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Tradition is scary; mindless followers - UT ESSAY PROMPT #2



ohrio 1 / 2  
Nov 30, 2010   #1
Topic B: REQUIRED
Choose an issue of importance to you-the issue could be personal, school related, local, political, or international in scope-and write an essay in which you explain the significance of that issue to yourself, your family, your community, or your generation.


Urrrgh, this is the second essay for UT. I'm almost positive my backup isn't strong enough. Also, I am having trouble with concluding. Extremely picky criticism would be tremendously appreciated. Thanks so much for anyone who can help.

Tradition is a belief that defines cultures; it signifies the importance of heritage and passes down a rich foundation of prior practices among prospective generations. It standardizes the way a culture behaves and interacts, and can branch off into similar traditions that can be held onto until time expires. Tradition is ultimately the reason we celebrate, grieve, and even learn today. Me? I think "tradition" is a deceptive apparition.

By all means, tradition is no menace. I for one, enjoy getting presents for Christmas and will be draped in black to show the utmost respect for those who've passed. Despite its noble associations and grandiose colorations, though, I believe tradition has become a overused and therefore diluted word, a mere explanation used by some to justify not knowing why they participate in customs or activities.

It might not seem like an issue of dire importance, but I am most definitely not overreacting. What brought the dangerous aspect of tradition to my attention blossomed from a simple chain reaction of imagination based thinking. I thought of why racial discrimination against African-Americans was common in even adolescents in the mid 20th century, and why some religions base the majority of their decisions upon a figure born directly from faith, and why children receive sweets for free just for dressing up in costume on October 31st. These three examples all share a common trait: the people solely execute their actions based on what other people have told them. This is the frightening thought. Susceptible minds are exposed to feeble ideas, ones that a single man could conjure. If one idea is morally corrupt, yet appeals to one's imperfect human desire, it could gain enough mindless followers to pass on the tradition for many generations. And no one would know why.

This is why I feel knowledge is extremely important.

pinky44 2 / 9  
Nov 30, 2010   #2
'Despite its noble associations and grandiose colorations, though, I believe tradition has become a overused and therefore diluted" though is redundant

consider re-wording this sentence "What brought the dangerous aspect of tradition to my attention blossomed from a simple chain reaction of imagination based thinking"

it seems a little confusing

i really like your essay
EF_Kevin 8 / 13053  
Dec 15, 2010   #3
Hi, I'm sorry you did not get any extremely picky feedback yet. :-) Here I go.

Oh.. I see Sreeeja gave some thoughtful ideas...

Hey, I am not glancing up at the title.. I saw it yesterday but did not get to it. I was looking forward to reading this, because I like that title a lot... tradition = scary :-)

Tradition is a belief that defines cultures; it signifies the importance of heritage and passes down a rich foundation of prior practices among prospective generations. --I crossed out a word that is not quite right.

Here is an idea... this came out good, but now you have to go back and cut the boring first sentence. It is okay that you have a boring, obvious first sentence, because you have to start writing in whatever way you can, but go back later on and kill it.

Tradition is a belief that defines cultures; it signifies the importance of heritage and passes down a rich foundation of prior practices among prospective generations. It standardizes the way a culture behaves and interacts, and can branch off into...

Please know that I do not intend any offense, and your writing is great. Even that sentence I killed is great. But a great sentence (i.e. well structures) still needs to be killed if it is a statement fo the obvious.

By all means, tradition is no menace. I for one, enjoy getting presents for Christmas and will be draped in black to show the utmost respect for those who've passed.---good point. Actually, these are traditions that serve as communication. Giving a gift or wearing black... these communicate something to others. So... I agree, this is necessary!

the people solely execute their actions based on what other people have told them. ---beautiful! End the paragraph here. When you make a good point, do a paragraph break.

This is very good writing. I only wish it has more paragraphs and ideas, because your writing style is really nice. Try googling the word heuristics and see if you can give a discussion of tradition as something comparable to heuristics. That should be interesting. You have a great vocabulary (and sing-song, rhythmic use of it.)


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