrolled in arduous courses, such as AP Chemistry and AP U.S. History. These classes gave me knowledge not only of the subject matter, but also of self-discipline. At the beginning of the year, I had a C in both of these classes. But by forming my own discipline, such as obtaining a tutor, taking abundant notes, and taking practice tests, I was able to earn an A in both of these classes and earn a 5 on both AP Exams.</p>
<p>After a careful analysis of Steinbeck's Grapes of Wrath, Sophocles' "Oedipus Rex" and "Oedipus at Colonus," adversity is indeed crucial to helping us discover the important parts of life and our identity. If we do not have adversity, we will never uncover our true selves and be negligent of the value of out life experiences.</p>
<p>By the way, I don't know how to underline Grapes of Wrath.</p>
<p>Thank you for grading my essay!</p>