<p>If you grade my essay, I'll tell you what collegeboard gave me :)</p>
<p>The prompt is below:</p>
<p>"Many persons believe that to move up the ladder of success and achievement, they must forget the past, repress it, and relinquish it. But others have just the opposite view. They see old memories as a chance to reckon with the past and integrate past and present.</p>
<p>Adapted from Sara Lawrence-Lightfoot, I've Known Rivers: Lives of Loss and Liberation</p>
<p>Assignment:
Do memories hinder or help people in their effort to learn from the past and succeed in the present? 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>
<p>My answer is as follows:</p>
<p>As humankind has progressed through an immeasurable amount of adversity, it has learned to "relinquish" the past; to forget all but what lies ahead. However, this is a dreadful misconception--memories do nothing but aid people in attaining knowledge from the past and succeeding in the future. Examples from George Orwell's classic "1984," civil liberty throughout the years, and common political philosophies incentivize the retention of memories as valuable building blocks for future decision. </p>
<p>Orwell's novel "1984," written in 1948, exacerbates the myriad issues attributable to repressing and/or forgetting memories. In this book, the protagonist (Winston Smith) seeks to oust the tyrannical government that caused distress and disarray to society. However, as the penultimate step before exterminating Winston, the government wiped his memory (as they do routinely to all humans in the world). Thus, through preventing the memories of all proletariats and other people, the dystopic world remains in full swing; with nothing to learn from, people are forced to maintain their squalid living conditions. Therefore, it can be seen through the example illustrated in 1984 that it is a global necessity to utilize previous measures to their greatest extent, in order to imperativize change in societal culture. </p>
<p>Beyond the fictional (yet shockingly contemporary) instance of "1984," everyday civil liberty history substantiates the necessity of the retention of past events. To take an example, Malcolm X -- a figure to whom the success of the African American civil liberty movement may largely be attributed -- often cited past events in his speech. For example, in his classic oration in Atlanta, GA, he first necessitated [potentially] violent action against those who were repressing African Americans. Through proving that his race had been adversely affected by the violence of Caucasians, Malcolm X was able to arouse morale in those who had heretofore relinquished memories of white oppression. Soon after, African American people who were formerly opposed to violent revenge were able to use threats to gain civil, societal, and political ground. As seen by the instances of Malcolm X and other analogous leaders, it is clear that previous memories are key in bringing about change. </p>
<p>Finally, political philosophies predicated on hope-arousing, broad theories (such as Obama's campaign, which was based on "change") for the betterment of society are indicative of the role of memories in success and achievement. The recently passed "Comprehensive Test Ban Treaty" (CTBT) substantiates this fact; though learning from past threats of nuclear weapons (as seen in the Cold War), Obama was able to prevent a similar incident between North and South Korea by urging ratification of this treaty. Similarly, the fact that most prominent leaders are able to garner widespread support through naming societal issues that need to be changed proves that remembering past events is crucial. </p>
<p>Indeed, making strong efforts to learn from the past aid people immensely in attaining success in both the present and the future. Instances from George Orwell's novel "1984," civil liberty movements throughout the world (primarily seen through the actions of Malcolm X), and the success of political philosophies based on "change" prove that memories are a necessity to change the status quo for the better. As a global society, we must be motivated to learn from our previously erroneous ways; as nuclear scientist James Rokhov once said, success can only be attained taking past failures into account.</p>