<p>First time posting my Essay, please grade this essay honestly!</p>
<p>Prompt: Do you think that ease does not challenge us and that we need adversity to help us discover who we are?</p>
<p>Human beings have natural penchant toward ease and comfort. Though it may seem comfortable to stay with the norm, away from challenges and dangers, they are the benefactors in revealing one's true identity. Those from novels and history who struggled through adversities and ultimately learned about themselves prove the claim that ordeals are essential for one to discover oneself.</p>
<p>In a renowned novel the Scarlet Letter, the protagonist Hester Prynne finds her identity through the condemnation and animosities of her peers and townspeople. She commits adultery, a serious sin during the period and among the Puritan communities, but rather than concealing her sin away from the people, she decides to reveal it. Undoubtably, she is incessantly scorned and looked down by all people, regardless of age, that she passes by. Even so, she endures it, and tries to compensate through good works and keeping up good attitudes. She ultimately finds in herself that she is not a malicious sinner anymore and this discovery also extends to the townspeople. She no longer self-castigated herself and nor did others. Committing adultery was a mistake, a kind of mistake that every human being endures privately. But by opening herself to public adversity, and through the altruistic works that proceeded, Hester Prynne discovered her true identity.</p>
<p>Similarly, a renowned scientist and physicist Thomas Edison endures failures and ultimately discovers himself as an eminent scientist. Though at the beginning of his career public regards his inventions and discovers as a mere joke due to his numerous failed attempts, Edison pulls through, endures all condemnations and finally succeeds with the discovery of a light bulb. If he let himself be overwhelmed by the adversities and indulged to his failures, Edison would not have discovered his genius talent and we would be living in darkness.</p>
<p>Through two careful analysis of a novel and a historic figure, it is, indeed, certain that adversities reveal one's true identity. Challenges lead us to new ways and help us discover ourselves.</p>