can someone help me understand at least the question to my essay?

Question

i have a huge important essay due and my grade pretty much depends on it, but liek i still dont understand the question nor do i kno where to begin. I even asked the teacher, but he doesnt even understand it properly. he just confused me a lot more. can someone help me? the question is....


Prompt: All semester long we have seen how characters define themselves amidst external influences; we have also examined how we, ourselves, have been similarly shaped by outside forces. In this process, we have seen the need for people to reconcile that which we have control over and that which we don’t. In that reconciliation, to what degree do those external influences have power over us and to what degree do we have power over them?

Answer 1

Here's my interpretation of the prompt:

The past semester you've studied how outside influences affect you and the characters you studied. While doing this, you've learned that some of those influences you can control, and others, you can't. How much power does each influence have over you? How much power do you have over said influences?

Answer 2

That sounds complicated, but it seems like it really boils down to your personal opinion of how people handle things they can't control, for example natural disasters, politics, illnesses, or accidents. People come to realize that some things they cannot control and some things they can. What I think the question is asking is this: how much will people let these situations control them? and what power do the people have over these situations? The answer to that last question is basically very little. As a rule an individual does not have a great deal of power over others, certainly not over weather, and not much over accidents and misfortune.
I don't know what characters you studied so I can't be specific. But look back on what you studied and figure out what situations were beyond the control of these characters. List those. And then tell how these characters came to realize they had no control over the situation and what they did about it.
Then look back and find the situations that the people DID have some control over. List those and tell what the people did to control those things.
Then to sum it up, tell your opinion about how much power people have over situations. For instance, we can't stop a tornado but we can be prepared with shelter and supplies. We can't stop someone else from calling us names or being hateful to us, but we can avoid that person. We can't stop illnesses, but we can try to keep our bodies as healthy as possible to be able to fight illness. See what I mean?
You are right. It's a hard question.

Answer 3

It is asking you to use the material you have read and researched all year to help you explain how external things such as your family, friends, beliefs, social status, or even your school, can influence us in our forgiving people or how you react to people that have wronged you and how much control do you have to not allow anyone elses opinion to influence how you will react to it.

Example...real simple one.
You are walking in the lunch room a dorky girl bumps you by mistake. Do you take the high road even though your friends are right there with you or do you spaz just to save your rep. Now why do you make those decisions? You have to explain both why it is easy to not give in to the crowd and why it is sometimes not so easy to walk away from things.

Hope This Helps!!

Answer 4

You're supposed to write an essay about good things and bad things that influence you. For instance, if you have a happy home life you can write about how secure and loved you feel and as a result you can deal with rude people or whatever without falling apart over it. You also need to write some about how you have dealt with conquering something, like a phobia, and how that has affected you.

Answer 5

Have you tried asking anyone else in your class? From what I am reading, it seems like the question is asking whether or not an individual has control over external influences, or if they have power over us. Like...do we has humans can we control recycling? Something like that.

If no one in your class understands, try going to the head of the department, or gathering everyone in the class to bring it up in class.

Good luck and let us know what happens!

Answer 6

So.......knowing that you only have control over certain things, how do you feel that outside forces effect your life. School, government, religion.....how do these things affect you, and what do you do that can affect them......hopefully thats on the right track...

Answer 7

Explain how the world shapes who we are and what we do in life and to what degree can we overcome those obstacles and still become successful in life.....For example what effect does being poor have on our status in the world and the chances we have in life and how can we change that and become successful.

Answer 8

How far do to those who affect you (friends, family) have power upon you, and how far do you have power over them. They influence you up to what point, and vice versa.

Answer 9

basically explain how the outside world ie. your family, friends, school, church.. have affected you and tell about how much you can control these things.. like with your family, you don't have too much control over that prolly, but with your friends you do because you can choose them.

Answer 10

your teacher wants to know how external influences impact our lives, and he also wants to know what power, if any, we have to control them.