Earning an A in Life

The world tests us everyday.
It tests our beliefs, our strength, our intelligence, our patience, and so much more.
Every commercial and book tries to skew our opinions, tell us what we should think and what we need; they dare us to disagree.
    When we are young, we simple believe whatever our parents or teachers tell us. We know no other way. It takes years of practice to learn how to disagree and think for oneself, especially if the speaker has more authority and experience.
    But AP English has helped me do just so.
    I was reading a fascinating book the other day, Michael Drosnin’s Bible Code III, and I realized that I do not agree with everything he says. He speaks about a code in the bible that predicted Obama’s victory in the election, the terrors of 9/11, many previous wars, and the Tsunamis, against nearly incalculable odds. It even describes of the exact location and structures of an Al Quada terrorist base which Israeli satellite images later confirmed. But he also talks about upcoming terrorist threats and how Obama will need to lead America through some huge war to prevent absolute chaos.
     I actually recognized he techniques he uses, such as repetition, the pathos of fear, and logos to get his point across. He tries to scare his audience into doing something by continuously asking them to imagine a world where Washington D.C. has fallen due to an atomic bomb. He uses descriptive diction to depict this terrifying scene. Although I found the code and matrices intriguing, I could not help feeling slightly manipulated.  He accuses America’s government and people of ignorance. But if I believed everything he said, would not I be ignorance too?
I realized that AP English has helped me to find biases in everyday life. By noting his techniques, I understood his desired outcome and could therefore judge the book from a more objective point of view.
AP English helps me ace the test of my beliefs.
Unlike the common cliche phrase, ignorance is not always bliss.