Reflection Essay: Prudence From Virtue To True Power

When I first signed up for English 101 I was slightly scared. I was not overly sure what to expect. For high school I went to a school that had long essays every three weeks and a thesis paper that had a minimum page requirement of 15 that had to be completed and passed before graduation. Mine was titled: Prudence from Virtue to True Power, in which I analyzed Machiavelli’s’ The Prince, Shakespeare’s Henry IV part 1, and the ancient Greek historian and statesman Thucydides’ Comprehensive Guide to the History of The Peloponnesian War. All of the papers that I wrote were based of a text we had read and discussed and they had a very firm topic that had to be written on. Even thought I had quite a bit of experience writing I was still nervous.

With the introduction to the paper I discussed the issues that exist with political correctness and I gave a brief overview of the article I was refuting “Apple Removes All American Civil War Games From the App Store Because of the Confederate Flag.” After introducing the article I elaborated on the meaning of politically correct; additionally, I included an important court decision that pertained to my topic. Lastly I concluded the introduction paragraph by stating my thesis: “Exercising the first amendment can be controversial; however, the censorship of people is unnecessary and it conflicts with the principle of free speech, which is a key aspect of American culture”. In the second paragraph I discusses the use of “happy holidays” in lieu of “merry Christmas.” I claimed that in the past it has been a real issue; however, more recently people have been fighting back against political correctness and are use merry Christmas despite it being not politically correct. In defense of this argument I used a quotation from an article in the USA Today titled “‘Merry Christmas’ Is Favored Greeting.” This article defended my original beliefs that in regards to “merry Christmas” political correctness was on the decline. In the second body paragraph I argued that political correctness affects the way that people use the English language. I include the story of a political aide in Washington, DC who was forced to resign over the use of the word “niggardly.” He was referring a budget that was set in place; however, some people disliked that. Furthermore, a few months later there was a professor in Madison, Wisconsin who used the term in discussion of a work of literature. A student, who did not know what the term meant, was offended and brought it up with the deans demanding disciplinary action for the professor. Additionally, in the third paragraph I bring up the Supreme