It has been said, “Not everything that is learned is contained in books.” Compare and contrast knowledge gained from experience with knowledge gained from books. In your opinion, which source is more important? Why?
Books have always been an important part of life. Hundreds of people have written books that millions will read. Reading books is a great way to increase knowledge but not everything can be learned from them. Books are not able to replace real life experiences but motivate and improve imagination.
On the one hand, it would be a crucial mistake to learn only from books because they are usually based on the one men experience. It does not matter who has written the book - a professor of philosophy or a genius for suspense, people still should explore the real world for they own actual experiences. Moreover, that knowledge would let people to be able to immerse themselves into characters of the books and understand the stories better. For example, once I was at the lecture of the korean graphic designer who has said that adjectives like sharp, warm, cold and others are just words. To understand what they actually mean people should touch that particular sharp knife, feel that exact warm summer breeze and so on.
On the other hand, there are many things that can be learned by reading. Books improve imagination and inspire people to develop themselves. For instance, my friend’s father read a book about a fictional actor who made a marvelous career. This story of success was moved my friend’s father so much that he has become a very successful attorney. I saw that book and even tried to read it but it wasn’t my cup of tea.
In summarizing, books are a sure way to learn many things but they can not replace real life experiences. However, both are important. When I have a child I will ask him not only to read books but play with the friends outside.
Hi Pavel, I thought your essay was pretty good, though it did not seem quite as polished as your last one. Although your writing is clear and addresses the prompt well, I guess it just didn’t “grab me”, though I did like your example of the Korean artist. I would still rate this a 4.5 out of 5 though.
Hello Luschen, I’m glad you liked the example of words meaning. Your corrections are very helpful, particularly in the third paragraph where I forgot to sustain my thesis. Also I have not known about avoiding using dashes in TOEFL essays. I will try to grab you next time ) Thank you, I really appreciate your work. PS Have you ever rated anything a 5? )
You will notice an essay from Ezb - if you want to see some great examples of integrated essays, search for his name, all of his integrated essays were excellent.
No no no )) I am definitely not trying to imply anything ) I was just interested in what kind of essays get your top score. Thanks for the tip. I will find out about Ezb then.
Maybe I should start a hall of fame thread with the top essays. Here are some I found: