Do you agree or disagree that changing your outward appearance is the best way to initiate life change (sociology)
☆Let’s
Think
1.
Give
examples of changing your outward appearance.
2.
Give
examples of life change.
3.
Have
you ever experienced a life change or seen that happen to others? What do you
think caused the change?
Notes:
1.
Changing
your outward appearance would be changing your fashion style and having a
cosmetic surgery. It also includes gaining physical health such as taking up
exercise or alteration of your diet.
2.
Life
changes would be having a personality change, gaining confidence, or going
through a transformation in relationships.
☆Hints
for Points
Agree
1.
Since
good looks is everything in life, especially among young people, change of
outward appearance means change of life.
2.
You
gain stronger self-confidence by representing yourself differently than before.
3.
Others
will see you in a new light, and this will give a profound influence on your
lifestyle such as confidence and attitude.
4.
Depending
on the situation, people around you may treat you totally differently if a
person changes the person’s looks. For example, if an unkempt person starts
paying attention to hygiene and becomes clean and tidy, friends and family will
be nicer to the person than before.
Disagree
1.
Transformation
of the outward appearance is not a cause but a result of a transformation of
the inner-self, the person’s mind and soul.
2.
Soul-searching,
deep reflection of yourself, leads to a fundamental transformation of yourself,
which leads to change of your attitude, which leads to change of your life.
3.
Learning
logical and critical thinking and making cognitive changes strengthen your mind
and underpin your approach to the world.
4.
Pulling
through a trial or challenge drastically improves the person’s physical
expression.
5.
Meeting
a new person or moving to a new place helps start all over again, start anew.
6.
Becoming
beautiful can be a curse.
☆Sample
Answer for Ideas and Expressions
【Supporting Details】I believe that a good life
comes from constant hard work and good relationships. Therefore, to make
efforts for a long time, always conscious of the environment around you and
adjusting yourself to a new situation, is the best and the only way to initiate
life change. Working on your outer looks can be a part of this endeavour, but
not the main factor to achieve a better life.
【Counterargument-treatment】Outward looks is mostly in
the area of fortune. For example, a skin color decides the survival rate of a
baby, the average life-time income, and the average life span in the US. Being
born as a black person in a ghetto almost certainly tells the person that
making efforts is useless. No matter how good and nice the person is, prejudice
and discrimination halt the advancement of the person as the way the world or
at least a certain group of people looks at the person won’t change and black
people cannot change their skin color. However, their earnest and tenacious
work to build a good life and society supported by faith in goodness or belief
in human favor for genuine integrity in life has gradually but surely has built
a good presence of the black population in the American society. Another
example is successful immigrants. It is clear that it was not their physical
appearance that initiated the improvement of their lives. Doing jobs that no
one wants to do day and night, while making efforts to blend in society by
making friends with the native residents, has led to their prosperity.
【Conclusion】Therefore, changing outward appearance
is not the best way to get out of your current situation although it can be a big
issue for many people. (320 words)
DRAFT
