Every individual in a society has a responsibility to obey just laws and to disobey and
resist unjust laws.
Throughout history the conflict between one’s own judgment and the judgment of
the lawmakers has given rise to many conflicts, wars and revolutions. In that context,
the claim that individuals should follow their own sense of righteousness by opposing
laws that are in their opinion unfair and following laws that are fair is justified. Since
individual judgment is subjective, however, I cannot completely agree with the claim.
One of the negative consequences of blindly following a state’s laws becomes clear
when one considers authoritarian, ideologically extreme and fundamentalist countries.
It is highly likely that power-hungry and oppressive governments like Nazi Germany
and the Soviet Union are not founded on and buttressed by the most ethical laws. For
example, when my grandfather was stationed with the German army in the Czech
Republic in 1945, he was tasked with executing five Czech partisans. As a soldier, he
should have followed orders and could have been sent to prison or executed himself if
he disobeyed. He managed to convince his superior that his pistol was rusty and would
not fire and thereby saved the lives of the partisans by disobeying a direct order. When
a state’s laws are in conflict with basic human codes of ethics, therefore, it becomes
clear that one should disobey orders.
Not all laws, however, violate human rights, so the decision to follow or oppose them
is not black and white. In some cases a subjective sense of what is right might actually
oppose a collective sense of what is right. For instance, I remember arguing with my
parents while in 5th grade in school that, based on my antipathy towards school at the
time, I had a right to freedom and should not be obliged to go to school. In fact, going
to school is required by law in Germany, and I was arguing to break the law based on
my own set of principles and rights. Since a sense of righteousness can be subjective, it
is sometimes reasonable to accept laws that benefit the whole of society as well as the
individual - even if the individual is not willing to accept that as a universal truth.
I furthermore can’t completely agree with the claim with respect to the statement
that society should obey “just” laws. There are certainly circumstances in which a whole
society’s sense of right and wrong has been manipulated by years of propaganda.
Consider the law passed in 1939 by Nazi Germany labeled the “Endloesung”, i.e., the
final solution. That law deprived Jewish people of any human rights and set the scene
for the holocaust. Through years of brainwashing, a large proportion of German society
215
Overview of the GRE ® Analytical Writing Measure
accepted that law and actually believed that Jews were an inferior race. Therefore,
depending on the circumstances and the manipulative powers of a regime, even laws
that appear just to some are utterly appalling to humanity as a whole. Hence, the
subjective nature of right or wrong does not only vary from person to person but is also
subject to manipulation and deceit. For this reason I cannot agree with the claim
completely.
In conclusion, therefore, there are situations, such as when laws clearly oppose
basic human rights, in which the claim is true and useful. However, an individual’s
interpretation of what is right is often subjective and vulnerable to biased influences
by powerful regimes. Therefore the truth of the claim is limited.
- Universities should require every student to take a variety of courses outside the student s field of study Write a response in which you discuss the extent to which you agree or disagree with the claim In developing and supporting your position be sure t 50
- Do you agree or disagree with the following statement Parents today are more involved in their children s education than were parents in the past Use specific reasons and examples to support your answer 68
- The best way to understand the character of a society is to examine the character of the men and women that the society chooses as its heroes or its heroines 50
- The cave paintings of Lascaux in southwestern France date to around 15 000 B C E and are among the finest examples of prehistoric art known Ever since the paintings were discovered scholars have puzzled over their purpose According to one widely discussed 80
- The following appeared in a memo from the president of Bower Builders a company that constructs new homes A nationwide survey reveals that the two most desired home features are a large family room and a large well appointed kitchen A number of homes in o 16
Comments
Essay evaluations by e-grader
Grammar and spelling errors:
Line 44, column 22, Rule ID: SENT_START_CONJUNCTIVE_LINKING_ADVERB_COMMA[1]
Message: Did you forget a comma after a conjunctive/linking adverb?
Suggestion: Therefore,
...biased influences by powerful regimes. Therefore the truth of the claim is limited.
^^^^^^^^^
Transition Words or Phrases used:
actually, also, but, furthermore, hence, however, if, so, therefore, well, while, for instance, in conclusion, in fact, such as, as well as, in some cases, with respect to
Attributes: Values AverageValues Percentages(Values/AverageValues)% => Comments
Performance on Part of Speech:
To be verbs : 30.0 19.5258426966 154% => OK
Auxiliary verbs: 12.0 12.4196629213 97% => OK
Conjunction : 25.0 14.8657303371 168% => OK
Relative clauses : 21.0 11.3162921348 186% => OK
Pronoun: 39.0 33.0505617978 118% => OK
Preposition: 79.0 58.6224719101 135% => OK
Nominalization: 9.0 12.9106741573 70% => OK
Performance on vocabulary words:
No of characters: 2950.0 2235.4752809 132% => OK
No of words: 573.0 442.535393258 129% => OK
Chars per words: 5.14834205934 5.05705443957 102% => OK
Fourth root words length: 4.89258810929 4.55969084622 107% => OK
Word Length SD: 2.90734555226 2.79657885939 104% => OK
Unique words: 285.0 215.323595506 132% => OK
Unique words percentage: 0.497382198953 0.4932671777 101% => OK
syllable_count: 895.5 704.065955056 127% => OK
avg_syllables_per_word: 1.6 1.59117977528 101% => OK
A sentence (or a clause, phrase) starts by:
Pronoun: 15.0 6.24550561798 240% => Less pronouns wanted as sentence beginning.
Article: 7.0 4.99550561798 140% => OK
Subordination: 6.0 3.10617977528 193% => OK
Conjunction: 2.0 1.77640449438 113% => OK
Preposition: 11.0 4.38483146067 251% => Less preposition wanted as sentence beginnings.
Performance on sentences:
How many sentences: 25.0 20.2370786517 124% => OK
Sentence length: 22.0 23.0359550562 96% => OK
Sentence length SD: 42.5678940048 60.3974514979 70% => OK
Chars per sentence: 118.0 118.986275619 99% => OK
Words per sentence: 22.92 23.4991977007 98% => OK
Discourse Markers: 6.84 5.21951772744 131% => OK
Paragraphs: 41.0 4.97078651685 825% => Less paragraphs wanted.
Language errors: 1.0 7.80617977528 13% => OK
Sentences with positive sentiment : 10.0 10.2758426966 97% => OK
Sentences with negative sentiment : 13.0 5.13820224719 253% => Less negative sentences wanted.
Sentences with neutral sentiment: 2.0 4.83258426966 41% => OK
What are sentences with positive/Negative/neutral sentiment?
Coherence and Cohesion:
Essay topic to essay body coherence: 0.217154282776 0.243740707755 89% => OK
Sentence topic coherence: 0.058456684733 0.0831039109588 70% => OK
Sentence topic coherence SD: 0.0586949252748 0.0758088955206 77% => OK
Paragraph topic coherence: 0.0489565910674 0.150359130593 33% => Maybe some paragraphs are off the topic.
Paragraph topic coherence SD: 0.06126694196 0.0667264976115 92% => OK
Essay readability:
automated_readability_index: 14.3 14.1392134831 101% => OK
flesch_reading_ease: 49.15 48.8420337079 101% => OK
smog_index: 8.8 7.92365168539 111% => OK
flesch_kincaid_grade: 11.9 12.1743820225 98% => OK
coleman_liau_index: 12.89 12.1639044944 106% => OK
dale_chall_readability_score: 8.53 8.38706741573 102% => OK
difficult_words: 138.0 100.480337079 137% => OK
linsear_write_formula: 12.0 11.8971910112 101% => OK
gunning_fog: 10.8 11.2143820225 96% => OK
text_standard: 12.0 11.7820224719 102% => OK
What are above readability scores?
---------------------
Maximum six paragraphs wanted.
Rates: 66.67 out of 100
Scores by essay e-grader: 4.0 Out of 6
---------------------
Note: the e-grader does NOT examine the meaning of words and ideas. VIP users will receive further evaluations by advanced module of e-grader and human graders.
Grammar and spelling errors:
Line 44, column 22, Rule ID: SENT_START_CONJUNCTIVE_LINKING_ADVERB_COMMA[1]
Message: Did you forget a comma after a conjunctive/linking adverb?
Suggestion: Therefore,
...biased influences by powerful regimes. Therefore the truth of the claim is limited.
^^^^^^^^^
Transition Words or Phrases used:
actually, also, but, furthermore, hence, however, if, so, therefore, well, while, for instance, in conclusion, in fact, such as, as well as, in some cases, with respect to
Attributes: Values AverageValues Percentages(Values/AverageValues)% => Comments
Performance on Part of Speech:
To be verbs : 30.0 19.5258426966 154% => OK
Auxiliary verbs: 12.0 12.4196629213 97% => OK
Conjunction : 25.0 14.8657303371 168% => OK
Relative clauses : 21.0 11.3162921348 186% => OK
Pronoun: 39.0 33.0505617978 118% => OK
Preposition: 79.0 58.6224719101 135% => OK
Nominalization: 9.0 12.9106741573 70% => OK
Performance on vocabulary words:
No of characters: 2950.0 2235.4752809 132% => OK
No of words: 573.0 442.535393258 129% => OK
Chars per words: 5.14834205934 5.05705443957 102% => OK
Fourth root words length: 4.89258810929 4.55969084622 107% => OK
Word Length SD: 2.90734555226 2.79657885939 104% => OK
Unique words: 285.0 215.323595506 132% => OK
Unique words percentage: 0.497382198953 0.4932671777 101% => OK
syllable_count: 895.5 704.065955056 127% => OK
avg_syllables_per_word: 1.6 1.59117977528 101% => OK
A sentence (or a clause, phrase) starts by:
Pronoun: 15.0 6.24550561798 240% => Less pronouns wanted as sentence beginning.
Article: 7.0 4.99550561798 140% => OK
Subordination: 6.0 3.10617977528 193% => OK
Conjunction: 2.0 1.77640449438 113% => OK
Preposition: 11.0 4.38483146067 251% => Less preposition wanted as sentence beginnings.
Performance on sentences:
How many sentences: 25.0 20.2370786517 124% => OK
Sentence length: 22.0 23.0359550562 96% => OK
Sentence length SD: 42.5678940048 60.3974514979 70% => OK
Chars per sentence: 118.0 118.986275619 99% => OK
Words per sentence: 22.92 23.4991977007 98% => OK
Discourse Markers: 6.84 5.21951772744 131% => OK
Paragraphs: 41.0 4.97078651685 825% => Less paragraphs wanted.
Language errors: 1.0 7.80617977528 13% => OK
Sentences with positive sentiment : 10.0 10.2758426966 97% => OK
Sentences with negative sentiment : 13.0 5.13820224719 253% => Less negative sentences wanted.
Sentences with neutral sentiment: 2.0 4.83258426966 41% => OK
What are sentences with positive/Negative/neutral sentiment?
Coherence and Cohesion:
Essay topic to essay body coherence: 0.217154282776 0.243740707755 89% => OK
Sentence topic coherence: 0.058456684733 0.0831039109588 70% => OK
Sentence topic coherence SD: 0.0586949252748 0.0758088955206 77% => OK
Paragraph topic coherence: 0.0489565910674 0.150359130593 33% => Maybe some paragraphs are off the topic.
Paragraph topic coherence SD: 0.06126694196 0.0667264976115 92% => OK
Essay readability:
automated_readability_index: 14.3 14.1392134831 101% => OK
flesch_reading_ease: 49.15 48.8420337079 101% => OK
smog_index: 8.8 7.92365168539 111% => OK
flesch_kincaid_grade: 11.9 12.1743820225 98% => OK
coleman_liau_index: 12.89 12.1639044944 106% => OK
dale_chall_readability_score: 8.53 8.38706741573 102% => OK
difficult_words: 138.0 100.480337079 137% => OK
linsear_write_formula: 12.0 11.8971910112 101% => OK
gunning_fog: 10.8 11.2143820225 96% => OK
text_standard: 12.0 11.7820224719 102% => OK
What are above readability scores?
---------------------
Maximum six paragraphs wanted.
Rates: 66.67 out of 100
Scores by essay e-grader: 4.0 Out of 6
---------------------
Note: the e-grader does NOT examine the meaning of words and ideas. VIP users will receive further evaluations by advanced module of e-grader and human graders.