Комментарий к цитате – популярный формат раздела «письмо» на олимпиаде. Старший преподаватель АПО Елизавета Сельченкова написала пример такой работы. Сопровождаем его советами и комментариями.
“All that glisters is not gold.” (William Shakespeare)
William Shakespeare once wrote that ‘all that glisters is not gold.’ In my opinion, the author is convinced that it is difficult to understand what is crucial when evaluating something, as people often confuse internal value and external attractiveness. This idea is of utmost importance, as people often face this problem and let themselves be deceived by a seemingly decent yet actually worthless thing or person.
Personally, I share Shakespeare’s opinion, as I strongly believe that appearance may indeed be deceitful. A cover does not necessarily reflect the real content of a thing, be it positive or negative. Moreover, people often put more emphasis on the outer beauty. It seems more appealing, as it is usually the first noticeable aspect of a new thing or a person that people have just come across. However, to understand the actual value of something, one has to explore its inner qualities, which takes more time and effort.
To support my point of view, I would like to give the following examples. In his world renowned novel ‘War and Peace’, Leo Tolstoy writes about Helen, an extremely beautiful woman, who almost every man feels attracted to. However, she later proves to be a shallow, arrogant person that seeks power and pleasure only. Furthermore, there is a famous English proverb that has the same meaning: ‘do not judge a book by its cover’, which is rather self explanatory. Do not overestimate appearance, as you might overlook more important things such as kindness or intelligence.
To sum up, it is vital to place more emphasis on inner value of something. It may be difficult to notice it, yet it is undoubtedly more important.