Prompt 1

Ashley Clark

Mrs. Wilhemus

AP English Lit

25 June 2013

The Garden of Eden

            The mysterious, unknown philosopher from Sophie’s World asks the two questions, “Who are you?” and “Where does the world come from?”. The philosopher, although his motives are still unclear, wants Sophie to start thinking philosophically and starts with those two simple questions. General answers to these questions would be, for example, I am Ashley Clark and the world comes from God. Thinking in a philosophical manner, though, changes the answer to these questions. Beginning to think like a philosopher makes elementary questions take on much more depth.

            “Who are you?” I am the daughter of James West and Karey Wicks but I am lucky enough to have Julie West as my step mom and Darrin Wicks as my step dad. Being brought up with two sets of parents has helped make me who I am. I am witty because of my father, hard-headed because of my mother, analytic because of my step dad, and kind and understanding because of my step mom. I have a large family who has helped shape me into the person I am today.

            I attend North High School where I am a junior. I play soccer and I am sixteen. This is what people generally find out about me early on in the new relationship we have created. I like to think of myself as outgoing and friendly but I also know I can be standoffish and shy at times. Like everyone else, my mistakes and past have made me who I am. I have learned my lessons and realized what I am able to do and what I should not do, making me a better person than some people. My parents have raised me well enough to let me be unique but also have led me down the right path. My accomplishments, failures, friends, family, and experiences have made me who I am.

            “Where does the world come from?” I have always been taught the world was created by God. I also believe God created science to perform tasks to create new species, inventions, and much more. Sophie asks herself, “But could anything have always existed?” As far as anyone knows, like Sophie says, space has always existed.  I believe God created space and everything in it, though. It is hard to answer this question because no one knows for certain and it would take extensive thinking and studies to figure out, and then no one would still know how everything.

            “Who are you?” and “Where does the world come from?” are both questions that take much philosophical thinking. Although not impossible to answer, they are both difficult questions to answer if you have never thought like a philosopher before, like me. Before experiencing Sophie’s World, I would have given an extremely general answer but now that I have read the letters from the mysterious philosopher, I process situations with more depth.