<p>I've always loved these...hopefully this will help serve as a guide for people who are learning how to handle the essay. I'll post my actual score in a couple of days.</p>
<p>December 2nd Prompt: In order to be the most productive and successful people that we are capable of being, we must be willing to ignore the opinions of others. It is only when we are completely indifferent to others' opinions of us--when we are not concerned about how others think of us--that we can achieve our most important goals. </p>
<p>Assignment: Are people more likely to be productive and successful when they ignore the opinions of others? 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>Essay:</p>
<p>Although it is often difficult to block out the opinions and expectations of other people when encountering important decisions, the best choices are made when someone ignores the pressure and instead trusts themselves to choose the right path. Literature, history, and my own personal experience lend extensive evidence to prove this idea.</p>
<p>In Edith Wharton's Ethan Frome, the protagonist finds himself under a lot of agony and stress when facing the predicament of how to handle his love for his wife's cousin. He cannot choose whether to follow his instincts to run off with her or to obey the morals of his Puritan town and stay with his wife. He eventually decides that he does not want to face the disdain of the town for leaving his wife and instead chooses to obey the strict morals of the townspeople, eventually enduring a tragic experience that leaves him miserable for the rest of his life. If he had decided to run off with his wife's cousin instead of paying attention to the wishes of other people, he would likely have led a much more enjoyable life.</p>
<p>In contrast, Abraham Lincoln, the president during the Civil War, chose to ignore the opinions of many people and instead follow what he believed to be right, and to this day is still considered one of the greatest presidents in United States' history. Although he predicted that the citizens of the South would be ardently angry with him if he issued the Emancipation Proclamation, which would free the slaves living there, he decided to follow through with his progressive idea. Because of his determination to do what was right in the face of adversity, Abraham Lincoln is still revered as one of our most courageous and just presidents.</p>
<p>Similarly, I have encountered experiences when I have been expected to follow the wishes of my friends but instead chose to resist them and choose the just path. This past year I was asked by some of my friends to help them steal the answers to a test. Although I knew my friends would be unbelievably angry if I refused, I knew that we would be gaining an unfair advantage if I obeyed. I ended up simply studying for the test more extensively than my friends and earning a higher grade.</p>
<p>Although many find it very difficult to resist the opinions and demands of other people, the story of Ethan Frome, the presidency of Abraham Lincoln, and my own personal experience provide evidence to prove that doing so leads to the most success.</p>
<p>I realize that the paragraph about the Emancipation Proclamation is pretty factually inaccurate, but it's what I came up with at the time. And the personal experience paragraph is completely fabricated.</p>