<p>Please rate my essay! :) Constructive criticism is welcome.</p>
<p>The novelist John Hersey wrote, "Learning starts with failure; the first failure is the beginning of education."</p>
<p>Assignment:</p>
<p>What are your thoughts on the idea that failure is necessary for education to take place?
Compose an essay in which you express your views on this topic. Your essay may support, refute, or qualify the views expressed in the excerpt. What you write, however, must be relevant to the topic under discussion. Additionally, you must support your viewpoint, indicating your reasoning and providing examples based on your studies and/or experiences.</p>
<p>Essay:</p>
<pre><code> The novelist John Hershey was right in saying that "Leaning starts with failure; the first failure is the beginning of education." Hershey expresses that it is almost essential and unavoidable to experience failure in daily human life, in whatever form. Without failure, we would not be able to wholly experience the essence of true human learning. Failure teaches us the hard way, which is oftentimes better because it teaches us to fully utilize what we can do in the given situation.
The topic of failure breeds closely to the Great Depression, which happened in the late 1920s in the United States of America. This great "failure" was caused by a definite gap between the rich and poor, buying of stocks on credit, and the overspeculation of the market. All of these contributing factors brought about the greatest downfall ever experienced by the American economy. However, this did not stop the Americans from pursuing for excellence. Today, they have overcome their economic issues and have since then, became the strongest world power. Most Americans can agree that the difficult times and suffering experienced during the Great Depression were imperative to becoming who they are today.
In Amy Tan's novel "The Joy Luck Club", Jing Mei Woo struggles to live up to Waverly Jong's piano skills. Pushed by her mother, she then experiments with a plethora of things, raning from piano playing, to tap dancing, and even to memorizing the capitals of states and countries. After failing in each and every endeavor, she then learns and discovers her own talent: loving others. She describes her failure in as a crucial part in discovering who she is as a friend, person, and daughter. She learns that failure has helped her develop as a person.
A historical example on how failure has shaped a nation would be the Declaration of the French Independence. France struggles through many obstacles which hindered it from becoming free. Some examples of this would be the Storming of the Bastille, Napoleon's dictatorship, and the meeting of the Estates-General. In earlier times, the French people were suppressed from achieving true freedom. Abused and ignored by Louis XVI's high taxes, they revolted. Now over two centuries later, they are now one of the world's best democratic countries. They have failed numerous times to achieve what they have today, but have worked hard to be successful.
In essence, failure shapes our character and forms us to be the people we are today. As prevalent as it is in today's society, it is here to remind us that through it, we only become stronger. Through failure, we learn to educate ourselves in the lesson that is life.
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