SECTION B
Essay
125 marks
Nearly all men can stand adversity, but to test the character, give him power.
WRITE IN
90 min
1,000–1,200 words
Reading the topic
The topic says most people can endure hardship, but power reveals true character, because it removes external constraints and tempts people to misuse authority. The examiner expects the essay to examine how power corrupts or ennobles, why institutional checks matter, and what inner qualities let some leaders use power with restraint.
ThesisPower is the real test of character because it removes outside restraints, so societies must both cultivate inner integrity in leaders and build institutions that check those who fail the test.
Dimensions to cover
- 1Individual: a person humble in struggle may become arrogant in office, because adversity limits choices while power multiplies them
- 2Psychology: experiments and studies suggest that unchecked authority can push ordinary people toward abuse
- 3History: rulers who voluntarily gave up or restrained power set lasting democratic norms
- 4Polity: constitutional checks, term limits and independent institutions exist because character alone cannot be trusted
- 5Administration: civil servants show character in how they treat citizens who cannot complain or retaliate
- 6Ethics: power can also ennoble, when it is used to correct past wrongs and serve the vulnerable
Counter-view
- Some argue adversity is the harder test, since many break under poverty, war or persecution. The essay should accept that adversity tests endurance, and argue that power tests something different: whether one remains just when there is no one to stop injustice
Open and close
- Open: Begin with a newly posted young officer who, as a struggling aspirant, was humiliated in a government office, and now sits behind that same kind of desk
- Close: Conclude that the true measure of a person is how they treat those over whom they have power, and good institutions make passing that test easier
Where marks usually go
- Attributing the quote confidently to Lincoln, which is widely disputed
- Discussing only political power and ignoring power within families, workplaces and bureaucracy
- Becoming purely cynical that all power corrupts, without examples of restrained, ethical power
Examples that fit
- ThinkerLord Acton wrote in an 1887 letter that power tends to corrupt and absolute power corrupts absolutely, the classic warning on power and character.Letter to Bishop Mandell Creighton (1887), Lord Acton
- HistoryAfter the Emergency of 1975 to 1977, the 44th Amendment made internal disturbance insufficient grounds for an emergency, requiring armed rebellion and written Cabinet advice.Constitution (Forty-fourth Amendment) Act, 1978
- HistoryGeorge Washington declined to seek a third term and stepped down in 1797, establishing a norm of peaceful transfer that later became law.Washington's Farewell Address (1796); US Constitution, 22nd Amendment
- HistoryAfter the bloody conquest of Kalinga, Ashoka expressed remorse and turned his imperial power toward dhamma and welfare.Major Rock Edict XIII of Ashoka