Tuesday, November 13, 2007

Of Ink and Edge

The following is a very short essay I needed to write for an English class. It is meant to address whether or not the "pen is mightier than the sword." Any thoughts on the topic would be wonderful. Not that it would do me any good; I've already turned the assignment in. Either way, this topic has always interested me.

There isn't really any great reason to include this essay in a blog about songwriting and creativity, but I think the relationship between influential books or news reports and song lyrics or poems should be fairly obvious. So here goes:

It is a defining human quality that one has the ability of choice, to think and process on his own and not rely solely on instinctive programming.

With this quality, man has lifted himself to dominate the earth, leaving competition only with himself.

The ties that bind men so closely are made with fibers of the written word.

The most notable example is the Bible, which has quite possibly changed the world more than any other object or person.

From preventing wars to starting them, holy books are undeniable forces that are capable of uniting people across cultural boundaries.

These books influence the masses unlike anything else.


Speaking in terms of influence, one cannot deny the global power that is embodied in the United States Constitution.

It has played roles in much the same way as the holy books mentioned earlier.

Many hold it just as dear.

One of the Constitution's defining rights is its allowance of both free speech and free press.

The journalists, whom Theodore Roosevelt dubbed "muckrakers", provided one of the most famous example in excercising these rights.

By revealing injustices in the system, these journalists initiated the unprecedented reform that swept the nation from security of workers to voting rights to environmental conservation.

The written word has built mankind, where the sword has only pillaged.

It must be said that, more often than not, the former has built walls to protect many from the latter.

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