<p>Prompt: There are books that try to show the world as it is and books that show the world as it should be or could be. What sort of books should we be offering children and ourselves? One answer is the argument for the value of the truth, for telling it like it is. Writers could promote certain positive ideals by being less realistic, but all of us especially children have the right to be told the truth. </p>
<p>Assignment: Should books portray the world as it is or as it should be? </p>
<p>For centuries, all human beings knowledge about the world has been recorded in books. By depicting what actually happened in the past and is happening at present, books have already provided readers thoughts and insight about how the world should be. Therefore, most of the time, it is enough for books and stories to just portray the world as it is.</p>
<p>Through the image of a poor little girl shivering in the thick snow selling matchsticks and being ignored by all passers-by, The little Match Girl of Christian Andersen successfully portrays a society in which children abuse exists and human beings are heartless towards each other. The story is the reflection of the dark side of this society where the rich and ignorant live a happy life leaving the poor dying in hunger and coldness. From that cruel reality, the story promotes a better world in which everybody cares for one another; children live happily with their family; hunger, coldness and poverty have no way to interfere with peoples life. </p>
<p>Books and stories like The Little Match Girl are capable of not only depicting the reality but also providing models for how the world should improve to be a better place to live in. For this reason only, books that portray the world as it should be become unnecessary and useless. Furthermore, such books might not be as impactful as those showing the world as it is. If The Little Match Girl was about a poor girl receiving help from the society and thus, having a better life, the profound meaning and the humanity of the story would be faded. The death of the little girl in the story serves as both a wake-up call to people who once neglect the sufferings of their peers and an urge to better the world. A book depicting a utopia might not be able to effectively tell readers to learn from it because people might not see the recuperation of their false actions and thus, fail to acknowledge the reasons to strive to improve the world. </p>
<p>In short, books that portray what actually happens effectively provide a model of how the world should be. They also give people motivation to improve themselves and try to achieve that betterment. Therefore, books should portray the world as it is rather than as it should be. </p>
<p>I deliberately chose to use only ONE examples for this essays and I am aware of my grammar mistakes but I also decided not to fix anything after the 25minutes finished. Please gives me comments and grade my essays from 1 to 6. I'll post all my essays here. Thank you in advance :)</p>