practice essay

       We walk into the room knowing we are in for a new experience, we are told to step outside of our comfort zone and accept these new ways of learning. Just like in "The Allegory of the Cave" we 'prisoners' or as we call it students have a set way in the classroom, but in AP English we are asked to become free and think outside the box.

      In "The Allegory of the Cave" we see prisoners that are satisfied with their lives, and don't want  to see the light beyond the cave.  In our new environment of the AP English class we all choose to be "free" and see the light or the new ways of learning things through collaboration. It takes a lot of convincing and time for all of us prisoners to become free, it also takes the freed past students coming in and telling us about the course before we fully accept this new environment. In a sense the cave can be described as a classroom with many desks and posters and writing on the walls.
   
      We students reflect Plato's meaning of the Allegory because we are breaking free and taking charge of our education, we are becoming the individuals he wanted the prisoners to become. Plato stated in the Allegory that knowledge was a key factor to becoming free and seeing the light, and being in the classroom gives us a unique education that we have never had before. We relate to the theme of the Allegory, to see the light and become unique. We gain a sense of this theme through all the literary devices Plato uses in the story. The use of metaphors allows us to imagine what the cave would look like, and how people may want to break free of it when given the opportunity. We know what the average classroom consists of, and we willingly took on a course that would change all of that.

     If a character from " No Exit" were to be in this classroom they would probably try to get out and not understand why it felt like Hell to them. They wouldn't understand the way we all try and bring our thoughts together and help each other through collaboration. Because in "No Exit" Sartre describes Hell as the people around you the characters in "No Exit" would surely not like this classroom environment at all.

     Thinking outside the box isn't just something we strive to do on our own, something inspires us to do so. We get a clear picture of this through the prisoners, they are content with their lives until they get a sense of what it is like outside of the cave. In both "The Allegory of the Cave" and "No Exit" we see through characterization and metaphors how each author wants to portray individuals changing their ways and thoughts about certain situations. Being inside this classroom would allow the prisoner a new perspective, and make the characters from " No Exit" want to leave because they don't like the people they are with.