Below is an example of a written response to the AP English Language and Composition Argumentative Prompt (2011). I will use this in my classroom to model for students the writing process on the AP Exam. (The response was written in a 40-minute timed session when I attended an AP Summer Institute.) I want to show students that AP Readers understand that their writing is a draft and that they will not be marked down because of cross-outs and penmanship that is difficult to read. The caveat I would tell students is to of course try to write as legibly as possible. If the penmanship is very poor, the AP Reader will struggle and may miss important content in the student response.
Prompt--American essayist and social critic H. L. Mencken (1880–1956) wrote, “The average man does not want to be free. He simply wants to be safe.” In a well-written essay, examine the extent to which Mencken’s observation applies to contemporary society, supporting your position with appropriate evidence. (Source: AP Central)
Typed Response—Mencken Prompt
I agree with Mencken’s contention that “the average man does not want to be free. He simply wants to be safe.” However, in our contemporary society there are some qualifications to this assertion. Modern Americans wrestle with the choice between freedom and safety, just as Americans have struggled since the founding of our nation.
The history of America from its inception has demonstrated this dichotomy. Some of the first settlers (the Puritans, for example) left their homeland in England to be “free” to worship as they please and “safe” from the oppression and punishments of King James I and the larger Anglican society. Today the conflict between a desire for freedom and safety is still evident. Entrepreneurs have established lucrative businesses on the premise of safety: such technologies as Life Alert buttons for those older citizens living alone, life insurance policies that provide parents with the comfortable assurance that their families will be provided for and taken care of in the event of their deaths. We also have long-term care insurance that makes us feel less anxious knowing that our medical needs will be met as our health declines with age. Our homes have become fortresses—gated communities with additional “safe” alarm systems and cameras that monitor our grounds to alert us to potential intruders. An entire new industry has been set up to monitor our personal data and to protect us from identity theft. Parents can now know the whereabouts of their children at any time of day by tracking devices in cell phones. Parents can also ensure the safety of their children’s television and Internet usage by applications that restrict access to certain programs and/or websites. These are just a few examples that support Mencken’s argument that the average person prefers a “safe” society.
On the other hand, people’s reaction and outrage to the systems established since the 9/11 terrorist attack demonstrate that Americans still possess a firm belief in freedom. Many were enraged at the revelations of Snowden that revealed widespread access to the “average” American’s cell phone and Internet usage by our government, ironically in the name of “safety.” The Tea Party, which now has tremendous leverage within the Republican party, is in part a reaction to perceived government threats on and interference of our personal freedoms. President Obama has been called the “imperial president,” which is a direct allusion to the early colonists' protestations against King George III. In addition, some Americans and organizations such as the NRA fight any possible restrictions on gun sales, their argument being that all Americans should have the freedom to protect themselves, and out of conspiratorial fears that our leaders may someday try to take control of the “average” man by first disarming him, and then limiting his freedoms.
Our schools, the bastion of our great democracy, have sadly become a metaphor for this conflict between freedom and safety. Every week we hear about another school shooting in the very institution that was established to guarantee all of our freedoms—education. And it is in this venue that Mencken’s statement becomes most relevant. Can we choose freedom to learn, freedom to express ourselves, and freedom to determine the paths we desire in a setting that news media daily reminds us is unsafe? Yet many people refuse to restrict the sale of firearms.
We will continue to wrestle with the choice between freedom and safety, as we cannot even agree on what laws to implement in order to make safe the very institution that first established our ability to make educated choices about life. It seems for the most part that Americans choose safety, but ironically, in some situations (for example, gun laws) they choose freedom, endangering the very setting that first espoused our notion of freedom.
