2007 AP English Language and Composition Free-Response Questions
A weekly feature of The New York Times Magazine is a column by Randy called "The Ethicist," in which people raise ethical questions to which Cohen provides answers. The question below is from the column that appeared on April 4, 2003.
At my high school, various clubs and organizations sponsor charity drives, asking students to bring in money, food, and clothing. Some teachers offer bonus points on tests and final averages as incentives to participate. Some parents believe that this sends a morally wrong message, undermining the value of charity as a selfless act. Is the exchange of donations for grades OK?
The practice of offering incentives for charitable acts is widespread, from school projects to fund drives by organizations such as public television stations, to federal income tax deductions for contributions to charities. In a well-written essay, develop a position on the ethics of offering incentives for charitable acts. Support your position with evidence from your reading, observation, and/or experience.
Selfless charity is one of the few demonstrations of humanity at its best. It is important to remember to help people as we try to fix the root of the problems they face. Charity has the power to change the world, and something with such momentous potential should be taken seriously. However, it seems that often classist and racial tensions make donating uncomfortable, and thus many organizations offer incentives. As encouraging as this can be to some who wouldn't otherwise have considered making donations, incentives for charitable acts are wrong- especially if they foster disillusionment of their participants.
I'm hesitant to reference the Bible for fear of being too didactic, but as something in which many Americans claim to root their values, its messages regarding charitable acts seem appropriately relevant. It is known that Jesus required charity of his followers, but essentially the only direction he gave on how to do so was in a discussion about fasting and almsgiving. Jesus said that when giving alms, not to let your right hand know what your left is doing. Now America is technically a religionless country, but how well does this hold true when we pledge allegiance to "one nation, under God" and donate money imprinted with the words "In God We Trust"? It would be ironic to do charity seeking an incentive from others when our President in Faith, Jesus Christ, told us not even to recognize one's own acts of service oneself.
In case it wasn't obvious, I attend a Catholic high school. At my school, students are required to complete eighty hours of service by the end of their sophomore year. Something about this requirement rubbed me the wrong way when I was first confronted with it, leaving me with a feeling of immense guilt. Was I a bad person because I was reluctant to do what looked like a mountain of service before me? I've come to learn what made this an uncomfortable task was its inherently computable, impersonal form. For the most part, the school doesn't tackle service projects together, but rather individually. What comes of this is a sense of pressure regarding service, making it a chore. Sometimes it gets competitive, with (you guessed it!) a prize at the end of sophomore year for the student who has completed the most hours.
It's not that charity is really too hard or an awkward experience for people. But rewarding people for what they should be doing anyway alienates the act of charity, painting it as something out of the ordinary. In contrast to the required hours, my high school has one very successful service project with disabled adults at Christmastime. We hold a Christmas party for mentally and physically impaired adults in our auditorium, exchanging gifts and singing. Before the party, students can sign up to take on a Christmas list of a guest and buy them some presents to open at the event. Students are thrilled to participate in this act of charity because it feels normal, obvious. Who wouldn't want to get a Christmas gift? There is no incentive for this project, but students leap to help.
If charity is removed from its meaning, the people it is meant to aid, it creates a dangerously out-of-touch society. Creating incentives for important charity projects does this. Our culture does this without us even recognizing it. When men complain about "the friend zone" when their love is unrequited, they are whining about the disappointment they face when they weren't "rewarded" with a romantic or sexual relationship with a woman whom they have treated nicely. This is only an ordinary example. If members of society can't even handle being kind without some recompense, what does that say about our ability to do charity simply out of the goodness of our hearts?
