THE PROMPT
Some people argue that freedom is never given; it must be demanded. Choose three texts from Collection Two, including the anchor text, “I Have a Dream,” and identify how each writer addresses the struggle for freedom in his or her society. Then, write an argument in which you cite evidence from all three texts to support your claim about whether or not freedom should be given or demanded and support why you think freedom should be given or demanded.
THE RIGHT TO FREEDOM
The famous words from the Declaration of Independence say that, “We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness” (US 1776). This is saying that all beings are born with the equal rights and freedoms that others have, however, based on current and past events, society has learned that this is not so true. In texts such as Azar Nafisi’s “Reading Lolita in Tehran”, Robert F, Kennedy’s “Eulogy for Dr. Martin Luther King”, and Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.’s memorable “I Have a Dream” speech, it is understood of the hardships and tragedies that have come out of fighting for freedom. Freedom is a basic human right, and should be given to all beings. Giving freedom and equality to all would bring this controversial world more reconciliation, less of a struggle for minorities who are not given freedom, and overall end the constant conflict that divides society because of the lack or abundant amount of rights they attain.
One reason why freedom should be given is because it would bring more unity and peace between humans even though we are different. Azar Nafisi, author of “Reading Lolita from Tehran”, stated, “In the course of nearly two decades, the streets have been turned into a war zone, where young women who disobey the rules are hurled into patrol cars, taken to jail, flogged, fined, forced to wash the toilets and humiliated, and as soon as they leave, they go back and do the same thing” (Nafisi 83). This quote is explaining the hardships women go through because of their lack of freedom and the severe and unnecessary punishments they must face when they disregard these unfair laws. This text evidence is significant because it indicates the fact that these women would not have to suffer these consequences if they were given the freedom they rightfully deserve. More supporting evidence is found in Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.’s “I Have a Dream” speech, as he said, “...when we allow freedom to ring, when we let it ring from every village and every hamlet, from every state and every city, we will be able to speed up that day when all of God's children-black men and white men, Jews and Gentiles, Protestants and Catholics-will be able to join hands and sing in the words of the old Negro spiritual, ‘Free at last. Free at last. Thank God Almighty, we are free at last’” (King 51). This shows the reader that King believed that if people distribute their freedom equally, they could “join hands” together peacefully. These significant words of King demonstrate how if all were given freedom, it would result in people coming together in unity. Overall based on these different sources, readers can conclude that giving freedom would result in a world-wide effect of solidarity between people.
To go further into this position, another reason is because minorities who are oppressed against would struggle less in their lives with given freedom. “Reading Lolita in Tehran" by Azar Nafisi shows great examples of how the absence of freedom can make people feel, with the quote, “Is she angry that women of her mother’s generation could walk the streets freely, enjoy the company of the opposite sex, join the police force, become pilots, live under laws that were among the most progressive in the world regarding women?” (Nafisi 83). This shows how these women in Iran feel uncomfortable and angry with the new unfair laws that strip them of their freedom and own identities. The importance of this text goes into depth of the emotions of people that are treated unequally, and if freedom was something easily accessible to them, they would not have to feel these awful feelings. Martin Luther King Jr. also had his input on this topic in his “I Have a Dream” speech, for he said, “We can never be satisfied as long as the Negro is the victim of the unspeakable horrors of police brutality… We cannot be satisfied as long as the negro's basic mobility is from a smaller ghetto to a larger one. We can never be satisfied as long as our children are stripped of their self-hood and robbed of their dignity by signs stating: ‘For Whites Only’” (King 51-52). King uses his own experiences and events he has seen to emphasize his point on how the African American community is horribly mistreated and degraded simply because they do not have the same freedoms as others. If others were to realize and understand that freedom is a constitutional right that all people have, the African American community would not be so discriminated and would bring our country closer together. Readers can conclude from these examples that those with a lack of freedom would feel more comfortable in this country internally and externally, allowing the diverse people of this nation to join as one.
Another reason why freedom should be given is because it would also end the separations and conflicts that have resulted because of a person’s lack of rights and freedom. In the speech, “Eulogy for Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.” by Robert F. Kennedy, he said, “What we need in the United States is not division; what we need in the United States is not hatred; what we need in the United States is not violence or lawlessness but love and wisdom, and compassion toward one another, and a feeling of justice towards those who still suffer within our country, whether they be white or they be black” (Kennedy 25). Kennedy’s quote, “a feeling of justice towards those who still suffer within our country” indicates that we need to give the equal rights and freedom to those in this country that do not have it to accumulate to the end of division and hatred. Kennedy’s words are significant because if freedom was given to these people from the start, the division and hatred because of injustice would have never occurred in the first place. In the famous “I Have a Dream” speech by Martin Luther King Jr., he also gave his support to this reason by saying, “But one hundred years later, the Negro still is not free; one hundred years later, the life of the Negro is still sadly crippled by the manacles of segregation and the chains of discrimination; one hundred years later, the Negro lives on a lonely island of poverty in the midst of a vast ocean of material prosperity; one hundred years later, the Negro is still languishing in the corners of American society and finds himself in exile in his own land” (King 48). Readers can assume from King’s words that the African American community is still suffering from lack of freedom and rights which is continuing to cause problems in this nation’s unity. With this being said, it is important to understand that with equal rights and freedom, issues like this would not happen and this country would be one step closer to unification. Based on this evidence, given freedom would end conflicts regarding equal rights on freedoms and would bring this country closer together.
Some might say that freedom should not be given since people must work for their desires. However, freedom should not be considered an aspiration or desire, for it is a basic human right that all deserve; no one is born lesser or greater than someone else. Therefore, the reasons still stand that giving freedom would spread unity and peace around the world, lessen the suffering of those who lack freedom, and exploit the issue and arguments of people feeling they are better or worse than others because of their freedom rights. One should acknowledge the fact that if everyone is given the chance to be equally free to one another, it would bring a significant amount of armistice across this nation and to the people that rightfully deserve it.
One reason why freedom should be given is because it would bring more unity and peace between humans even though we are different. Azar Nafisi, author of “Reading Lolita from Tehran”, stated, “In the course of nearly two decades, the streets have been turned into a war zone, where young women who disobey the rules are hurled into patrol cars, taken to jail, flogged, fined, forced to wash the toilets and humiliated, and as soon as they leave, they go back and do the same thing” (Nafisi 83). This quote is explaining the hardships women go through because of their lack of freedom and the severe and unnecessary punishments they must face when they disregard these unfair laws. This text evidence is significant because it indicates the fact that these women would not have to suffer these consequences if they were given the freedom they rightfully deserve. More supporting evidence is found in Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.’s “I Have a Dream” speech, as he said, “...when we allow freedom to ring, when we let it ring from every village and every hamlet, from every state and every city, we will be able to speed up that day when all of God's children-black men and white men, Jews and Gentiles, Protestants and Catholics-will be able to join hands and sing in the words of the old Negro spiritual, ‘Free at last. Free at last. Thank God Almighty, we are free at last’” (King 51). This shows the reader that King believed that if people distribute their freedom equally, they could “join hands” together peacefully. These significant words of King demonstrate how if all were given freedom, it would result in people coming together in unity. Overall based on these different sources, readers can conclude that giving freedom would result in a world-wide effect of solidarity between people.
To go further into this position, another reason is because minorities who are oppressed against would struggle less in their lives with given freedom. “Reading Lolita in Tehran" by Azar Nafisi shows great examples of how the absence of freedom can make people feel, with the quote, “Is she angry that women of her mother’s generation could walk the streets freely, enjoy the company of the opposite sex, join the police force, become pilots, live under laws that were among the most progressive in the world regarding women?” (Nafisi 83). This shows how these women in Iran feel uncomfortable and angry with the new unfair laws that strip them of their freedom and own identities. The importance of this text goes into depth of the emotions of people that are treated unequally, and if freedom was something easily accessible to them, they would not have to feel these awful feelings. Martin Luther King Jr. also had his input on this topic in his “I Have a Dream” speech, for he said, “We can never be satisfied as long as the Negro is the victim of the unspeakable horrors of police brutality… We cannot be satisfied as long as the negro's basic mobility is from a smaller ghetto to a larger one. We can never be satisfied as long as our children are stripped of their self-hood and robbed of their dignity by signs stating: ‘For Whites Only’” (King 51-52). King uses his own experiences and events he has seen to emphasize his point on how the African American community is horribly mistreated and degraded simply because they do not have the same freedoms as others. If others were to realize and understand that freedom is a constitutional right that all people have, the African American community would not be so discriminated and would bring our country closer together. Readers can conclude from these examples that those with a lack of freedom would feel more comfortable in this country internally and externally, allowing the diverse people of this nation to join as one.
Another reason why freedom should be given is because it would also end the separations and conflicts that have resulted because of a person’s lack of rights and freedom. In the speech, “Eulogy for Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.” by Robert F. Kennedy, he said, “What we need in the United States is not division; what we need in the United States is not hatred; what we need in the United States is not violence or lawlessness but love and wisdom, and compassion toward one another, and a feeling of justice towards those who still suffer within our country, whether they be white or they be black” (Kennedy 25). Kennedy’s quote, “a feeling of justice towards those who still suffer within our country” indicates that we need to give the equal rights and freedom to those in this country that do not have it to accumulate to the end of division and hatred. Kennedy’s words are significant because if freedom was given to these people from the start, the division and hatred because of injustice would have never occurred in the first place. In the famous “I Have a Dream” speech by Martin Luther King Jr., he also gave his support to this reason by saying, “But one hundred years later, the Negro still is not free; one hundred years later, the life of the Negro is still sadly crippled by the manacles of segregation and the chains of discrimination; one hundred years later, the Negro lives on a lonely island of poverty in the midst of a vast ocean of material prosperity; one hundred years later, the Negro is still languishing in the corners of American society and finds himself in exile in his own land” (King 48). Readers can assume from King’s words that the African American community is still suffering from lack of freedom and rights which is continuing to cause problems in this nation’s unity. With this being said, it is important to understand that with equal rights and freedom, issues like this would not happen and this country would be one step closer to unification. Based on this evidence, given freedom would end conflicts regarding equal rights on freedoms and would bring this country closer together.
Some might say that freedom should not be given since people must work for their desires. However, freedom should not be considered an aspiration or desire, for it is a basic human right that all deserve; no one is born lesser or greater than someone else. Therefore, the reasons still stand that giving freedom would spread unity and peace around the world, lessen the suffering of those who lack freedom, and exploit the issue and arguments of people feeling they are better or worse than others because of their freedom rights. One should acknowledge the fact that if everyone is given the chance to be equally free to one another, it would bring a significant amount of armistice across this nation and to the people that rightfully deserve it.
SELF REFLECTION
I chose this essay from semester one because I believe it truly showed my writing. In my annotations, the underlined text is what I feel I need to improve on and the bolded represents what I feel I did well. The entirety of the underlined phrases are the choppy sentence frames I used. As I was re-reading this paper, I found that stating plainly "This quote means" and "This is saying" made my essay seem less academic and lost the flow of the words. However, in my bolded text, I noticed that I did a very good job with my thesis in the first paragraph. I felt that it mentioned all of my reasons directly but phrased in a way so it wasn't exactly the same. I also thought some of my explanations and insight on my different quotes were exceptional and provided the reader with satisfaction of my reasoning.