“All art is an imitation of nature.”

3. Essay Prompt:

Consider carefully the following quotation. Then read the assignment below it and plan and write your essay as directed.

“All art is an imitation of nature.”

—Seneca, Roman philosopher, c. 4 B.C.–A.D. 65

Assignment: Do you agree with this statement? Plan and write an essay in which you develop your position on this issue. Support your point of view with reasoning and examples taken from your reading, studies, experience, or observations.

Nature consists of the most beautiful creatures and scenery. We see many artists try to capture what they see in the form of sculptures, paintings, drawings, and film, as well as other various forms of media. To say that all art is an imitation of nature, though, is a mistake. Artists create as a means to express themselves. Nature sometimes inspires artistic creation, but artists do not imitate nature. There are similarities between nature and art because artists also tend to copy what they see is perfection. Also, besides nature, there are other influences of inspiration to artists, such as the events in their lives.

When you go to a museum, you can see many renderings of landscape sceneries, plants, animals, and people.

Also, when you are just learning a new task, or just starting a new job, you will require training. Who trains you? It is someone with the expertise and the knowledge. In life, there are always those people you meet that are successful in your eyes. They know more, have more experience than you. They are the greatest people to learn from. In art that applies as well. Artists imitate better artists to get to where they want to me. Mother Nature is the greatest artist of all. The world is filled with her sculptures and creations. For an artist trying to improve his work, She is the best teacher, the greatest artist to imitate. Each flower, each animal, is so unique and detailed.

Being surrounded in Mother Nature, away from the people and the city, can also have an effect on people. It can change people. In the city, it has been proven that people are less prone to obesity because they walk more and have busier lives than people who live in the country. The studies that have been done to prove this reveal the different lifestyles of different parts of the country. An artist who lives in the city, taking a vacation in the countryside, will change. That change will affect the artist's work as well.

Artists create as a means of self expression. The mediums and materials they use are all ways of expressing thought and emotion. All art is not an imitation of nature. Nature is just one form of inspiration. Artists are also inspired by their environment and events that affect their lives. Look at Salvador Dali's work. There are things in his paintings that cannot be seen in nature. It is from his imagination that those paintings were created.

“It is as difficult to start things as it is to finish things.”

Essay Prompt:

Consider carefully the following statement. Then read the assignment below it and plan and write your essay as directed.

“It is as difficult to start things as it is to finish things.”

Assignment: Do you agree with this statement? Plan and write an essay in which you develop your position on this issue. Support your point of view with reasoning and examples taken from your reading, studies, experience, or observations.

People today are fulfilling various roles at the same time. Mothers are sisters are daughters are teachers. Managers are friends are spouses are parents. People are constantly juggling multiple jobs whether they realize it or not. Each job involved different projects with different timelines. It is as difficult to start new things as it is to finish new things because we all have multiple events going on in our lives.

To start something, you need to have the inspiration, the motivation, and the planning to be able to get the ball rolling. For example, when someone decides to lose weight, that idea came from somewhere. They saw a picture in a magazine, or they were inspired by stories of others who have achieved a goal. This initially inspires and motivates a person to decide to lose weight. Next is the difficult step. How to lose weight? To lose weight, one must plan to go to the gym or to go to a park to exercise. It is difficult for someone to start losing weight because they are so used to their current routine. Starting a new routine also takes people out of their comfort zone, out of an environment they are used to, and that makes people shy and scared.

After you have started something and gotten in the rhythm of your new routine, you have the challenge of staying focused. Most times, when people start to see results, they feel like, ok, I can stop. They haven't reached their goal yet and they want to quit because they think they have done enough. It is also challenging to continue to stay motivated while reaching your goals. For example when someone is trying to lose weight, they might slack off in the process. You exercise three times a week, so once in a while you feel like you can take a day off. Or when someone is trying to lose weight and they start to see noticeable loss, they will stop because they are content with where they are right now. They don't realize that not continuing with the new routine will just bring them back to where they were before they started exercising.

That is why it is hard to finish. When you become used to a routine, you start to see less change and more repetition. You feel like what you are doing isn't helping anymore so you want to quit. It is easier to just stop what you are doing than to continue. When you are taking classes in school, many times you just want to drop the class because it is too difficult. It is much easier to stop studying and to withdraw from the class, but anyone can do that.

You have to mentally prepare yourself when you decide to start something new. You have to be motivated and set goals for yourself. Starting something new takes you into a new environment, which makes people uncomfortable and uneasy, so that is why starting something new is difficult. Once you have started, you need to continue to motivate yourself and continue on the path towards your goal. When you start something new, you tend to see change dramatically, but when your body becomes used to the routine, the change seems almost stagnant. Perseverance is a quality not many people have. Not many people have this quality because starting and finishing things is difficult. It is challenging.