Hi please grade my SAT Essay:
Prompt: A better understanding of other people contributes to the development of moral virtues. We shall be both kinder and fairer in our treatment of others if we understand them better. Understanding ourselves and understanding others are connected, since as human beings we all have things in common.
Assignment: Do we need other people in order to understand ourselves?
We my need others around at times, and we may be connected with society, but we do not need others to understand our values. Our moral beliefs come from within us, and are intractable.
Consider Martin Luther King Jr. In a predominantly white society in which segregation existed, King continued to believe in equality and freedom for all people. When majority of the population fought against him, he still maintained strong values. Indeed, King was fully aware of the others around him, but understanding them never changed his core beliefs. In his time, he did not share anything in common with majority of the society and had to fight for what he thought was right. His values were never derived from the people around him; they were innate.
Another example would be Amelia Earhart, the first woman to fly solo across the Atlantic Ocean and an avid women's rights advocate. Even as a child, Amelia was never influenced by the generic conventions around her; her moral beliefs stemmed from her passion for flying. In a time when women sustained a lower status than men, and in a time when women who worked outside the house were looked down upon, Earhart took to flying and was determined to succeed. Earhart barely had anything in common with the general society, and her values came from her passion.
From Martin Luther King Jr. and Amelia Earhart, we learn that we don't always need other people to understand who we are and what we value the most. Often, these values are inherent.