Consider the following comments on suffering.
That which does not kill us makes us stronger.
Friedrich Nietzsche
Pain is inevitable, but suffering is optional.
Anonymous
There is no greater sorrow than to recall happiness in times of misery.
Dante Alighieri
A society should be judged by how it treats those who are suffering, not those who are thriving.
To romanticise suffering is the privilege of those who have never truly suffered.
Write a piece in response to one or more of these comments. Your essay will be assessed on the quality of your argument and the way you express it.
A way into this prompt
A defensible thesis is that suffering is not redemptive in itself, and only acquires meaning through the response it provokes in the sufferer or the society around them. Open by conceding the appeal of the Nietzschean view, that hardship can forge resilience, then counter that this logic too easily excuses cruelty and neglect. Develop a second move distinguishing pain that is borne with dignity from pain that is simply imposed and ignored. A useful caution: avoid the glib conclusion that suffering is always ennobling, since that betrays a comfortable distance from real misery.