essay 2022 pdf

Sample Essays: Writing with MLA Style

Congratulations to the students whose essays were selected for the 2024 edition of Writing with MLA Style! Essays were selected as examples of excellent student writing that use MLA style for citing sources. Essays have been lightly edited. 

If your institution subscribes to MLA Handbook Plus , you can access annotated versions of the essays selected in 2022 and 2023. 

Writing with MLA Style: 2024 Edition

The following essays were selected for the 2024 edition of Writing with MLA Style. The selection committee for high school submissions was composed of Lisa Karakaya, Hunter College High School; and Heather Smith, Dedham Public Schools. The selection committee for postsecondary submissions was composed of Rachel Ihara, Kingsborough Community College, City University of New York; Tarshia L. Stanley, Wagner College; and Joyce MacDonald, University of Kentucky.

High School Essays

Miguel Kumar (Ransom Everglades School)

“McCarthyism at the Movies: The Effects of Hollywood McCarthyism on the American Public”

Catherine Mao (Hunter College High School)

“ Beauty Is in the Eye of the Beholder, and the Beholder Is a White Man: The 1875 Page Act, Eugenics, and Beauty Standards for Chinese Women versus American Women ”

Undergraduate Essays

Rachelle Dumayas  (California State University, Sacramento)

“Should Deaf Children Get Cochlear Implants?”

Holly Nelson (Johns Hopkins University)

“Creating Space? Representations of Black Characters in Regency Romance”

Chloe Wiitala (University of Minnesota, Duluth)

“ Reanimating Queer Perspectives through Camp: A Study of Frankenstein and Its Parodic Film Adaptations ”

Writing with MLA Style: 2023 Edition

The following essays were selected for the 2023 edition of Writing with MLA Style. The 2023 selection committee was composed of Ellen C. Carillo, University of Connecticut (chair); Rachel Ihara, Kingsborough Community College, City University of New York; and Tarshia L. Stanley, Wagner College.

Caroline Anderson (Pepperdine University)

“ L’Appel du Vide : Making Spaces for Sinful Exploration in The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde ”

Hunter Daniels (University of South Carolina, Aiken)

“Biblical Legalism and Cultural Misogyny in The Tragedy of Mariam ”

Aspen English (Southern Utah University)

“Putting the ‘Comm’ in Comics: A Communication-Theory-Informed Reading of Graphic Narratives”

Raul Martin (Lamar University)

“The Book-Object Binary: Access and Sustainability in the Academic Library”

Grace Quasebarth (Salve Regina University)

“Finding a Voice: The Loss of Machismo Criticisms through Translation in Isabel Allende’s The House of the Spirits ”

Writing with MLA Style: 2022 Edition

The following essays were selected for the 2022 edition of Writing with MLA Style. The 2022 selection committee was composed of Ellen C. Carillo, University of Connecticut; Jessica Edwards, University of Delaware (chair); and Deborah H. Holdstein, Columbia College Chicago.

Kaile Chu (New York University, Shanghai)

“Miles Apart: An Investigation into Dedicated Online Communities’ Impact on Cultural Bias”

Sietse Hagen (University of Groningen)

“The Significance of Fiction in the Debate on Dehumanizing Media Portrayals of Refugees”

Klara Ismail (University of Exeter)

“Queering the Duchess: Exploring the Body of the Female Homosexual in John Webster’s The Duchess of Malfi ”

Yasmin Mendoza (Whittier College)

“Banning without Bans”

Niki Nassiri (Stony Brook University)

“Modern-Day US Institutions and Slavery in the Twenty-First Century”

Samantha Wilber (Palm Beach Atlantic University)

“‘Pero, tu no eres facil’: The Poet X as Multicultural Bildungsroman”

Writing with MLA Style: 2019 Edition

The following essays were selected for the 2019 edition of Writing with MLA Style. The 2019 selection committee was composed of Jessica Edwards, University of Delaware; Deborah H. Holdstein, Columbia College Chicago (chair); and Liana Silva, César E. Chavez High School, Houston, Texas.

Catherine Charlton (University of King’s College, Nova Scotia)

“‘Coal Is in My Blood’: Public and Private Representations of Community Identity in Springhill, Nova Scotia”

Alyiah Gonzales (California Polytechnic State University)

“Disrupting White Normativity in Langston Hughes’s ‘I, Too’ and Toni Morrison’s ‘Recitatif’”

Meg Matthias (Miami University, Ohio)

“Prescriptions of (Living) Historical Happiness: Gendered Performance and Racial Comfort in Reenactment”

Jennifer Nguyen  (Chaminade University of Honolulu)

“The Vietnam War, the American War: Literature, Film, and Popular Memory”

Emily Schlepp (Northwest University)

“A Force of Love: A Deconstructionist Reading of Characters in Dickens’s  Great Expectations ”

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Essay Paper UPSC 2022 (Mains): Question Paper and Analysis

Last updated on September 16, 2022 by ClearIAS Team

The Essay Paper in UPSC CSE 2022 was easy compared to previous years. Please find the questions in the Essay Paper of the UPSC 2022 Civil Services Mains Examination (written).

UPSC conducted the Essay Paper , as part of the Civil Services Main Exam 2022 on 16-09-2022. The question paper was not as shocking as last year.

There were 8 Essay topics, out of which candidates were asked to write on two topics in 3 hours.

Candidates were supposed to answer about 1000 words for each essay (about 10-12 pages).

Table of Contents

Essay Paper UPSC 2022 Instructions

• Total Marks: 250 marks, Time duration: 3 hours.
• The essay must be written in the medium authorized in the admission certificate which must be stated clearly on the cover of this question-cum-answer (QCA) booklet in the space provided.
• No marks will be given for answers written in a medium other than the authorized one.
• Word limit, as specified, should be adhered to.
• Any page or portion of the page left blank, must be struck off clearly.

Essay Question Paper – UPSC Civil Services Main Exam (Written) 2022

Write two essays, choosing one topic from each of the following Sections A and B, in about 1000-1200 words each:

• Forests are the best case studies for economic excellence.
• Poets are the unacknowledged legislators of the world.
• History is a series of victories won by the scientific man over the romantic man.
• A ship in the harbour is safe but that is not what a ship is for.
• The time to repair the roof is when the sun is shining.
• You cannot step twice in the same river.
• Smile is the chosen vehicle for all ambiguities.
• Just because you have a choice, it does not mean that any of them has to be right.

UPSC , as always, has ensured that the essay topics were much different from the GS questions.

UPSC CSE 2025: Study Plan ⇓

(1) ⇒ UPSC 2025: Prelims cum Mains

(2) ⇒ UPSC 2025: Prelims Test Series

(3) ⇒ UPSC 2025: Fight Back

A philosophical theme is clearly evident in most of the essay topics in Section A as well as Section B. This was the case in 2020 and 2021 as well. It is a clue about what UPSC expects from the essay paper.

Rather than asking candidates to write on topics most aspirants are familiar with or trained with, UPSC is now evaluating the essay writing skills of aspirants by providing them with abstract or philosophical topics. 

This year, most of the topics were either proverbs or famous quotes.

All 8 topics presented this year will test the spontaneous thinking, comprehension, writing skills, and time management of aspirants.

Thinkers, Philosophers, and their Quotes

Let’s analyse the source of some of the question topics.

POETS ARE THE UNACKNOWLEDGED LEGISLATORS OF THE WORLD 

This essay topic is one of the best-known and most frequently quoted lines from the Romantic poet Percy Bysshe Shelley (1792-1822).

Shelley thinks that poets can institute laws and create new materials for knowledge, determining the role of poets as legislators. 

Shelley’s account of poetic language seeks to find an order to the chaos, which, possibly, Shelley sees in human society: the mess that only poets can fathom. 

Therefore, he thinks, the poets’ enhanced poetic language can re-institute order in human society. 

A SHIP IN HARBOUR IS SAFE BUT THAT IS NOT WHAT A SHIP IS FOR 

This essay topic is connected with John A Shedd , an author and professor, who is attributed to this quote. Reference: his book Salt from My Attic , a collection of quotes and sayings (1928).

This phrase means, that getting out of your comfort zone is key to experiencing new things and broadening your horizons.

Only taking risks helps us grow as people—to either achieve our goals or do the things we’ve always wanted to do.

THE TIME  TO REPAIR THE ROOF IS WHEN THE SUN IS SHINING 

This essay topic was connected with John F. Kennedy. In his 1962 State of the Union Address, John F. Kennedy declared, “The best time to repair the roof is when the sun is shining”.

The primary message of the quote is fixing a leak is best done when the weather is good, rather than when it is not.

Ideally, you should begin the work of fixing the roof as soon after the leak was found. The first sunny day would be ideal. It is not easy to fix a roof when it is raining.

This statement is being used to remind us to do the right things at the right time. It also points us to take the advantage of favourable time.

YOU CAN NOT STEP TWICE IN THE SAME RIVER 

This essay topic was quoted by Heraclitus, a Greek philosopher born in 544 b.c.

This means that you cannot step into the same river twice because the flow of the river will change each second. You will also change each second.

It is not possible to repeat past experiences, as time changes all things. You won’t get the exact experience twice. You need to live in the present and enjoy each moment.

A SMILE IS A CHOSEN VEHICLE FOR ALL AMBIGUITIES 

This essay topic was quoted by Herman Melville, an American novelist.

JUST BECAUSE YOU HAVE A CHOICE DOES NOT MEAN THAT ANY OF THEM HAS TO BE RIGHT 

This essay topic was quoted by Norton Juster, an American academic, architect, and writer in his book The Phantom Tollbooth

What should aspirants preparing for next year do for an essay paper?

First of all, you should take the essay paper seriously.

Unless properly trained, it is not easy to write 10-12 pages on an abstract or philosophical topic.

You need to polish your comprehension and analytical skills.

Read different kinds of essays – particularly philosophical essays.

Give stress to the thoughts of philosophers like Immanuel Kant, Thomas Aquinas, John Locke, Friedrich Niche, Karl Marx etc. Start writing essays on famous quotes.

Also, be prepared to write essays touching on other areas like society, politics, economy, or technology. UPSC is known for surprises.

Remember that there is nothing like a constant trend with respect to UPSC questions.

What you get by analysing the previous year’s question papers are clues. And only those are what you need from UPSC questions!

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UPSC Essay Topic wise Question Papers of last 31 years (1993-2023) for Civil Services IAS/IPS Exam Free Download

In the UPSC mains examination, essay paper is worth 250 marks and three hours. Here is the topic wise questions from the earlier years for the benefit of civil service IAS IPS aspirants.

1.1 India Since Independence

1.2 federalism, decentralization, 1.3 administration, 1.4 judiciary, 1.5 poverty, social justice, 1.6 indian society, culture and values, 1.7 media, tv & cinema, literature, 2.1 growth vs development, 2.2 environment vs development, 2.4 sectors of economy, 3.1 values in education, 3.2 scheme implementation, 3.3 higher education, 4.1 character, honesty, ethics, 4.2 knowledge, 4.3 compassion, 4.4 truth and reality, 4.5 youth, discipline, 4.6 towards excellence, 5.1 @national politics, 5.2 @world / quote type, 5.3 empowerment overall, 5.4 compared to men, 6.1 globalization, 6.2 international org./ bilateral, 6.3 security, 6.4 history, 7.1 science and religion, 7.2 science and education, 7.3 computer and internet, 7.4 sci-tech: others, appendix: linear paper of upsc essay 2023, appendix: linear paper of upsc essay 2022, appendix: model answer pe free lecture & powerpoint, appendix: syllabus of essay paper in upsc, 1 india: democracy, administration, society, culture.

• Is the Colonial mentality hindering India’s Success? -2013
• In the context of Gandhiji’s views on the matter, explore, on an evolutionary scale, the terms ‘Swadhinata’, ‘Swaraj’ and ‘Dharmarajya’. Critically comment on their contemporary relevance to Indian democracy -2012
• Dreams which should not let India sleep. -2015
• Why should we be proud of being Indians? -2000
• Whither Indian democracy? -1995
• How far has democracy in India delivered the goods? -2003
• What we have not learnt during fifty years of independence. -1997
• What have we gained from our democratic set-up? -2001
• My vision of India in 2001 a.d. -1993
• Impact of the new economic measures on fiscal ties between the union and states in India. -2017
• Water disputes between States in federal India. -2016
• Cooperative federalism : Myth or reality. -2016
• Creation of smaller states and the consequent administrative, economic and developmental implication -2011
• Evaluation of panchayati raj system in India from the point of view of eradication of power to people. -2007
• Water resources should be under the control of the central government. -2004
• The language problem in India: its past, present and prospects. -1998
• There are better practices to “best practices”. -2021
• How should a civil servant conduct himself? -2003
• Politics without ethics is a disaster. -1995
• The VIP cult is a bane of Indian democracy -1996
• Need for transparency in public administration -1996
• The country’s need for a better disaster management system. -2000
• Politics, bureaucracy and business – fatal triangle. -1994
• We may brave human laws but cannot resist natural laws. -2017
• Justice must reach the poor -2005
• Judicial activism and Indian democracy. -2004
• Judicial activism. -1997
• A society that has more justice is a society that needs less charity. (- जिस समाज में अधिक न्याय होता है उस समाज को दान की कम आवश्यकता होती है।) – 2023
• There can be no social justice without economic prosperity but economic prosperity without social justice is meaningless (बिना आर्थिक समृद्धि के सामाजिक न्याय नहीं हो सकता, किन्तु बिना सामाजिक न्याय के आर्थिक समृद्धि निरर्थक है ) -2020
• Neglect of primary health care and education in India are reasons for its backwardness. -2019
• The focus of health care is increasingly getting skewed towards the ‘haves’ of our society. -2009
• Food security for sustainable national development -2005
• Reservation, politics and empowerment. -1999
• Culture is what we are, civilization is what we have (जो हम है, वह संस्कार; जो हमारे पास है, वह सभ्यता ) -2020
• Indian culture today: a myth or a reality? -2000
• Modernism and our traditional socio-ethical values. -2000
• The composite culture of India. -1998
• The Indian society at the crossroads. -1994
• From traditional Indian philanthropy to the gates-buffet model-a natural progression or a paradigm shift? -2010
• New cults and godmen: a threat to traditional religion -1996
• Biased media is a real threat to Indian democracy. -2019
• Responsibility of media in a democracy. -2002
• Role of media in good governance -2008
• Does Indian cinema shape our popular culture or merely reflect it? -2011
• How has satellite television brought about cultural change in Indian mindsets? -2007
• Is sting operation an invasion on privacy? -2014
• Mass media and cultural invasion. -1999
• The misinterpretation and misuse of freedom in India. -1998
• Poets are the unacknowledged legislators of the world (कवि संसार के अनधिकृत रूप से विधायक होते हैं) – 2022

2 Economy, Development

• Poverty anywhere is a threat to prosperity everywhere. -2018
• Digital economy: A leveller or a source of economic inequality. -2016
• Innovation is the key determinant of economic growth and social welfare. -2016
• Near jobless growth in India: An anomaly or an outcome of economic reforms. -2016
• Crisis faced in India – moral or economic. -2015
• Was it the policy paralysis or the paralysis of implementation which slowed the growth of our country? -2014
• GDP (Gross Domestic Product) along with GDH (Gross Domestic Happiness) would be the right indices for judging the wellbeing of a country-2013
• Can capitalism bring inclusive growth? -2015
• Resource management in the Indian context. -1999
• Economic growth without distributive justice is bound to breed violence. -1993
• Forests are the best case studies for economic excellence (आर्थिक समृद्धि हासिल करने के मामले में वन सर्वोत्तम प्रतिमान होते हैं।) – 2022
• Alternative technologies for a climate change resilient India. -2018
• Should a moratorium be imposed on all fresh mining in tribal areas of the country? -2010
• Urbanisation and its hazards -2008
• Protection of ecology and environment is essential for sustained economic development. -2006
• Urbanization is a blessing in disguise. -1997
• Ecological considerations need not hamper development. -1993
• Globalization would finish small-scale industries in India. -2006
• Multinational corporations – saviours or saboteurs -1994
• Special economic zone: boon or bane -2008
• Is the criticism that the ‘Public-Private-Partnership’ (PPP) model for development is more of a bane than a boon in the Indian context, justified ?-2012
• Farming has lost the ability to be a source of subsistence for majority of farmers in India. -2017
• BPO boom in India. -2007
• Tourism: Can this be the next big thing for India? -2014
• Are our traditional handicrafts doomed to a slow death? -2009

3 Education

• Education is what remains after one has forgotten what one has learned in – school. (- शिक्षा वह है जो विद्यालय में विधालय में सीखी गई बातों को भूल जाने के बाद भी शेष रह जाती है।)
• Destiny of a nation is shaped in its classrooms. -2017
• Education without values, as useful as it is, seems rather to make a man more clever devil-2015
• Independent thinking should be encouraged right form the childhood. -2007
• Are the standardized tests good measure of academic ability or progress? -2014
• Irrelevance of the classroom. -2001
• Is the growing level of competition good for the youth? -2014
• Literacy is growing very fast, but there is no corresponding growth in education. -1996
• Is an egalitarian society possible by educating the masses ? -2008
• What is real education? -2005
• “Education for all” campaign in India: myth or reality. -2006
• Restructuring of Indian education system. -1995
• Privatization of higher education in India. -2002
• Credit – based higher education system – status, opportunities and challenges -2011

4 Quote based, Philosophy, Ethics

• A smile is the chosen vehicle for all ambiguities (हर असमंजस के लिए मुस्कराहट ही चुनिन्दा साधन है) – 2022
• Philosophy of wantlessness is a Utopian, while materialism is a chimera. -2021
• Your perception of me is a reflection of you; my reaction to you is an awareness of me. -2021
• Simplicity is the ultimate sophistication (सरलता चरम परिष्करण है ) -2020
• Ships don’t sink because of water around them ships sink because of water that gets into them (जहाज अपने चारों तरफ के पानी के वजह से नहीं डूबा करते, जहाज पानी के अंदर समां जाने की वजह से डूबता हैं ) -2020
• Life is a long journey between being human and being humane.  (मनुष्य होने और मानव बनने के बीच का लम्बा सफर ही जीवन है)-2020
• Values are not what humanity is, but what humanity ought to be -2019
• Best for an individual is not necessarily best for the society -2019
• Courage to accept and dedication to improve are two keys to success -2019
• Wisdom finds truth -2019
• A people that values its privileges above its principles loses both. -2018
• Customary morality cannot be a guide to modem file. -2018
• Need brings greed, if greed increases it spoils breed. -2016
• Character of an institution is reflected in its leader. -2015
• With greater power comes greater responsibility. -2014
• Words are sharper than the two-edged sword. -2014
• Attitude makes, habit makes character and character makes a man. -2007
• He would reigns within himself and folds his passions and desires and fears is more than a king. -1993
• Thinking is like a game, it does not begin unless there is an opposite team. (- सोच एक खेल की तरह है, यह तब तक शुरू नहीं होता है जब तक कि एक विपरीत टीम/पक्ष न हो।) – 2023
• Mathematics is the music of reason. (- गणित ज्ञान का संगीत है।) – 2023
• The real is rational and the rational is real. -2021
• Mindful manifesto is the catalyst to a tranquil self (विचारपरक संकल्प स्वयं के शांतचित्त रहने का उत्प्रेरक है )-2020
• ‘The past’ is a permanent dimension of human consciousness and values. -2018
• A good life is one inspired by love and guided by knowledge. -2018
• There is nothing either good or bad but thinking makes it so. -2003
• Disinterested intellectual curiosity is the lifeblood of civilisation. -1995
• Joy is the simplest form of gratitude. -2017
• Compassion is the basic of all morality of the world -1993
• Lending hands to someone is better than giving a dole. -2015
• Be the change you want to see in others (Gandhi)-2013
• Just because you have a choice, it does not mean that any of them has to be right (केवल इसलिए कि आपके पास विकल्प हैं, इसका यह अर्थ कदापि नहीं है कि उनमें से किसी को भी ठीक होना ही होगा) – 2022
• Reality does not conform to the ideal, but confirms it. -2018
• Truth is lived, not taught -1996
• When money speaks, the truth is silent. -1995
• Search for truth can only be a spiritual problem. -2002
• The time to repair the roof is when the sun is shining (छप्पर मरम्मत करने का समय तभी होता है, जब धूप खिली हुई हो) – 2022
• You cannot step twice in the same river (आप उसी नदी में दोबारा नहीं उतर सकते) – 2022
• Discipline means success, anarchy means ruin -2008
• Youth is a blunder, manhood a struggle, old age a regret -1994
• If youth knew, if age could. -2002
• Youth culture today. -1999
• Fifty Golds in Olympics: Can this be a reality for India? -2014
• Visionary decision-making happens at the intersection of intuition and logic. (- दूरदर्शी निर्णय तभी लिए जाते है अंतर्ज्ञान और तर्क का परस्पर मेल होता है।) – 2023
• Not all who wander are lost. (- भटकने वाले सभी गुम नहीं हो जाते।) – 2023
• Inspiration for creativity springs from the effort to look for the magical in the mundane (- रचनात्मकता की प्रेरणा अलौकिक ता में चमत्कार ढूंढने के प्रयास से उपजति है) – 2023
• A ship in harbour is safe, but that is not what ship is for (जहाज बन्दरगाह के भीतर सुरक्षित होता है, परन्तु इसके लिए तो वह होता नहीं है) – 2022
• Quick but steady wins the race. -2015
• Useless life is an early death. -1994
• Our deeds determine us, as much as we determine our deeds. -1995
• The paths of glory lead but to the grave. -2002
• The pursuit of excellence. -2001

5 Women empowerment

• Greater political power alone will not improve women’s plight. -1997
• Women’s reservation bill would usher in empowerment for women in India. -2006
• The new emerging women power: the ground realities. -1995
• Hand that rocks the cradle rules the world. -2021
• If women ruled the world -2005
• The hand that rocks the cradle -2005
• Patriarchy is the least noticed yet the most significant structure of social inequality (पितृ-सत्ता की व्यवस्था नजर मैं बहुत काम आने के बावजूद सामाजिक विषमता की सबसे प्रभावी संरचना है) -2020
• Fulfilment of ‘new woman’ in India is a myth. -2017
• If development is not engendered, it is endangered. -2016
• Whither women’s emancipation? -2004
• Empowerment alone cannot help our women. -2001
• Women empowerment: challenges and prospects. -1999
• Woman is god’s best creation. -1998
• Men have failed: let women take over. -1993
• Managing work and home – is the Indian working woman getting a fair deal ?-2012

6 International issues, Internal Security, History

• South Asian societies are woven not around the state, but around their plural cultures and plural identities. -2019
• Modernisation and westernisation are not identical concepts. -1994
• ‘globalization’ vs. ‘nationalism’ -2009
• National identity and patriotism -2008
• Globalizations and its impact on Indian culture. -2004
• The masks of new imperialism. -2003
• As civilization advances culture declines. -2003
• The implications of globalization for India. -2000
• My vision of an ideal world order. -2001
• India’s contribution to world wisdom. -1998
• The world of the twenty-first century. -1998
• Preparedness of our society for India’s global leadership role. -2010
• Technology as the silent factor in international relations (अंतर्राष्ट्रीय संबंधों मैं मौन करक के रूप मैं प्रौद्योगिकी) -2020
• Has the Non-Alignment Movement (NAM) lost its relevance in a multipolar world ? -2017
• Restructuring of UNO reflect present realities -1996
• The global order: political and economic -1993
• India’s role in promoting ASEAN co-operation. -2004
• Importance of Indo-US nuclear agreement -2006
• Management of Indian border dispute is a complex task. -2018
• In the Indian context , both human intelligence and technical intelligence are crucial in combating terrorism -2011
• Are we a ‘soft’ state ? -2009
• Good fences make good neighbours -2009
• Is autonomy the best answer to combat balkanization? -2007
• Terrorism and world peace -2005
• True religion cannot be misused. -1997
• History repeats itself, first as tragedy, second as farce. -2021
• Geography may remain the same ; history need not. -2010

7 Science-Technology

• Spirituality and scientific temper. -2003
• Science and Mysticism : Are they compatible ?-2012
• What is research, but a blind date with knowledge! -2021
• Modern technological education and human values. -2002
• Value-based science and education. -1999
• The march of science and the erosion of human values. -2001
• The process of self-discovery has now been technologically outsourced. -2021
• Rise of Artificial Intelligence: the threat of jobless future or better job opportunities through reskilling and upskilling. -2019
• ‘Social media’ is inherently a selfish medium. -2017
• Cyberspace and Internet : Blessing or curse to the human civilization in the long run -2016
• Increasing computerization would lead to the creation of a dehumanized society. -2006
• The cyberworld: its charms and challenges. -2000
• Computer: the harbinger of silent revolution. -1993
• Technology cannot replace manpower. -2015
• Science and technology is the panacea for the growth and security of the nation-2013
• The modern doctor and his patients. -1997
• The lure of space. -2004

Section-A (write any one)

• Thinking is like a game, it does not begin unless there is an opposite team. (- सोच एक खेल की तरह है, यह तब तक शुरू नहीं होता है जब तक कि एक विपरीत टीम/पक्ष न हो।)
• Visionary decision-making happens at the intersection of intuition and logic. (- दूरदर्शी निर्णय तभी लिए जाते है अंतर्ज्ञान और तर्क का परस्पर मेल होता है।)
• Not all who wander are lost. (- भटकने वाले सभी गुम नहीं हो जाते।)
• Inspiration for creativity springs from the effort to look for the magical in the mundane (- रचनात्मकता की प्रेरणा अलौकिक ता में चमत्कार ढूंढने के प्रयास से उपजति है)

Section-B (write any one)

• Girls are weighed down by restrictions, boys with demands – two equally harmful disciplines. (-लड़कियां बंदिशों के तथा लड़के अपेक्षा के बोझ तले दबे हुए होते हैं दोनों ही समान रूप से हानिकारक व्यवस्थाएं हैं।)
• Mathematics is the music of reason. (- गणित ज्ञान का संगीत है।)
• A society that has more justice is a society that needs less charity. (- जिस समाज में अधिक न्याय होता है उस समाज को दान की कम आवश्यकता होती है।)

Answer one-one essay from each section in 1000-1200 words

• History is a series of victories won by the scientific man over the romantic man (इतिहास वैज्ञानिक मनुष्य के रूमानी मनुष्य पर विजय हासिल करने का एक सिलसिला है।) – 2022
• A ship in harbour is safe, but that is not what ship is for (जहाज बन्दरगाह के भीतर सुरक्षित होता है, परन्तु इसके लिए तो वह होता नहीं है) & 2022
• Just because you have a choice, it does not mean that any of them has to be right (केवल इसलिए कि आपके पास विकल्प हैं, इसका यह अर्थ कदापि नहीं है कि उनमें से किसी को भी ठीक होना ही होगा) – 2022

Essay: Candidates may be required to write essays on multiple topics. They will be expected to keep closely to the subject of the essay to arrange their ideas in orderly fashion, and to write concisely. Credit will be given for effective and exact expression.

• CSS Syllabus 2025 |
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CSS English Essay Paper 2022 | FPSC CSS Past Papers 2022

Here, you will have CSS English Essay Paper 2022 conducted by FPSC. You can get all FPSC CSS Past Papers 2022 from CSSMCQs.com.

CSS Essay Paper 2022

1. An analysis of the concept of globalization of markets. 2. Digital democracy: social media and political participation. 3. Global trade and trade policies of China. 4. “Imagination is more important than knowledge.” 5. Global politics and international relations. 6. The controversial issues of feminism in contemporary women’s rights movements 7. World food systems: the economics of agriculture. 8. Is there such a thing as ethical consumerism? 9. Human development and economic sustainability. 10. How is terrorism and its perception shaped by the Mass Media?

View and download | FPSC CSS PAST PAPERS OF CSS 2022

CSS (Compulsory) 2022 Papers: ➤  CSS Essay Paper 2022 ➤ C SS English (Precis & Composition) Paper 2022 ➤  CSS Pakistan Affairs Paper 2022 ➤  CSS Current Affairs Paper 2022 ➤  CSS General Science and Ability Paper 2022 ➤  CSS Islamic Studies Paper 2022

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CSS Past Papers MCQss with answers pdf 2021 General Science and Ability Quiz Past Paper MCQs ENGLISH GRAMMAR MCQs Pakistan Affairs CSS Past Papers 2021 | FPSC CSS Past Papers CSS English Precis And Composition Paper 2021 Solved MCQs Quiz Current Affairs Guess Paper For CSS 2022 By CSS MCQs Today’s Assistant C&W department Past Paper MCQs How many members’ support out of 342 is required for a successful no-confidence motion in the lower house of the parliament? CSS 2018 Solved English Precis & Composition Paper MCQs Quiz Pakistan Affairs 2009 CSS MCQs Past Paper Quiz

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• UPSC Mains 2022 Essay Question Paper

UPSC Mains 2022 Essay Question Paper - Download PDF

The UPSC Mains Essay paper was conducted on Friday, 16th September 2022, in the forenoon session (9 AM to 12 PM). The UPSC Mains 2022 is set to take place on 16, 17, 18, 24 and 25th September 2022.

For other papers in the Mains segment of UPSC, candidates can further check the UPSC Mains 2022 Question Papers page at their own behest.

UPSC Mains Essay Questions 2022 – Download PDF Here

UPSC Mains 2022 Essay Questions

The UPSC Essay paper segment consists of two sections. They are Section A and Section B. Both sections have about four questions each. The candidates have to choose one topic from each section, thus having to answer 2 essay questions in total.

The word limit for each question is to be within the range of 1000-1200 words. The mark for each question is 125, thus, the total allotted marks are about 250.

The paper will be included in the merit ranking.

The Essay Topics asked in the UPSC Mains 2022 are given below:

• Forests are the best case studies for economic excellence.
• Pets are the unacknowledged legislators of the world.
• History is a series of victories won by the scientific man over the romantic man.
• A ship in harbour is safe, but that is not what ship is for.

Section – B

1. The time to repair the roof is when the sun is shining.

2. You cannot step twice in the same river.

3. A smile is the chosen vehicle for all ambiguities.

4. Just because you have a choice, it does not mean that any of them has to be right.

Candidates can also refer to the UPSC Mains 2021 Essay Questions , in the given link.

Some of the useful links for the candidates to prepare for an essay paper are as follows:

The candidates may be required to write essays on multiple topics. While answering the essay questions, the aspirants are expected to keep close to the subject of the essay to arrange their ideas in an orderly manner and to write concisely. It is important to remember that credit will be given for effective and exact expression.

To download the question paper PDFs of General Studies papers, the aspirants can check the links below:

The candidates can also download the question paper PDFs of UPSC Mains 2022 Optional Paper from the linked article.

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Cornell Office of Undergraduate Admissions

Search cornell admissions, cornell first-year writing supplement prompts.

In the online Common Application Writing Supplement for those applying for Fall 2025 entry, please respond to both the Cornell University essay question and the essay prompt that corresponds to the undergraduate college or school to which you are applying.

Cornell University Essay Question

We all contribute to, and are influenced by, the communities that are meaningful to us. Share how you’ve been shaped by one of the communities you belong to. 

Remember that this essay is about you and your lived experience. Define community in the way that is most meaningful to you. Some examples of community you might choose from are: family, school, shared interest, virtual, local, global, cultural. (350 word limit)

College- and School-Specific Essay Questions

College of agriculture and life sciences.

Required: By applying to Cornell’s College of Agriculture of Life Sciences (CALS), you are also applying for direct entry into one of our 20+ majors. From here, you would be part of a community dedicated to purpose-driven science; working within your major and across disciplines to tackle the complex challenges of our time. 

Why are you drawn to studying the major you have selected and specifically, why do you want to pursue this major at Cornell CALS? You should share how your current interests, related experiences, and/or goals influenced your choice. (500-word limit)

Instructions: The optional short-answer questions invite you to share additional information about your background, interests, and experiences as they relate to aspects of the Cornell CALS mission. The content of any responses submitted will be included in the holistic review of your application (which is also the case for any optional additional information submitted as part of your Common Application or uploaded through your Cornell Application Portal once you've applied).

Optional: At Cornell CALS, we aim to leave the world better than we found it, so we seek out those who are passionate about serving the public good. Please elaborate on an experience where you were able to have a meaningful impact on people, a community, and/or an environment of importance to you. (100-word limit)

Optional: Cornell CALS is dedicated to purpose-driven study of the agricultural, life, environmental, and social sciences and welcomes students with interests that span a wide variety of disciplines. Given our agricultural history and commitment to educating the next generation of agriculturalists, please share if you have a background or interest in agriculture, regardless of your intended major. An "agricultural entity" for the purpose of this question is defined as cultivating soil, growing crops, and raising livestock (e.g., farm, ranch, greenhouse, vineyard, etc.). 

Select all that apply:

• A primary source of income for my parent/guardian(s) comes from ownership of or employment by an agricultural entity.
• My extended family owns or operates an agricultural entity.
• I have experience working in an agricultural entity.
• I have interest in pursuing a career in an agricultural entity.                                           

Please feel free to share additional details (optional). (100-word limit)

College of Architecture, Art, and Planning

How do your interests directly connect with your intended major at the College of Architecture, Art, and Planning (AAP)? Why architecture (B.Arch), art (BFA), or urban and regional studies (URS)? B. Arch applicants, please provide an example of how a creative project or passion sparks your motivation to pursue a 5-year professional degree program. BFA applicants may want to to consider how they could integrate a range of interests and available resources at Cornell into a coherent art practice. URS students may want to emphasize their enthusiasm and depth of interest in the study of urban and regional issues. (650 word limit)

College of Arts & Sciences

At the College of Arts and Sciences, curiosity will be your guide. Discuss how your passion for learning is shaping your academic journey, and what areas of study or majors excite you and why. Your response should convey how your interests align with the College, and how you would take advantage of the opportunities and curriculum in Arts and Sciences. (650 word limit)

Cornell Jeb E. Brooks School of Public Policy

Why are you drawn to studying public policy? Drawing on your experiences, tell us about why you are interested in your chosen major and how attending the Brooks School will help you achieve your life goals. (650 word limit)

Cornell SC Johnson College of Business

What kind of a business student are you? Using your personal, academic, or volunteer/work experiences, describe the topics or issues that you care about and why they are important to you. Your response should convey how your interests align with the school to which you are applying within the Cornell SC Johnson College of Business (Charles H. Dyson School of Applied Economics and Management or the Peter and Stephanie Nolan School of Hotel Administration). (650 word limit)

College of Engineering

Instructions: All engineering applicants are required to write two long essays and four short essays.

Long Essay Responses (200 word limit)

• Question 1: Fundamentally, engineering is the application of math, science, and technology to solve complex problems. Why do you want to study engineering?
• Question 2: Why do you think you would love to study at Cornell Engineering?

Short Answer Responses (100 word limit)

• Question 1: What brings you joy?
• Question 2: What do you believe you will contribute to the Cornell Engineering community beyond what you've already detailed in your application? What unique voice will you bring?
• Question 3: What is one activity, club, team, organization, work/volunteer experience or family responsibility that is especially meaningful to you? Please briefly tell us about its significance for you.
• Question 4: What is one award you have received or achievement you have attained that has meant the most to you? Please briefly describe its importance to you. 

College of Human Ecology

How has your decision to apply to the College of Human Ecology (CHE) been shaped and informed by your related experiences? How will what you learn through CHE and your chosen major impact your goals and plans for the future? Your response should demonstrate how your interests and aspirations align with CHE’s programs and mission. (Refer to our essay application tips before you begin.) (650 word limit)

School of Industrial and Labor Relations

Using your personal, academic, or volunteer/work experiences, describe the topics or issues that you care about and why they are important to you. Your response should show us that your interests align with the ILR School. (650 word limit)

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[Download pdf] UPSC IAS Mains 2022 – Essay Question Paper

ForumIAS announcing GS Foundation Program for UPSC CSE 2025-26 from 26th June. Click Here for more information.

UPSC IAS Mains 2022 Examinations have started with the essay paper. After the completion of the examination in the first session, UPSC IAS Mains 2022 Essay Question Paper is out. If you are preparing for the 2023 examination, you can go through the question paper and check the type of topics that are being asked.

Download pdf of UPSC IAS Mains 2022 – Essay Question Paper or View the Images of UPSC IAS Mains 2022 – Essay Question Paper below:

• Forests are the best case studies of economic excellence
• Poets are the unacknowledged legislators of the world
• History is a series of victories won by the scientific man over the romantic men
• A ship in harbour is safe, but that is not what a ship is meant for
• The time to repair the roof is when sun is shining
• You cannot step twice in the same river
• A smile is the chosen vehicle for all ambiguities
• Just because you have a choice, it does not mean that any of them has to be right

To access Previous Year Question Paper  –  Click Here 

Previous Year UPSC Mains Papers

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CSE Toppers' Answer Booklets

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All india rank: 1 (2023).

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Vision IAS Essay Material Notes 2023 PDF

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He is dangerous in word, deed and action

He puts self over country, he loathes the laws we live by, donald trump is unfit to lead.

The editorial board is a group of opinion journalists whose views are informed by expertise, research, debate and certain longstanding values . It is separate from the newsroom.

Next week, for the third time in eight years, Donald Trump will be nominated as the Republican Party’s candidate for president of the United States. A once great political party now serves the interests of one man, a man as demonstrably unsuited for the office of president as any to run in the long history of the Republic, a man whose values, temperament, ideas and language are directly opposed to so much of what has made this country great.

It is a chilling choice against this national moment. For more than two decades, large majorities of Americans have said they are dissatisfied with the direction of the country, and the post-Covid era of stubborn inflation, high interest rates, social division and political stagnation has left many voters even more frustrated and despondent.

The Republican Party once pursued electoral power in service to solutions for such problems, to building “the shining city on a hill,” as Ronald Reagan liked to say. Its vision of the United States — embodied in principled public servants like George H.W. Bush, John McCain and Mitt Romney — was rooted in the values of freedom, sacrifice, individual responsibility and the common good. The party’s conception of those values was reflected in its longstanding conservative policy agenda, and today many Republicans set aside their concerns about Mr. Trump because of his positions on immigration, trade and taxes. But the stakes of this election are not fundamentally about policy disagreements. The stakes are more foundational: what qualities matter most in America’s president and commander in chief.

Mr. Trump has shown a character unworthy of the responsibilities of the presidency. He has demonstrated an utter lack of respect for the Constitution, the rule of law and the American people. Instead of a cogent vision for the country’s future, Mr. Trump is animated by a thirst for political power: to use the levers of government to advance his interests, satisfy his impulses and exact retribution against those who he thinks have wronged him.

He is, quite simply, unfit to lead.

The Democrats are rightly engaged in their own debate about whether President Biden is the right person to carry the party’s nomination into the election, given widespread concerns among voters about his age-related fitness. This debate is so intense because of legitimate concerns that Mr. Trump may present a danger to the country, its strength, security and national character — and that a compelling Democratic alternative is the only thing that would prevent his return to power. It is a national tragedy that the Republicans have failed to have a similar debate about the manifest moral and temperamental unfitness of their standard-bearer, instead setting aside their longstanding values, closing ranks and choosing to overlook what those who worked most closely with the former president have described as his systematic dishonesty, corruption, cruelty and incompetence.

That task now falls to the American people. We urge voters to see the dangers of a second Trump term clearly and to reject it. The stakes and significance of the presidency demand a person who has essential qualities and values to earn our trust, and on each one, Donald Trump fails.

Moral Fitness Matters

Presidents are confronted daily with challenges that require not just strength and conviction but also honesty, humility, selflessness, fortitude and the perspective that comes from sound moral judgment.

If Mr. Trump has these qualities, Americans have never seen them in action on behalf of the nation’s interests. His words and actions demonstrate a disregard for basic right and wrong and a clear lack of moral fitness for the responsibilities of the presidency.

He lies blatantly and maliciously, embraces racists , abuses women and has a schoolyard bully’s instinct to target society’s most vulnerable. He has delighted in coarsening and polarizing the town square with ever more divisive and incendiary language. Mr. Trump is a man who craves validation and vindication, so much that he would prefer a hostile leader’s lies to his own intelligence agencies’ truths and would shake down a vulnerable ally for short-term political advantage . His handling of everything from routine affairs to major crises was undermined by his blundering combination of impulsiveness, insecurity and unstudied certainty.

This record shows what can happen to a country led by such a person: America’s image, credibility and cohesion were relentlessly undermined by Mr. Trump during his term.

None of his wrongful actions are so obviously discrediting as his determined and systematic attempts to undermine the integrity of elections — the most basic element of any democracy — an effort that culminated in an insurrection at the Capitol to obstruct the peaceful transfer of power.

On Jan. 6, 2021, Mr. Trump incited a mob to violence with hateful lies, then stood by for hours as hundreds of his supporters took his word and stormed the Capitol with the aim of terrorizing members of Congress into keeping him in office. He praised these insurrectionists and called them patriots; today he gives them a starring role at campaign rallies, playing a rendition of the national anthem sung by inmates involved with Jan. 6., and he has promised to consider pardoning the rioters if re-elected. He continues to wrong the country and its voters by lying about the 2020 election, branding it stolen, despite the courts, the Justice Department and Republican state officials disputing him. No man fit for the presidency would flog such pernicious and destructive lies about democratic norms and values, but the Trumpian hunger for vindication and retribution has no moral center.

To vest such a person with the vast powers of the presidency is to endanger American interests and security at home as well as abroad. The nation’s commander in chief must uphold the oath to “preserve, protect and defend the Constitution.” It is the closest thing that this secular nation has to a sacred trust. The president has several duties and powers that are his alone: He has the sole authority to launch a nuclear weapon. He has the authority to send American troops into harm’s way and to authorize the use of lethal force against individuals and other nations. Americans who serve in the military also take an oath to defend the Constitution, and they rely on their commander in chief to take that oath as seriously as they do.

Mr. Trump has shown, repeatedly, that he does not. On numerous occasions, he asked his defense secretary and commanders in the American armed forces to violate that oath. On other occasions, he demanded that members of the military violate norms that preserve the dignity of the armed services and protect the military from being used for political purposes. They largely refused these illegal and immoral orders, as the oath requires.

The lack of moral grounding undermines Mr. Trump even in areas where voters view him as stronger and trust him more than Mr. Biden, like immigration and crime. Veering into a kind of brutal excess that is, at best, immoral and, at worst, unconstitutional, he has said that undocumented immigrants were “ poisoning the blood of our country ,” and his advisers say he would aim to round them up in mass detention camps and end birthright citizenship . He has indicated that, if faced with episodes of rioting or crime surges, he would unilaterally send troops into American cities. He has asked aides if the United States could shoot migrants below the waist to slow them down, and he has said that he would use the Insurrection Act to deploy the military against protesters.

During his time in office, none of those things happened because there were enough people in military leadership with the moral fitness to say “no” to such illegal orders. But there are good reasons to worry about whether that would happen again, as Mr. Trump works harder to surround himself with people who enable rather than check his most insidious impulses.

The Supreme Court, with its ruling on July 1 granting presidents “absolute immunity” for official acts, has removed an obstacle to Mr. Trump’s worst impulses: the threat of legal consequences. What remains is his own sense of right and wrong. Our country’s future is too precious to rely on such a broken moral compass.

Principled Leadership Matters

Republican presidents and presidential candidates have used their leadership at critical moments to set a tone for society to live up to. Mr. Reagan faced down totalitarianism in the 1980s, appointed the first woman to the Supreme Court and worked with Democrats on bipartisan tax and immigration reforms. George H.W. Bush signed the Americans With Disabilities Act and decisively defended an ally, Kuwait, against Iraqi aggression. George W. Bush, for all his failures after Sept. 11, did not stoke hate against or demonize Muslims or Islam.

As a candidate during the 2008 race, Mr. McCain spoke out when his fellow conservatives spread lies about his opponent, Barack Obama. Mr. Romney was willing to sacrifice his standing and influence in the party he once represented as a presidential nominee, by boldly calling out Mr. Trump’s failings and voting for his removal from office.

These acts of leadership are what it means to put country first, to think beyond oneself.

Mr. Trump has demonstrated contempt for these American ideals. He admires autocrats, from Viktor Orban to Vladimir Putin to Kim Jong-un. He believes in the strongman model of power — a leader who makes things happen by demanding it, compelling agreement through force of will or personality. In reality, a strongman rules through fear and the unprincipled use of political might for self-serving ends, imposing poorly conceived policies that smother innovation, entrepreneurship, ideas and hope.

During his four years in office, Mr. Trump tried to govern the United States as a strongman would, issuing orders or making decrees on Twitter. He announced sudden changes in policy — on who can serve in the military , on trade policy, on how the United States deals with North Korea or Russia — without consulting experts on his staff about how these changes would affect America. Indeed, nowhere did he put his political or personal interests above the national interest more tragically than during the pandemic , when he faked his way through a crisis by touting conspiracy theories and pseudoscience while ignoring the advice of his own experts and resisting basic safety measures that would have saved lives.

He took a similar approach to America’s strategic relationships abroad. Mr. Trump lost the trust of America’s longstanding allies, especially in NATO, leaving Europe less secure and emboldening the far right and authoritarian leaders in Europe, Latin America and Asia. He pulled out of the Iran nuclear deal, leaving that country, already a threat to the world, more dangerous, thanks to a revived program that has achieved near-weapons-grade uranium.

In a second term, his willingness to appease Mr. Putin would leave Ukraine’s future as a democratic and independent country in doubt. Mr. Trump implies that he could single-handedly end the catastrophic war in Gaza but has no real plan. He has suggested that in a second term he’d increase tariffs on Chinese goods to 60 percent or higher and that he would put a 10 percent tariff on all imported goods, moves that would raise prices for American consumers and reduce innovation by allowing U.S. industries to rely on protectionism instead.

The worst of the Trump administration’s policies were often blocked by Congress, by court challenges and by the objections of honorable public servants who stepped in to thwart his demands when they were irresponsible or did not follow the law. When Mr. Trump wanted an end to Obamacare, a single Republican senator, Mr. McCain, saved it, preserving health care for millions of Americans. Mr. Trump demanded that James Comey, his F.B.I. director, pledge loyalty to him and end an investigation into a political ally; Mr. Comey refused. Scientists and public health officials called out and corrected his misinformation about climate science and Covid. The Supreme Court sided against the Trump administration more times than any other president since at least Franklin D. Roosevelt.

A second Trump administration would be different. He intends to fill his administration with sycophants, those who have shown themselves willing to obey Mr. Trump’s demands or those who lack the strength to stand up to him. He wants to remove those who would be obstacles to his agenda, by enacting an order to make it easier to fire civil servants and replace them with those more loyal to him.

This means not only that Americans would lose the benefit of their expertise but also that America would be governed in a climate of fear, in which government employees must serve the interests of the president rather than the public. All cabinet secretaries follow a president’s lead, but Mr. Trump envisions a nation in which public service as Americans understand it would cease to exist — where individual civil servants and departments could no longer make independent decisions and where research by scientists and public health experts and investigations by the Justice Department and others in federal law enforcement would be more malleable to the demands of the White House.

Another term under Mr. Trump’s leadership would risk doing permanent damage to our government. As Mr. Comey, a longtime Republican, wrote in a 2019 guest essay for Times Opinion, “Accomplished people lacking inner strength can’t resist the compromises necessary to survive Mr. Trump and that adds up to something they will never recover from.” Very few who serve under him can avoid this fate “because Mr. Trump eats your soul in small bites,” Mr. Comey wrote. “Of course, to stay, you must be seen as on his team, so you make further compromises. You use his language, praise his leadership, tout his commitment to values. And then you are lost. He has eaten your soul.” America will get nowhere with a strongman. It needs a strong leader.

Character Matters

Character is the quality that gives a leader credibility, authority and influence. During the 2016 campaign, Mr. Trump’s petty attacks on his opponents and their families led many Republicans to conclude that he lacked such character. Other Republicans, including those who supported the former president’s policies in office, say they can no longer in good conscience back him for the presidency. “It’s a job that requires the kind of character he just doesn’t have,” Paul Ryan, a former Republican House speaker, said of Mr. Trump in May .

Those who know Mr. Trump’s character best — the people he appointed to serve in the most important positions of his White House — have expressed grave doubts about his fitness for office.

His former chief of staff John Kelly, a retired four-star Marine Corps general, described Mr. Trump as “a person who admires autocrats and murderous dictators. A person that has nothing but contempt for our democratic institutions, our Constitution and the rule of law.” Bill Barr, whom Mr. Trump appointed as attorney general, said of him , “He will always put his own interest and gratifying his own ego ahead of everything else, including the country’s interest.” James Mattis, a retired four-star Marine general who served as defense secretary, said , “Donald Trump is the first president in my lifetime who does not try to unite the American people — does not even pretend to try.”

Mike Pence, Mr. Trump’s vice president, has disavowed him. No other vice president in modern American history has done this. “I believe that anyone who puts themselves over the Constitution should never be president of the United States,” Mr. Pence has said . “And anyone who asked someone else to put them over the Constitution should never be president of the United States again.”

These are hardly exceptions. In any other American administration, a single cabinet-level defection is rare. But an unprecedented number of Mr. Trump’s appointees have publicly criticized his leadership, opposed his 2024 presidential candidacy or ducked questions about his fitness for a second term. More than a dozen of his most senior appointees — those he chose to work alongside him and who saw his performance most closely — have spoken out against him, serving as witnesses about the kind of leader he is.

There are many ways to judge leaders’ character; one is to see whether they accept responsibility for their actions. As a general rule, Mr. Trump abhors accountability. If he loses, the election is rigged. If he is convicted, it’s because the judges are out to get him. If he doesn’t get his way in a deal, as happened multiple times with Congress in his term, he shuts down the government or threatens to.

Americans do not expect their presidents to be perfect; many of them have exhibited hubris, self-regard, arrogance and other character flaws. But the American system of government is more than just the president: It is a system of checks and balances, and it relies on everyone in government to intervene when a president’s personal failings might threaten the common good.

Mr. Trump tested those limits as president, and little has changed about him in the four years since he lost re-election. He tries to intimidate anyone with the temerity to testify as a witness against him. He attacks the integrity of judges who are doing their duty to hold him accountable to the law. He mocks those he dislikes and lies about those who oppose him and targets Republicans for defeat if they fail to bend the knee.

It may be tempting for Americans to believe that a second Trump presidency would be much like the first, with the rest of government steeled to protect the country and resist his worst impulses. But the strongman needs others to be weak, and Mr. Trump is surrounding himself with yes men.

The American public has a right to demand more from their president and those who would serve under him.

A President’s Words Matter

When America saw white nationalists and neo-Nazis march through the streets of Charlottesville, Va., in 2017 and activists were rallying against racism, Mr. Trump spoke of “very fine people on both sides.” When he was pressed about the white supremacist Proud Boys during a 2020 debate, Mr. Trump told them to “stand back and stand by,” a request that, records show, they took literally in deciding to storm Congress. This winter, the former president urged Iowans to vote for him and score a victory over their fellow Americans — “all of the liars, cheaters, thugs, perverts, frauds, crooks, freaks, creeps.” And in a Veterans Day speech in New Hampshire, he used the word “vermin,” a term he has deployed to describe both immigrants and political opponents.

What a president says reflects on the United States and the kind of society we aspire to be.

In 2022 this board raised an urgent alarm about the rising threat of political violence in the United States and what Americans could do to stop it. At the time, Mr. Trump was preparing to declare his intention to run for president again, and the Republican Party was in the middle of a fight for control, between Trumpists and those who were ready to move on from his destructive leadership. This struggle within the party has consequences for all Americans. “A healthy democracy requires both political parties to be fully committed to the rule of law and not to entertain or even tacitly encourage violence or violent speech,” we wrote.

A large faction of one party in our country fails that test, and that faction, Mr. Trump’s MAGA extremists, now control the party and its levers of power. There are many reasons his conquest of the Republican Party is bad for American democracy, but one of the most significant is that those extremists have often embraced violent speech or the belief in using violence to achieve their political goals. This belief led to the Jan. 6 attack on the Capitol, and it has resulted in a rising number of threats against judges, elected officials and prosecutors.

This threat cannot be separated from Mr. Trump’s use of language to encourage violence, to dehumanize groups of people and to spread lies. A study by researchers at the University of California, Davis, released in October 2022, came to the conclusion that MAGA Republicans (as opposed to those who identified themselves as traditional Republicans) “are more likely to hold extreme and racist beliefs, to endorse political violence, to see such violence as likely to occur and to predict that they will be armed under circumstances in which they consider political violence to be justified.”

The Republican Party had an opportunity to renounce Trumpism; it has submitted to it. Republican leaders have had many opportunities to repudiate his violent discourse and make clear that it should have no place in political life; they failed to. Sizable numbers of voters in Republican primaries abandoned Mr. Trump for other candidates, and independent and undecided voters have said that Mr. Trump’s language has alienated them from his candidacy.

But with his nomination by his party all but assured, Mr. Trump has become even more reckless in employing extreme and violent speech, such as his references to executing generals who raise questions about his actions. He has argued, before the Supreme Court, that he should have the right to assassinate a political rival and face no consequences.

The Rule of Law Matters

The danger from these foundational failings — of morals and character, of principled leadership and rhetorical excess — is never clearer than in Mr. Trump’s disregard for rule of law, his willingness to do long-term damage to the integrity of America’s systems for short-term personal gain.

As we’ve noted, Mr. Trump’s disregard for democracy was most evident in his attempts to overturn the results of the 2020 election and to encourage violence to stop the peaceful transfer of power. What stood in his way were the many patriotic Americans, at every level of government, who rejected his efforts to bully them into complying with his demands to change election results. Instead, they followed the rules and followed the law. This respect for the rule of law, not the rule of men, is what has allowed American democracy to survive for more than 200 years.

In the four years since losing the election, Mr. Trump has become only more determined to subvert the rule of law, because his whole theory of Trumpism boils down to doing whatever he wants without consequence. Americans are seeing this unfold as Mr. Trump attempts to fight off numerous criminal charges. Not content to work within the law to defend himself, he is instead turning to sympathetic judges — including two Supreme Court justices with apparent conflicts over the 2020 election and Jan. 6-related litigation. The playbook: delay federal prosecution until he can win election and end those legal cases. His vision of government is one that does what he wants, rather than a government that operates according to the rule of law as prescribed by the Constitution, the courts and Congress.

As divided as America is, people across the political spectrum generally recoil from rigged rules, favoritism, self-dealing and abuse of power. Our country has been so stable for so long in part because most Americans and most American leaders follow the rules or face the consequences.

So much in the past two decades has tested these norms in our society — the invasion of Iraq under false pretenses, the failures that led to the 2008 financial crisis and the recession that followed, the pandemic and all the fractures and inequities that it revealed. We need a recommitment to the rule of law and the values of fair play. This election is a moment for Americans to decide whether we will keep striving for those ideals.

Mr. Trump rejects them. If he is re-elected, America will face a new and precarious future, one that it may not be prepared for. It is a future in which intelligence agencies would be judged not according to whether they preserved national security but by whether they served Mr. Trump’s political agenda. It means that prosecutors and law enforcement officials would be judged not according to whether they follow the law to keep Americans safe but by whether they obey his demands to “go after” political enemies. It means that public servants would be judged not according to their dedication or skill but by whether they show sufficient loyalty to him and his MAGA agenda.

Even if Mr. Trump’s vague policy agenda would not be fulfilled, he could rule by fear. The lesson of other countries shows that when a bureaucracy is politicized or pressured, the best public servants will run for the exits.

This is what has already happened in Mr. Trump’s Republican Party, with principled leaders and officials retiring, quitting or facing ouster. In a second term, he intends to do that to the whole of government.

Election Day is less than four months away. The case against Mr. Trump is extensive, and this board urges Americans to perform a simple act of civic duty in an election year: Listen to what Mr. Trump is saying, pay attention to what he did as president and allow yourself to truly inhabit what he has promised to do if returned to office.

Voters frustrated by inflation and immigration or attracted by the force of Mr. Trump’s personality should pause and take note of his words and promises. They have little to do with unity and healing and a lot to do with making the divisions and anger in our society wider and more intense than they already are.

The Republican Party is making its choice next week; soon all Americans will be able to make their own choice. What would Mr. Trump do in a second term? He has told Americans who he is and shown them what kind of leader he would be.

When someone fails so many foundational tests, you don’t give him the most important job in the world.

From top, photographs and video by Damon Winter/The New York Times (2) and Jay Turner Frey Seawell (5).

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