Hannah's Essay

Hannah Staley
English 9
Mr. Salsich
26 February 2009

Brave New Worlds
Prospero’s Island and America

America and Prospero’s island are very different places, yet strangely alike. These places have certain virtues in which make them unique and captivating. While evaluating these places, I found that most of their virtues are along the same lines. These places are really interesting and I think could really learn from each other.

The people on Prospero’s island all came together because of three things; acceptance, maturity and respect. They came together in a way that they accepted each other. They accepted that each of them was different and they weren’t always going to agree. They also accepted each other by being open minded to one another’s ideas and really listening even though it may not have been in their best interest. They also started to get along because of how they all matured. Most of the characters in “The Tempest” slowly started to realize that if they kept being rude to each other things were going to get a lot worse before they got better. They also realized that in order to be friends, you need to meet each other half way and really contribute to the relationship if you want it to succeed. Lastly, respect brought the people on the island to good terms. Respect was key because you need not only be aware of how you are treating the people around you, but also that you are respecting their space and privacy. Respect is definitely important because if there is no respect then there is nothing much to build your relationships on. These three things are really important in any relationship and I really think it helped the characters on the island start to form a bond.

Three virtues I think our world needs to become “a brave new world” is truthfulness, unity and kindness. We need truthfulness because there are enough liars in this world already and if we added more to the mix it would make everything fall apart. Also, truthfulness plays a big role in everyone’s life. Since the day we were born, our surrounding peers have reinforced that lying is bad, so if all of a sudden this world was full if lying people we would have pure chaos. Another virtue this world needs more of is unity. There is so much adversity and disagreeing that us kids are being brought up to think that nothing is amicable. We are being taught that there is only one way to do things and that’s the way we are being brought up to know. Lastly, kindness is a part of what this world needs. There are so many mean people out there who don’t understand that their negative attitude is contagious. Kindness is something that can easily be accomplished, but it’s the people of America who have to rise up to the challenge. Whether it’s truthfulness, unity or kindness, it all binds together in some way and it’s up to the youth of America to make sure these virtues are heard.

Even though we all have our flaws, America needs to pull it together and make this country as safe and loving as possible (loose sentence). We all need to make an effort to enforce truthfulness, kindness and unity. If our country followed Prospero’s island’s footsteps, we will be going in the right direction towards a better America.