<p>I just tackled a writing prompt for my CB study course. What do you guys think?</p>
<p>ESSAY PROMPT:</p>
<p>When people form opinions about someone or something, what affects them most is not substance but style. In other words, the way something appears or is presented is more important than what it actually is. This principle affects how people look at their leaders and their lives, the books they read, the products they buy, and even the subjects they take at school. </p>
<p>Is style more important than substance? 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 RESPONSE:</p>
<p>Although style can be a tool people use symbiotically with substance, style should never be valued over substance. I will offer two distinct examples to prove my point. </p>
<p>Less than one year ago our country went through yet another hotly contested election cycle. During this critical period in our history, the American people had to decide whether to vote for the incumbent President George W. Bush or to vote instead for Senator John F. Kerry. It was a well known fact that because of his long experience in the U.S. Senate, John F. Kerry was a more experienced debater who could drive in his points with a lot more style than his opponent George W. Bush could ever hope to. During the publicized debates between these two highly intelligent men, most people had the perception that John F. Kerry indeed talked in a much more eloquent manner than his opponent, George W. Bush, who often appeared aloof and out of control. Not surprisingly, however, when it came time for the American people to decide which of these two candidates would hold the highly sought after office of President of the United States, the people chose who they thought was the candidate of substance, George W. Bush, over who they thought was the candidate of style, John F. Kerry. </p>
<p>Parallel to my previous example, consider the case of a local basketball player named Jack that goes to my high school. Jack, who pleasures himself greatly in his ability to move gracefully across a basketball court, values style over substance in his game. Jack has been known to spend countless hours practicing mainly on his dunking skills and dribbling tricks, and as a consequence has also been known to shun many of the most fundamental aspects of the game (such as team play and player cooperation). Although many fans have been drawn to local basketball games to watch Jack's elegant style of play, Jack has experienced much internal failure due to his lack of skill in the most substantive parts of the game. Jack's performance is lackluster in effectively passing the ball to his teammates, jumping for rebounds, and playing defense. Also due to his focus on style, his coaches and fellow teammates have repeatedly shunned him, resulting in his status as a benchwarmer during many of the most important games his team faces.</p>
<p>Both of these examples demonstrate people trying to focus on style over substance; the outcomes of holding this faulty value structure are obviously negative. Although it is true style can be used mutually with substance, such as when a political candidate espouses a substantive point in a colorfully attractive style, if ever focus is brought away from substance it is only failure that can be the most assured outcome.</p>