sat essey, do we need "to unlearn" ideas?, Pleeaase check it!!

Anonymous — Wed, 16 Apr 2008 15:27:53 GMT

The task is to answer the question posed in the assignment. Please, check all my grammar, punctuation and lexical mistakes. I would be also very grateful for any notes on ineffectiveness of the content as well as on the structure.
Here is the task:

Prompt 1
Think carefully about the issue presented in the following excerpt and the assignment below.
The first problem for all of us is not to learn but to unlearn. We hold on to ideas that were accepted in the past, and we are afraid to give them up. Preconceptions about what is right or wrong, true or false, good or bad are embedded so deeply in our thinking that we honestly may not know that they are there. Whether it's women's role in society or the role of our country in the world, the old assumptions just don't work anymore.
Adapted from Gloria Steinem, "A New Egalitarian Lifestyle"
Assignment:
Do people need to "unlearn," or reject, many of their assumptions and ideas? Plan and write an essay in which you develop your point of view on this issue. Support your position with reasoning and examples taken from your reading, studies, experience, or observations.

And here is the essay:

    As Gloria Steinem once mentioned âwe hold on to the ides that were accepted in the past, and are afraid to give them upâ. She was right that most of us have already established outlook and beliefs, which we hardly ever decide to reject. Unfortunately, some of those convictions might be entirely wrong or disadvantageous to our well being. Because of that, it is of great necessity, that we know how to âunlearnâ our assumptions and make a place for new ones. Rejecting past beliefs is as beneficial for a society as well as for an individual.
    One example of discarding the old views by the world as a society could be the act of restating the rights of women. Before the second half of the 19th century almost nobody thought about equal rights for females. However, females felt the injustice and mobilized in order to force the society to âunlearnâ its assumptions. A lot of feministsâ organizations were founded across the world. Among them was the National Woman Suffrage Association established by Susan B. Anthony and Elisabeth Stanton in the United States. Thanks to their political work, women gained the right to vote in most of the states. The same process had also occurred in Europe. A lot of effort was made to change the peopleâs outlook on the equality of genders. But only thanks to these engaged suffragists, todayâs Western countries could give a man and a woman equivalent privilege. Although much is still to be done, the perception of women transformed greatly from that in the past.
    The process of âunlearningâ might also concern an individual. An example of a beneficial act of rejecting oneâs beliefs can be set by Rodion Raskolnikov, a protagonist of a well-known work of Fyodor Dostoyevsky, âCrime and Punishmentâ. At the beginning of the book the main character held a somewhat deviated ideology. He is marveled with the concept of a âSupermanâ, which he himself had invented. Moreover, he is convinced that the âchosenâ individuals are allowed to decide, within their own morality, about the extent of their laws. According to his philosophy, those people should not be constrained by any rules or regulations regarding an average person. Holding a belief that he is such an exceptional individual, Raskolnikov decided to commit a murder and a robbery. His plans were achieved and he evaded the apprehension. However, the crime created such a burden on his conscience that he could hardly bare it. The criminal decided to voluntarily report himself to the police. During his stay in the prison he realized that his life philosophy was erroneous and gave it up. Only after rejecting it, was he able to recover and return to normal life.
    To âunlearnâ some of our assumptions is sometimes very hard. However, it is often inevitable to improve and develop. We need to eliminate faulty credence to make space for new, accurate ones. People as a group as well as separate individuals should always be open for new ideas and able to change their wrong convictions, because only that, would guarantee a progress.

ESL Essay, Writing World

sat essey, do we need "to unlearn" ideas?, Pleeaase check it!!