How to See the World

How to see the world

I think that we are inclined to accept that it is true after we watch just one side of the fact, which means our opinions or views of point are apt to be contaminated by distorted information or prejudiced sight through this process. For this reason, reading a short speech by Mario Cuomo and the opening passage of A Tale of Two Cities written by Charles Dickens gave us good examples about how to see the fact or the world. Their writings warn us to be careful not to see just one side of the fact when we accept the reality. So, in this essay, I would like to review their writings to confirm what kinds of methods they used in their writings to express their views of point about a specific topic, and I want to point out a flaw if it is in their writings.

First, let’s look at Mario Cuomo’s writing. Mario Cuomo tried to explain how much U.S president, Ronald Reagan, had a limited viewpoint about his country by quoting a part of his speech. The part is “a city on a hill.” In fact, the original sentence of this quote came from the bible.

Matthew 5: 14 "You are the light of the world. A city on a hill cannot be hidden. 15 Neither do people light a lamp and put it under a bowl. Instead they put it on its stand, and it gives light to everyone in the house. 16 In the same way, let your light shine before men, that they may see your good deeds and praise your Father in heaven.[1] 

If we read the original phrase, we can easily guess what “a shining city on a hill” means. Ronald Reagan might use “a shining city on a hill” as a metaphor that America is a unique country that takes care of the rest of the world. However, Mario Cuomo disagreed with Reagan’s opinion. Instead of it, he insisted that America could be shown “a shining city on a hill” only if the observer was in “the portico of the white house or the veranda of ranch”. In other words, if the observer visits many places and experiences diverse lifestyles, he will realize that America is not...